January 26, 2008
Posted by coeburn

( 2 ratings )

"Gear ratio" refers to the number of times your vehicle's driveshaft has to rotate to turn your tires one revolution. For example, if your vehicle has a 3.73, otherwise known as a 3.73:1 ratio, your driveshaft has to turn 3.73 times to make the tires turn once. a 4.11 gear ratio lets the driveshaft turn 4.11 times for each revolution of the tires. This means 4.11, makes your engine turn faster to go 60 mph than does the 3.73. Therefore, the 4.11 will allow your vehicle to accelerate faster and pull a heavier load than the 3.73. The drawback will be slightly increased fuel consumption when not towing and slightly more wear on the engine. Any gear ratio of 3.42 or "higher", usually is not suitable for towing much of anything. When I say "higher", the smaller the number, the "higher" the gear ratio. It's opposite of what you may expect. Therefore, a 3.08 is "higher" than a 4.56. There will probably be a sticker in the glove compartment that lists all the option codes. Any dealer will be able to tell you what gear ratio your truck has by looking at those codes. Other than that, jack up the rear wheels, and securely support the vehicle. Make a mark on both rear tires and on the drive shaft. Put the vehicle in neutral and turn both rear tires evenly until they make one revolution. Count the number of revolutions that the drive shaft makes. This may require more than one person. If the driveshaft turns 3 and 3/4 times, then you likely have a 3.73 ratio. If it turns about 4 1/8 turns, you likely have a 4.11. Hope that this helps.

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February 11, 2008
Posted by bgkentucky

( 0 ratings )

If you have a moment, go to: www.howstuffworks.com and print in gear ratio in the search box or just cut and paste this link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/gear-ratio.htm It will walk you through the process. Giovanni

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