The truth about gears... questions

SRT-MIKE

SRT-MIKE

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Just purchased a set of 4:88's to replace the 4:11's on the truck. The intent was to gain low end torque at the expense of top speed that my daily driver never sees, so on the surface it appears to be a no brainer.

After doing some searches and reading old posts I realize (maybe too late now) that the story is not so simple. It's much more a matter to matching a set of gears to a vehicle, or to an application, and that just hopping the ratio to get more torque might be like barking at the wrong tree.

Something obvious that failed to register in my hardened nugget is that I will be loosing top speed in every gear, not just hi gear. That could be a problem, as I would be having to shift sooner, etc, etc.

So what I would like is some testimonials from people that have undergone the change to 4:88, are you impressed? Does the truck feel stronger thoughout? and any such things that you could share, so I can decide if to go ahead with the swap or stick with what I have.

Thanks in advance!
 
I Too have thought of switching to 4.88s,But decided against it because of the issues that you stated(sticking with my 4.56s for now).
 
paxton w/ 4:88 gears! wow, you are going to blow thru the top end of your gears. but 5th should pull very hard for you and give you a good top speed. I think 4.56 would give you what you need, or for low end grunt....Roe is the answer
 
Well, Marc has a Roe with 4.88's so he is the expert. I just have the 4.88's with no FI. I love my gear choice. Truck feels a 1000 lbs lighter and is much easier to drive at slower speeds.... ie parking lots, heavy traffic. Yes you do shift way more. I even use fifth gear when at 45/50 mph. The truck feels like a real hotrod now. Very torquey with power on demand in any gear. With the stock gears, the truck felt like it had to wind up to bring on the power, not so with the 4.88's.

With your Paxton though, it might be too much. As I can roast the tires in first and second very easiliy..........full throttle does not exist in first gear for me, it spins that much, that fast.

I also think since you have a paxton, 4.56 would work much better. Without FI, 4.88's is the way to go IMO.

patrick
 
I agree with Patrick...I have the Roe and 4.56 gears....if the 1st to 2nd shift came up any faster I would have to shift to 2nd before I started..;) .......Maybe someone who has the Roe or Paxton and has 4.88s will have a different view from experience but I bet it almost makes 1st useless...like a bulldog gear..
 
now that i have the ROE i'm even shifting more into 6 ... just by the vivid feeling still in 5... and i'm still on 4.11... :confused: :D
must still try it out ... but it's great you can go full throttle in 1 without sure spinning .... no ?:dontknow:

if i want that , just a bit revs and drop clutch and i have the show as much i want.....but for daily driving... so more safe ...:rock:

don't know how to compare but i think Patrick feels about the same with 488 and me with 411 but + Roe ....
 
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Mike it depends on what you intend to do with the truck.

gonna drive it mostly on the street?

Stick with what you have or decide either 4.11's or 4.56's

I went to 4.56's jsut for the street fun, but think the 4.88's would be jsut too much on the street being FI'd


If you intend to do the track , there has been some that say the 4.88's would be best.
personally I think unless you are an auto tho, you will be shiftin your butt off in the 1/4

the FI'd trucks rev so quickly , I personally think the 4.11 or 4.56 would be the best choice.

but if you intend on cuttin a killer 1/4 mile time you have to consider tire size and endin 1/4 mile Et and Speed.
 
Excellent input, thank you my friends.

Since I already have the 4.88 on hand, it's going to be a yes/no installation matter. Stinker I believe what you say, this is my daily driver and I seldom to never race it. On the other hand, maui seems very satisfied with his choice on a NA engine.

I'm going to wait and hear from some more 4:88 owners before making a final decision, but it is leaning towards leaving the 4:11 alone.

BTW, with the Paxton I lost some on that wild bottom torque, one of the reasons I purchased the 4:88... kind of a knee-jerk reaction. 1qksrt, I wish I had done the 4:56, but at the time it seemed like it was not enough... probably would have been the best choice.
 
SRT-MIKE said:
Excellent input, thank you my friends.

Since I already have the 4.88 on hand, it's going to be a yes/no installation matter. Stinker I believe what you say, this is my daily driver and I seldom to never race it. On the other hand, maui seems very satisfied with his choice on a NA engine.

I'm going to wait and hear from some more 4:88 owners before making a final decision, but it is leaning towards leaving the 4:11 alone.

