Popular Mods That You'd Recommend To Not Do

Dave2000GT

Active Member
Oct 3, 2005
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Seattle
Myself I'd say gears. Everybody likes to do gears because it gives you a kick in the ass. In my experience, after the fun of burning out in 2nd wears off, you realize the car really isn't that much funner to drive, and the short gears become more of a pain in the ass.

I had a Notch with 3.55's that did a best of 14.3
Later on a had a Vert with stock 3.08's that did 13.8

Neither car had much else done, I just felt like the 3.08 gears were better suited to the track length, like with the 3.55s the car started running out of steam while the Vert still pulled right up to the end.

I've got another Notch now and plan to STAY with these 3.08's, love the long pulls through 2nd gear. Gears can cost a bit too, like up to a grand to have them done professionally. For that money I'd rather put it into an explorer head/intake upgrade.


What other popular mods do you recommend to steer clear from, and why ?
 
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I agree on the 3.73s shouldve kept the 3.08s. 24lb injectors were a total waste of time and money I live at 5500 ft my car makes significantly less hp then most with similar h/c/i. When I boost it I'll need new injectors anyway the 19s would have been fine till then.
 
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My vote=under drive pulleys,shorty headers,and a/c delete. The minor weight savings isn't worth it in hot temps and the "extra" hp is non noteworthy. As far as gears go every one of my cars ran better 1/4 times after the swap. It also was much more entertaining. I always picked up .3-.5 sec. OP your comparison between 2 different cars times isn't an accurate comparison. If you had a before and after with 1 particular car it would be more accurate. Said vert may have picked up even more et with a gear swap. I do agree that 3.73 and def 4.10's are prob too much gear for a stock dd with a 5spd that rarely goes to the track.
 
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I still tun my 2:73s and an insane amount of torque for a street car.

Wish I had a dollar for every talking parrot that told me I needed 3:73s for 4:10s.

I say, just add more power until you run into traction problems. Gear issue solved. :nice:
 
My only regret is when I bought something on impulse or due to my being cheap for my baby 'vert fox. I've had about every factory gear ratio in a fox at one time or another (2.73, 3.08, 3.27, 3.55, 3.73, 4.10).... My car is on it's second set of 4.10's; they are just too much fun not to have....;)
I bought an ACC carpet for my current 'vert & the fitment wasn't great. The fabric faded badly within 6 months & started to rot (bare spots from sun exposure) in a year or less.
I regret buying brand new FloFit seats that looked cool; but lacked lumbar support & the cloth grew mighty thin after about 1 year. Recovering the factory seats would have been a better plan for me with my bad back.....
 
LOL at this thread, the car pulls longer in 2nd gear cause it is slower...


What makes it slower is the inability to use the traction at your disposal. ALL the gears are longer with a lower ratio rear-end. Not just second.

An inability to maintain traction will have just a much of a detrimental effect to acceleration as not using available traction would.
 
What makes it slower is the inability to use the traction at your disposal. ALL the gears are longer with a lower ratio rear-end. Not just second.

An inability to maintain traction will have just a much of a detrimental effect to acceleration as not using available traction would.
good suspension and tires will solve to traction issue... just saying :D
 
Now you are getting carried away. Don't reinvent the wheel here. The factory four link is the T it s!


I don't want to launch this thing at the track. I want to corner inside the radius of an M series, out brake it, then pick up the kids from school before heading to the grocery store for some milk and a frozen pizza (movie night). :p
 
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