Gear Thread

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GREG@SN95

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not my doing... MattJ's over at www.mustangboards.com

Ok we all got sick of seeing these gear threads so this is THE official gear thread of gear threads. This should tell you mostly everything you need to know with gears. If a question you have, isnt answered in here ask and if it was and you post it, I will delete it because you are stupid.

What is the right gear choice for me?
Most people will tell you to go with 3.73s for v6s, 4.10s for 2v v8s, and 4.30s for 4v v8s. This is usually recommended for all Naturally Aspired engines, and even for the Forced Inductioned 03-04 Cobras. Nitrous injected, and supercharged, turbocharged vehicles usually yeild better results with smaller gears. There are countless ratios of gears available for vehicles but the most popular for us are 3.27s, 3.55s, 3.73s, 3.90s, 4.10s, and 4.30s. The numbers represent the ratio of the gear teeth to the pinion gear in the rear end. You can find this number by counting the teeth on the ring and dividing that number by the number on the pinion and that will be the gear ratio. The higher the number of the gear ratio, the more times your driveshaft will rotate per wheel rotation. 3.73 gears will rotate your driveshaft 3.75 times per one full turn of the wheel, and 4.10 gears will rotate a tad over 4 times per turn of the wheel. This is essentially a torque multiplier. With changing gears your rpms will change in each gear you are in, and I suggest looking at a gear calculator for your vehicle to pick which gear is best suited for you.
Gear Calculator : http://www.tchracing.com/tech/gearcalc


What is needed for the installation of gears?
There are a few things that are needed to complete the installation of new gears. First you need the ring and pinion with the ratio of your choice IE 3.73s, 3.90s, 4.10s, ect. Secondly you need 2 quarts of gear lube. I suggest a fully synthetic lube. Some have Friction modifier in it, and some dont. If its not included youll need it to help prevent your gears from "chattering." You will also need a rear end bearing kit, or installation kit depending on the mileage and year of your mustang. If you have a car with higher mileage or you are just picky or have bad luck, id say go with the bearing kit. If not the install kit is fine for most people. You will also need either a reprogrammer to make up for the change in gears or the dallas speedcal to fix your speedometer because gears will throw this off if it is not fixed correctly. Lastly, you need someone with the knowledge and the tools to do the installation right. If you ask "whats involved in installing gears" than chances are, you cant do it. Have a professional do them for you. The price should range for the average consumer around 100-250 bucks, all said and done.

Note: If you have a 1998 and prior car you do NOT need a Speedcal or a Reprogrammer. Your speedometer is mechanical, not electronic. Therefore, you need to get the proper speedometer gear to match up with your gear choice. You can find speedometer gears, here:

http://www.steeda.com/store/-catalog/speedometer.htm

-Shambles

What do I get out of different gears?
As mentioned above, gears are a torque multiplier so it would feel like some soft of power adder was put on your vehicle. Most people can yelid on average of .5 seconds off your 1/4 time simply by changing your gears. You will also notice a lot of the serious mustang racers and NMRA racers with 4.30 gears are capable of putting themselves in the high 12s, with minor bolt ons, weight reduction, and drag radials, so that gives you an idea of what gears are really capable of with a good driver.

Here is a picture walk-through of the gear installation method. It is NOT recommended to intall gears by yourself but this gives you a BASIC idea of whats ahead for you and the work involved.

picture 1: Pull the rear end cover and crack the bottom open to let the fluids drain out.
IMG_4205.jpg


picture 2: Carefully pull the ABS sensors, and pull the axles after they are disconnected.
IMG_4206.jpg


picture 3: Unbolt the tlock and ring assembly with the 4 bolts. Pull the unit out.
IMG_4208.jpg


picture 4 5 6: Unbolt the driveshaft because it is attached to the pinion. have the pinion held on the other side so it doesnt drop to the ground and get damaged. Remove that as well when its disconnected from the driveshaft.
IMG_4209.jpg

IMG_4210.jpg

IMG_4211.jpg


picture 7 8: Install the ring gear back onto the tlock assembly and resinstall back into the rear end.
IMG_4212.jpg

IMG_4213.jpg

IMG_4205.jpg


And thats it. Now, remember. This is only the basics of the gear installation process. This does not include measuring shims for tollerances, removing tires, brakes, c-clips inside of rear housing, and all the other stuff that doesnt need pictures taken of. This was the installation of Motive Performance 3.90s in my personal vehicle. Please feel free to donate money for my time.
:D
 
