Knowing I'm most likely going in over my head. I have a question maybe someone here can steer me in the right direction with. I have a 98' F150 Xlt Regency 2wd stepside with 4.2 v6 and a 5speed. If I remember correctly is has a 3.05 gear ratio in the back. But that could be wrong. My problem is I never tow anything nor do I haul anything of reasonable size but on rare occasions. But th truck is geared really low for towing. ( no idea why mind you) like first is 1-4mph 2nd 4-15mph 3rd 15-40 4th 35-55 and 5th being overdrive. My question is what needs to be done to get a better daily city driving ratio in the truck. Would it just be a rear end gear, or would I need to pull the trans and shoot myself in the head because I have no idea what witchcraft happens in there. I am being a bit over dramatic obviously but my mechanical knowledge isn't at an expert level.

 

Anything is possible, but re-gearing a transmission would be my absolute last choice. The rear end would be my first.

I think before we go on speculating we should verify the gears you have. GIven what you are describing I would be surprised if they were 3.05s...but I've been wrong many, many times before.

On most axles there is a little metal tag denoting the gear ratio inside, or on some trucks the door sticker will have an axle code that can be cross referenced to find the ratio.

 

well I checked the door sticker and from what the code says its a 3.55 so I was wrong. My only real complaint with my truck thus far is that the gears just seem a bit short. 65mph on the highway in od is right at 3100rpm. other than that I have had no real issues with the truck since new. Hell I have still managed to baby the original clutch to over 188k miles haha.

 

I don't think you have 3:55s then man I've got 3:55s with 265s and 65 I'm right around 1700rpm. What size tire are you running?

 

im running 275/60r17 front and rear. like I said my truck is a little screwy. door sticker says axle code 19. looked the code up and its 3.55 but it is an XLT with power windows mirrors a v6 w/5sp and a tow package all factory. Could it be possible part of the Regency package changed the gears and added the tow bar, wiring etc.? And why is all of this on a v6 lol.








I bought the truck 5 yrs ago im the 2nd owner. It sat in a storage unit for a few years after being a daily and was sold to me. Im finding out new and interesting things everday now. The closer to 200k I get and the more stuff I replace or fix the more I find out this truck is weird.

 

The other way to find out for sure what gears you have would be to open up the differential. The gear ratio should be stamped on the the ring and pinion. For sure on the face of the pinion gear. Although this does require alot of work. 3100 rpm sounds way too high in 5th.

 

One way for sure is to mark the driveshaft, jack up the rear of the truck and turn the rear wheel exactly 1 turn by and, and count how many turns the driveshaft makes. On 2wd with 235 and so tires 3.55 is kinda short gears

 

Count the drive shaft revolutions for 2 full tire turns.

Chalk drive shaft and tire. Jack the rear up and spin the tire slowly 2 full turns. You will get close to knowing. Is...just over 3 drive shaft turns would be 3.07.

If it turns out you have limited slip, it would only require 1 turn of the wheel. To find that out, notoce if the opposite wheel spins in the same direction of the one you're turning. Then you have limited slip.

 

But he said 275s.

 

Maybe some one changed the gears to 4:56 or something, that is awfully high RPM's for a 3:55 in OD seems to me.