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03-11-2024, 05:20 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa
Posts: 18
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Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
OK, please visulize a 1953 V8 with 3-3/8 x 4 inch, triple 97's on an Offy in a 1928 model A pick up.
Low profile tires, 16 inch spokes. An isky 3/4 cam also. An S10 5 speed with a high gear .87 overdrive. I'm putting a 9 inch Ford rear end in it. I have a chance to buy a 3.25/1, 9 inch drop out gear set for $200 out of a F150. Do you think the 3.25 would be too high a ratio for just bopping around town and and highway travel to get there?? I would appreciate your experiances shared. Thank you, Bob Schulze, Council Bluffs, Iowa |
03-11-2024, 06:04 PM | #2 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hancock, New Hampshire
Posts: 375
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
The 3.25 with the .87 OD gives a final ratio of just under 2.83. Use this calculator and plug in your values to see what RPM you’ll be turning at a certain speed. The tire diameter is the outside diameter of the tire not the wheel size. I suspect you'll have enough HP to use that setup. If you do go that route, let us know how it works.
http://www.advanced-ev.com/Calculators/TireSize/ |
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03-11-2024, 08:13 PM | #3 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: upstate SC
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
depends on two things--weight of vehicle and first gear trans ratio. I have the same ford truck rear end in my 3/4 ton truck with a 28 tooth cluster (auto) and it can be a little hard getting started off on a hill in traffic. I had the 3:50 rear gear before this and really should go back to it but I do like the higher highway speeds
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03-11-2024, 08:30 PM | #4 |
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Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Perry Mo.
Posts: 486
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
With the overdrive I would go with 3.50. It will work much better in town and a lot more fun to drive. Just a FYI I would have went with the ford 8" . Much lighter rotating mass as well as the entire drum to drum weight. you will not brake one with a flathead. It sounds like you have a sweet setup regardless, Tim
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03-11-2024, 09:29 PM | #5 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Star, MS
Posts: 4,024
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Some of the S10 5-speeds have a 4.06 1st gear. If you do have a 4.06 first gear and a 3.25 rear, you will have a 13.195 to 1 low gear compared to a stock ratio of about 10.66 to one. If you go with a lower ratio (higher numerical) rear, the low gear will be even worse. With a .87 fifth gear you will be at about 2205 rpm at 65MPH assuming a 28" rear tire. In my opinion, the 3.25 would be the better ratio.
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03-12-2024, 04:15 AM | #6 |
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Lake worth Florida
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
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Do you have or plan to drive where they have hills/ mountains ? |
03-12-2024, 04:54 AM | #7 |
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Location: NJ
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
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03-12-2024, 05:00 AM | #8 |
Senior Member
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Mt buddy put a set in a 40 Ford 2 door sedan and they were very nice. Super nice on the Interstate and no problem on the hills. I think I am going to try a set in my 32 Stock V-8.
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03-12-2024, 07:27 AM | #9 |
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Eastcoast
Posts: 864
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
What revs do flatheads like to cruise at?
Can they run at 3000rpm all day or is 2500 a better speed? What’s redline on a stock flathead? Not trying to hijack the thread but it is kind of relevant to the question. |
03-12-2024, 08:03 AM | #10 |
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Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Perry Mo.
Posts: 486
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
I had a set of 3.00's with a fresh all stock 255 in my 42 pickup with 6.00 16's. It was way to much gear and a real dog unless you were doing 60mph or better on flat highway. It didn't do the clutch or the rebuilt three speed any favors. Looking back I wish I had gone with 3.50's. Tim
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03-12-2024, 09:43 AM | #11 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Chester Vt
Posts: 8,861
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Not really, But why? 3.5/3.7 would make it more fun to drive. But, I live in Vermont!!!!
Gramps |
03-12-2024, 10:33 AM | #12 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,320
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
I find that anything over 2700 RPM and the engine seems to be "unhappy". 2300-2500 is optimum with a stock (Mercury 1CM) cam.