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GREG@SN95

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Re: Official Gear Thread

lets go matt... stick her up :)
 

SvtBlack95

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Re: Official Gear Thread

nice doesnt look as hard as i thought it would be
 

96SVTCobra

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Re: Official Gear Thread

I also want to note that those little cheapo speedo gears are a bad idea! also, i have yet to find a speedo gear for a gear taller than 4.10, so if you're going with 4.30s you'll have to do the speedcal anyway. Those little gears are made out of plastic anyway, so they are a bad idea. Just do it right the first time and do the speedcal :thumb:
 

CanaryGT

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Re: Official Gear Thread

I put in 4.10's in my car and now my speedo is way off. So I replaced the stock speedo gear with a new one, that was supposed to fix it... But it didnt... I bought the 23 tooth (i think 23, somewhere around there). On my friends t5(He owns a 89LX), he has a actual cable that goes from the T5 to his car, mine has like a plug connector (looks like an electronic one). Is there a way I can fix it to where my car isnt off lke 10 mph?
 

ryclef331

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Re: Official Gear Thread

96SVTCobra said:
I also want to note that those little cheapo speedo gears are a bad idea! also, i have yet to find a speedo gear for a gear taller than 4.10, so if you're going with 4.30s you'll have to do the speedcal anyway. Those little gears are made out of plastic anyway, so they are a bad idea. Just do it right the first time and do the speedcal :thumb:

What do you think the stock VSS gear is made out of??
 

96SVTCobra

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Re: Official Gear Thread

ryclef331 said:
96SVTCobra said:
I also want to note that those little cheapo speedo gears are a bad idea! also, i have yet to find a speedo gear for a gear taller than 4.10, so if you're going with 4.30s you'll have to do the speedcal anyway. Those little gears are made out of plastic anyway, so they are a bad idea. Just do it right the first time and do the speedcal :thumb:

What do you think the stock VSS gear is made out of??

ever heard of an aftermarket speedo gear not being a piece of shit and working for over 30,000 miles? :nonono:
 
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GREG@SN95

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Re: Official Gear Thread

take off the speedo and stop puttin miles on yer car...
 

ryclef331

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Re: Official Gear Thread

96SVTCobra said:
ryclef331 said:
96SVTCobra said:
I also want to note that those little cheapo speedo gears are a bad idea! also, i have yet to find a speedo gear for a gear taller than 4.10, so if you're going with 4.30s you'll have to do the speedcal anyway. Those little gears are made out of plastic anyway, so they are a bad idea. Just do it right the first time and do the speedcal :thumb:

What do you think the stock VSS gear is made out of??

ever heard of an aftermarket speedo gear not being a piece of shit and working for over 30,000 miles? :nonono:

Sorry...bought mine from Ford. I honestly don't know of anyone that has snapped theirs due to the gear being a piece of shit. The ONE I've seen was from a corroded cable on a fox....
 

96SVTCobra

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Re: Official Gear Thread

ryclef331 said:
96SVTCobra said:
ryclef331 said:
96SVTCobra said:
I also want to note that those little cheapo speedo gears are a bad idea! also, i have yet to find a speedo gear for a gear taller than 4.10, so if you're going with 4.30s you'll have to do the speedcal anyway. Those little gears are made out of plastic anyway, so they are a bad idea. Just do it right the first time and do the speedcal :thumb:

What do you think the stock VSS gear is made out of??

ever heard of an aftermarket speedo gear not being a piece of shit and working for over 30,000 miles? :nonono:

Sorry...bought mine from Ford. I honestly don't know of anyone that has snapped theirs due to the gear being a piece of shit. The ONE I've seen was from a corroded cable on a fox....

Ah, I 've known like 5 or 6 people that had them and they went out within like 15,000 miles, so they went with a speedcal.
 

blackfang

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Re: Official Gear Thread

GREG@SN95 said:
not my doing... MattJ's over at www.mustangboards.com

Ok we all got sick of seeing these gear threads so this is THE official gear thread of gear threads. This should tell you mostly everything you need to know with gears. If a question you have, isnt answered in here ask and if it was and you post it, I will delete it because you are stupid.




