Gears

[Dan93fox]

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

 

[GroverDill]

3.73

doit.

 

[jadigen]

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.

 

[90lxcoupe]

3.73's. Dont worry about the highway RPM, it will be fine.

 

[TOOLOW91]

I am very happy with my 55s


Sent from my iPhone using my fingers

 

[Mintsick]

I am quite happy with the 3.55's, 1st gear would be a tad "short" for me I think with 3.73's.

 

[clemsonf250]

Im gonna vote 3.73s. Best mod ive ever done without touching the engine. Mpgs are for hondas...

 

[jcgafford]

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

my exact thoughts. you will get all kinds of advice just like i did. and while it made me more comfortable thinking about 3.73 gears i am far from running out and buying them without riding in a stang with those gears first. i had decided past the 3.08/3.27 and such and settled on 3.55 by rpm charts at highway speed posted all over the web. but why miss a little more umph if 3.73 are actually not screaming at 75 mph? take a ride in a car set up with the gears you want, then go buy them.

 

[Mustang5L5]

3.55's for me. I hate my 3.73's

 

[jcgafford]

3.55's for me. I hate my 3.73's

why? details please. its 3.55 or 3.73 for me. till i can ride in both only opinions is what i have for judgment.

 

[mikestang63]

auto 3.73
stick 3.55

Make sure you get the right speedo gear as well. They make different ones for sticks vs. auto

 

[GroverDill]

I doubt you could tell the difference between the 2

I think the rpm difference at highway speed is like 200 rpm or less.

 

[mikestang63]

I doubt you could tell the difference between the 2

I think the rpm difference at highway speed is like 200 rpm or less.

True, but autos need a little lower gear due to more parasitic loss vs. stick.

 

[Dan93fox]

3.55's for me. I hate my 3.73's

Why do you hate the 73's and like the 55's?

 

[Mustang5L5]

Why do you hate the 73's and like the 55's?

My car was originally an AOD, so 3.73's was an automatic choice.

When i swapped to 5-spd, I found i wasn't too fond of the 3.73's. Felt like i shifted was too much. I rarely dragged the car, so most of my driving was pleasure cruising at 40-50MPH. I HATED having to row up to 4th gear to do so and it felt like i lost a lot of highway capability. In fact...i now hate driving the car on the highway just because it feels like i have to rev the crap out of it.

Cruising at 3000RPM on the highway gets old. I don't want to roll on and off the gas in 5th gear to pass cars at 80MPH (typical MA highway speed) and a drop to 4th gear felt like going WOT. It felt like i lost all highway nimblness when crusing at 80MPH.

3.73's just feels like a drag racing gear, when i really wanted more of a highway gear. 2.72's is brutal though, so i prefer 3.27's or 3.55's.

 

[jcgafford]

My car was originally an AOD, so 3.73's was an automatic choice.

When i swapped to 5-spd, I found i wasn't too fond of the 3.73's. Felt like i shifted was too much. I rarely dragged the car, so most of my driving was pleasure cruising at 40-50MPH. I HATED having to row up to 4th gear to do so and it felt like i lost a lot of highway capability. In fact...i now hate driving the car on the highway just because it feels like i have to rev the crap out of it.

Cruising at 3000RPM on the highway gets old. I don't want to roll on and off the gas in 5th gear to pass cars at 80MPH (typical MA highway speed) and a drop to 4th gear felt like going WOT. It felt like i lost all highway nimblness when crusing at 80MPH.

3.73's just feels like a drag racing gear, when i really wanted more of a highway gear. 2.72's is brutal though, so i prefer 3.27's or 3.55's.

so how were the 3.73's with your aod?

 

[Mustang5L5]

With the AOD i liked them. Only downside was that you lost the ability to go over 100MPH at WOT. Not a big deal, but when i used to drag race i found myself shifting into OD as i was trapping. In order to do this i had to let off the throttle otherwise the AOD wouldn't shift. Was a PITA.

 

[jcgafford]

With the AOD i liked them. Only downside was that you lost the ability to go over 100MPH at WOT. Not a big deal, but when i used to drag race i found myself shifting into OD as i was trapping. In order to do this i had to let off the throttle otherwise the AOD wouldn't shift. Was a PITA.

what was your rpm at 80mph? annoying or did you even notice?
did you run 3.55's in your aod?

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

My car was originally an AOD, so 3.73's was an automatic choice.

When i swapped to 5-spd, I found i wasn't too fond of the 3.73's. Felt like i shifted was too much. I rarely dragged the car, so most of my driving was pleasure cruising at 40-50MPH. I HATED having to row up to 4th gear to do so and it felt like i lost a lot of highway capability. In fact...i now hate driving the car on the highway just because it feels like i have to rev the crap out of it.

Cruising at 3000RPM on the highway gets old. I don't want to roll on and off the gas in 5th gear to pass cars at 80MPH (typical MA highway speed) and a drop to 4th gear felt like going WOT. It felt like i lost all highway nimblness when crusing at 80MPH.

3.73's just feels like a drag racing gear, when i really wanted more of a highway gear. 2.72's is brutal though, so i prefer 3.27's or 3.55's.

So you hate the 73's and like the 55's but have you tried the 55's yet? Seems to me like you still have the 73's in your car and haven't switched. Or maybe you know you like the 55's because you've driven a car with them?

I'm trying as well to figure out which to go with and I don't know anyone with a mustang around here to try out. Where I live I mostly drive on back roads where speed limits are around 40-50mph. I rarely hit a freeway. Some back road highways might get me up to 60mph and that's it. Are 3:73's at 40-50mph going to be too high of an rpm to cruise but to low to shift? For instance right now with stock gears at 45 mph i'm in 3rd gear and can't shift to 4th till at least 55mph. 2:73's suck!

These questions tend to get old and repetitive pretty quick i think but it's a large sum of money to get it wrong and this modification really effects drivability if you get it wrong.

 

[GroverDill]

Mike are you cruising at 90+ cause I think you are way over exaggerating the "rev the crap out of it"

.68 OD 26"tire and 3k rpm is 92 mph

I loved the 373 when the car was more stock, changed it into what felt like a rocket.

according to the rev calculators the difference between 3.73 and 3.55 at 70 mph is about 130 RPM

If I were buying gears for a bolt on or mild car with a t5 3.73 would be my choice