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03-12-2024, 02:24 PM | #13 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 5,070
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
You have a light car, so you'll probably be just fine - especially with a .87 OD. Are you sure the OD is that ratio? I've never seen that ratio in a T5 . . . but there is a first for everything. I've installed special road-race OD gear sets with a ratio of .80 - but that is as close as I've seen to your listed ratio.
What is your 1st gear ratio? |
03-12-2024, 02:42 PM | #14 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Wa.
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
You guys sure like to lug an engine.
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03-12-2024, 03:37 PM | #15 | |
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Quote:
Dale ...... What's one lousy digit among friends? All joking aside, this fairly comprehensive list (seen in link BELOW) does show quite a few of the early "S"-truck, wimpy-assed T5s as having an .86 for an O/D ratio. http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Bo...T5-ID-Tags.htm Of course, the majority of these all have the weenie gearsets with the worthless 4.03 or 3.76 1st gear ratios. And remember, MOST T5 gearsets won't allow you to just swap-in that sort of an O/D gear pair without swapping-in an appropriately matching, wimped-out gearset. The MAIN gear, the FRONT gear on cluster, as well as the O/D gear pair figure into the formula to compute the OVERDRIVE ratio using number of teeth on gears for computation. O/D computation formula BELOW: Number of teeth on front of cluster gear, divided by the number of teeth on MAIN (Input) gear, times number of teeth on SMALL O/D gear, divided by number of teeth on LARGE O/D gear, equals O/D ratio of 5-speed transmission. Coop . |
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03-12-2024, 07:06 PM | #16 |
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Location: Central Ohio
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
I do like the .80 OD gear set - have installed it in the Cobra-Z version of the T5 (Ford motorsports transmission with the 2.95 gear set). We have that transmission on a road-race Fox Body - with a 3.73 rear. We spin the 331 to 6500+ and still it takes a long track to be able to use the OD at all.
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03-12-2024, 07:31 PM | #17 | |
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Location: Wa.
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Quote:
8 inch Ford rear end with 4.10 gears. Actually it is the short throw shifter and the 3 drops of carbon tet in the ATF that makes the car go so fast. That alone is good for 10 mph. |
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03-12-2024, 09:48 PM | #18 | |
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Location: Kansas
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Quote:
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"It don't take but country smarts to solve the problem" (Smokey Yunick) '41 Merc Town Sedan / 260" 8CM engine '66 Fairlane four door / "warmed up" 302 |
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03-17-2024, 05:19 PM | #19 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2024
Posts: 19
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
If you live in Iowa that should be perfect. I just need a post count of 9 before I can PM to buy parts. Thanks, I got another one.
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03-20-2024, 01:58 PM | #20 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa
Posts: 18
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
I checked with a buddy that has a T5 chart. Checked the tag on the trans and it charted out as :
3.97 1st, 2.34 2nd, 1.48 3rd, 1.00 4th, .79 5th. so top gear is .79. I was off a bit . |
03-20-2024, 10:15 PM | #21 |
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Join Date: Jan 2022
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
He say’s very clearly that he “has a chance to buy (cheap)” no need to ask why because he tells us.
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03-21-2024, 09:04 AM | #22 |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Shelton, WA
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
You probably can use that setup as long as you stay in Iowa!
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03-21-2024, 09:18 AM | #23 |
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Join Date: May 2013
Location: Harrisonburg, VA
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
So, according to those gear ratios, you have a T-5 out of a Ford product, not an S-10. Am i correct?
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03-21-2024, 10:13 AM | #24 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Trans #1352-192 The web site says it is out of: GM 1989 S-Truck 2.8L V6 Only
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03-21-2024, 10:31 AM | #25 |
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Location: Harrisonburg, VA
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
Yep, you are correct. Ford also used those same ratios in some offerings. Usually 4 cylinder stuff.
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03-21-2024, 01:14 PM | #26 | |
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Re: Final Drive ratio, will a 3.25/1 be too steep ??
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Quote:
The idea here is to get a trans with WHATEVER gear ratios you want, and then to swap the "S-10" tail shaft housing and short shift rod from an S-10 to move the shifter forward. It all bolts together! Only thing to consider is to make sure BOTH transmissions are either WC, or NWC (matching each other). Coop . |
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