What is needed for the installation of gears?
There are a few things that are needed to complete the installation of new gears. First you need the ring and pinion with the ratio of your choice IE 3.73s, 3.90s, 4.10s, ect. Secondly you need 2 quarts of gear lube. I suggest a fully synthetic lube. Some have Friction modifier in it, and some dont. If its not included youll need it to help prevent your gears from "chattering." You will also need a rear end bearing kit, or installation kit depending on the mileage and year of your mustang. If you have a car with higher mileage or you are just picky or have bad luck, id say go with the bearing kit. If not the install kit is fine for most people. You will also need either a reprogrammer to make up for the change in gears or the dallas speedcal to fix your speedometer because gears will throw this off if it is not fixed correctly. Lastly, you need someone with the knowledge and the tools to do the installation right. If you ask "whats involved in installing gears" than chances are, you cant do it. Have a professional do them for you. The price should range for the average consumer around 100-250 bucks, all said and done.

Note: If you have a 1998 and prior car you do NOT need a Speedcal or a Reprogrammer. Your speedometer is mechanical, not electronic. Therefore, you need to get the proper speedometer gear to match up with your gear choice. You can find speedometer gears, here:
Nice write up however, the 96-98 Speedo's are mechanical not 96-97. You cant use a speedo gear for any gear steeper than 4.10's and it is recommended to use a speedcal as the plastic speedo gears can wear out in time.

Aslo the speedcal can be used on all 96-98 Auto's too.

A SCT programmer doesnt work for a car under 99 anyways.
 
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GREG@SN95

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Re: Official Gear Thread

blackfang said:
GREG@SN95 said:
not my doing... MattJ's over at www.mustangboards.com

Ok we all got sick of seeing these gear threads so this is THE official gear thread of gear threads. This should tell you mostly everything you need to know with gears. If a question you have, isnt answered in here ask and if it was and you post it, I will delete it because you are stupid.




What is needed for the installation of gears?
There are a few things that are needed to complete the installation of new gears. First you need the ring and pinion with the ratio of your choice IE 3.73s, 3.90s, 4.10s, ect. Secondly you need 2 quarts of gear lube. I suggest a fully synthetic lube. Some have Friction modifier in it, and some dont. If its not included youll need it to help prevent your gears from "chattering." You will also need a rear end bearing kit, or installation kit depending on the mileage and year of your mustang. If you have a car with higher mileage or you are just picky or have bad luck, id say go with the bearing kit. If not the install kit is fine for most people. You will also need either a reprogrammer to make up for the change in gears or the dallas speedcal to fix your speedometer because gears will throw this off if it is not fixed correctly. Lastly, you need someone with the knowledge and the tools to do the installation right. If you ask "whats involved in installing gears" than chances are, you cant do it. Have a professional do them for you. The price should range for the average consumer around 100-250 bucks, all said and done.

Note: If you have a 1998 and prior car you do NOT need a Speedcal or a Reprogrammer. Your speedometer is mechanical, not electronic. Therefore, you need to get the proper speedometer gear to match up with your gear choice. You can find speedometer gears, here:
Nice write up however, the 96-98 Speedo's are mechanical not 96-97. You cant use a speedo gear for any gear steeper than 4.10's and it is recommended to use a speedcal as the plastic speedo gears can wear out in time.

Aslo the speedcal can be used on all 96-98 Auto's too.

A SCT programmer doesnt work for a car under 99 anyways.

those were probably typos... i'll fix em
 
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GREG@SN95

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Re: Official Gear Thread

hm...

\Note: If you have a 1998 and prior car you do NOT need a Speedcal or a Reprogrammer. Your speedometer is mechanical, not electronic. Therefore, you need to get the proper speedometer gear to match up with your gear choice. You can find speedometer gears, here:

idk what you were reading ???
 

blackfang

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Re: Official Gear Thread

Ok I didnt see the and prior.

Everything else I wrote is correct.
 

badass98svt

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Re: Official Gear Thread

The reason for everyone chewing up different speedo gears is because the INTERNAL drive gear needs to be changed as well.
The internal gear is not exactly easy to get to. The 4.10s and 4.30s need this gear to be swapped to achieve the correct speedo/odom readings.
 

Dalamar

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Re: Official Gear Thread

When i did mine, a few years back, they told me there wasn't gears for over 355's
something about spacing for the teeth??

I went speed cal, it also (was) an auto.


So, can you buy the gears on for 373 and higher?
 

badass98svt

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Re: Official Gear Thread

Yes Dalamar, you CAN use a speedo gear for 3.73+
Call SHM. 3.7s, 4.10s and 4.30s require that the INTERNAL drive gear (inside the trans) need to be replaced as well as the usual speedo gear.
However, it's MUCH easier to just use a Speedcal.
 

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