BTW, with the Paxton I lost some on that wild bottom torque, one of the reasons I purchased the 4:88... kind of a knee-jerk reaction. 1qksrt, I wish I had done the 4:56, but at the time it seemed like it was not enough... probably would have been the best choice.
Click to expand...

if it still new... can't you swap with the seller for 4.56 ? :dontknow:
i too have the complete set 488 from Unitrax...maybe for a europ driver who..... ???? ( i'm sure staying on the 411 :rock: )
 
Well I got to get in on this!! I would not go back to 4:56's unless i was going to the track on a regular basis. With 4:88's your truck will be quicker and yes you will need to be quicker also!! There is a difference between being quick and being fast!;)

One thing I must mention, my rear wheels/tires are heavy, 110 lbs each, thats 30 lbs heavier than stock. This is giving me much better traction than most get with stock wheels and tires. Granted it is robbing the truck of some ponies, but what good is HP if you can't get it to the ground?? They are also wider than stock so have a little more rubber on the ground!!

If you Love to run up to 80-100 real quick, 4:88's are the answer. If you wanna play faster than that you probably wanna stay with 4:56!!

Peace Out!:D
 
That is great input! I will have to chew on it some more, sounds so tempting to go with the 4:88 now.

Belgiumbarry, being able to open it on a semi-legal no-speed-limit hi-way like in your case would keep me on the 4:11, but I really need to stay under 100 as not to find myself looking at the world from behing steel bars (or from a cloud in the sky).

MarcT, I'm sure you have brought it up before, but would you mind elaborating on your rear rig? Pics would really be the icing on the cake.

Thanks men!
 
SRT-MIKE said:
Excellent input, thank you my friends.

Since I already have the 4.88 on hand, it's going to be a yes/no installation matter. Stinker I believe what you say, this is my daily driver and I seldom to never race it. On the other hand, maui seems very satisfied with his choice on a NA engine.

I'm going to wait and hear from some more 4:88 owners before making a final decision, but it is leaning towards leaving the 4:11 alone.

BTW, with the Paxton I lost some on that wild bottom torque, one of the reasons I purchased the 4:88... kind of a knee-jerk reaction. 1qksrt, I wish I had done the 4:56, but at the time it seemed like it was not enough... probably would have been the best choice.
Click to expand...

You can still run the 4.88s,maybe just step up the tire size(305/45/22 or taller)Just a thought!!!:D
 
Marc T said:
Well I got to get in on this!! I would not go back to 4:56's unless i was going to the track on a regular basis. With 4:88's your truck will be quicker and yes you will need to be quicker also!! There is a difference between being quick and being fast!;)

One thing I must mention, my rear wheels/tires are heavy, 110 lbs each, thats 30 lbs heavier than stock. This is giving me much better traction than most get with stock wheels and tires. Granted it is robbing the truck of some ponies, but what good is HP if you can't get it to the ground?? They are also wider than stock so have a little more rubber on the ground!!

If you Love to run up to 80-100 real quick, 4:88's are the answer. If you wanna play faster than that you probably wanna stay with 4:56!!

Peace Out!:D
Click to expand...

it must be a ton of fun to bang thru those gears! I wonder how 3.73s would be in a viper!:burnout:
 
SRT-MIKE said:
That is great input! I will have to chew on it some more, sounds so tempting to go with the 4:88 now.

Belgiumbarry, being able to open it on a semi-legal no-speed-limit hi-way like in your case would keep me on the 4:11, but I really need to stay under 100 as not to find myself looking at the world from behing steel bars (or from a cloud in the sky).

MarcT, I'm sure you have brought it up before, but would you mind elaborating on your rear rig? Pics would really be the icing on the cake.

Thanks men!
Click to expand...

I am a little timid!Don't know if i could put my rear rig up on this forum!:confused: :p ;)






These are the the best pics I have!!:dontknow:
 
Mike.

Another cheap way to see if 4:88's are for you would be to borrow a set of 20 or 19 inch wheels and tires and run with them!!
 


These are the the best pics I have!!:dontknow:
Click to expand...

That is just sic... I'm deffinetly doing that on my next tire swap.
Are those oversized tires on standard size rims? what brand?

Thanks!
 
SRT-MIKE said:
That is just sic... I'm deffinetly doing that on my next tire swap.
Are those oversized tires on standard size rims? what brand?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Mike,

The rims are custom made Assantis ( Heavy) 11 x 22 and the tires are 325 40 22's
 
Man... I really don't want to take it that far. I wonder if there is a larger tire that would fit our rims, any thoughts?

Again, thanks for the good info.
 
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