My fox is mostly stock and I intend to keep it that way. I have heard that if I want a little push without multiple motor mods I should consider gears. It's a weekend cruiser that I will take on the occasional highway road trip. I have gotten suggestions for both 3:55 and 3:73. I am leaning toward the 3:73's because I want the most bang for my buck but I don't want the engine screaming in 5th gear on the highway either. Any advice would be much appreciated
i tried using that calculator but i wasn't sure which trans to pick. I think they were all Mopars for Darts right? I picked the only one that had a 5th gear and the 55's and 73's looked pretty similar. I wonder if there is a calculator Mustang specific?how tall of a tire are ya running? playing around with this calculator http://www.bigblockdart.com/forum/speedtire.php
5 speed has .67 OD ratio??
with a 25.5" tire and 3.55 gear you'll be turning 2200 rpm at 70mph..
same tire and a 3.73 gear you'll be turning a hair over 2300 rpm at 70 mph.
i have been trying to figure out what gear i want for my car also.. year ago when i had my 90 lx i went 3.73 gear. it was fun as hell around town and still cruised the highway good but boy did the gas mileage take a hit.. this time around my 87 lx is more a family cruiser but the 2.73 gear is piggish around town. i have been really thinking of going to something like a 3.27-3.31 gear. i figure they should help around town but not kill my mpg while cruising. i really want to do mustang week in myrtle beach one of these years so i don't want to kill mpg too bad for that 9 hour trip.
i tried using that calculator but i wasn't sure which trans to pick. I think they were all Mopars for Darts right? I picked the only one that had a 5th gear and the 55's and 73's looked pretty similar. I wonder if there is a calculator Mustang specific?
here is my take on the gear selection assuming the tire is about 27-28" tall
stick stockish: mostly city-3:55 mostly highway-3:27 track-3.73/3.55
stick w/ Intake/ TB/Headers/Exhaust/Cam/Tune city: mostly city 3:27 mostly highway 3:08 track-3.55
forced induction/ 400whp+:
auto: city-3.55 highway-3.08 track 3.55
stick: city-3.27 highway 3.08 track 3.55
I ended up going with Ford Racing 3:73's and I absolutely love them. 1st gear is pretty short now and doesn't serve much of a purpose, 2nd thru 4th the car is like a rocket - never imagined I would get this much response from my stock 5.0, and 5th is great on the highway. Cruise at 75-80 under 2500 rpm. The coolest thing probably is cruising at 40 mph in 4th, putting my foot in it, and I'm pushing 80 before I have a chance to look down. Now that's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but it is what it feels like. Putting my Magnaflow catback system on over the next few days. Excited to see how that changes the car, other than sound.
You will also need to change the plastic speedo gear on your tranny to calibrate the speedo to the new gears.
Yep. Seems to be good although I have not had a chance to check how accurate it isDid you do this...
If anyone is interested I just put some 4.10 Gears up for sale..
If anyone is interested I just put some 4.10 Gears up for sale..
Noobz347 Edits this post as Follows:
Great! Looking forward to your ad in the classified because this is not the forum to post those sorts of things.
Noobz