410 Gears and Winter Driving, okay, or no way?

[MyEarsHurt]

Well, I have searched the almighty stangnet search and found no results so here we go with more gear questions (sometimes it seems like we should have a seperate room for just gear questions). So my question is, my 98 auto pony wants some gears, 410's, BUT its my daily driver, and I dont know how the 410's will affect my winter driving in Michigan. Will I lose a lot of traction? How many people swap gears in states where they do a lot of winter driving? Any input would be great.

Second question, (another gear related question) If the traction is not an issue and I end up getting the gear, I will be using the steeda toothed gear to recalibrate the speedo ( the little plastic things that are like $15 bucks). BUT, do I need to do anything to change my shift points for my automatic? I cant really afford a Hypertech along with the gears, so is there any other way to change the shift points, or do I not even need to worry about that? Thanks in advance for the input....

 

[ChrisWorrell]

double post

 

[ChrisWorrell]

i dont think you will have to worry about shift points, since the gears wont change what RPM your engine is turning, so the shift points will stay the same, and im sure you will be fine with 410's, being an automatic you should get 430's i dont think winter will be an issue

 

[BigHairyMonkey]

auto= 4.10s or 4.30s... traction wont be a problem unless your gonna stomp on it in the snow

 

[GTsleeper]

Totally agree with the others its not an issue unless you stomp it. I live in St.Louis so it snows every once in a while and once on the highway I dropped it in 4th and hit it in slug. Big mistake the car went side ways so even on the highway drive it normally and you will have no problems.

 

[GTsleeper]

I meant sludge not slug.

 

[MyEarsHurt]

Thanks for the input on the winter driving issue, now that I know I am okay with that, does anyone else know the answer to my second question, I just want to make sure that I will be okay just getting the steeda toothed gear...

Second question, (another gear related question) If the traction is not an issue and I end up getting the gear, I will be using the steeda toothed gear to recalibrate the speedo ( the little plastic things that are like $15 bucks). BUT, do I need to do anything to change my shift points for my automatic? I cant really afford a Hypertech along with the gears, so is there any other way to change the shift points, or do I not even need to worry about that? Thanks in advance for the input....

 

[BlackGT97]

Where in Michigan do you live? Cause if you live in the type of area where i live where you are lucky if the streets are plowed when you have to go to work or anything like that, then I say good luck to movin your rear wheel drive car anywhere. But I dont think 4.10s are gonna prevent your car from being any more nondrivable then your car already is in snow.

 

[XtorT'r]

Are you guys ****ing nutz? have tyou EVER, EVER tried to drive RWD high torque Auto in the snow & ice. It is NOT a good Idea. If I were to do that I would have to take off in 2nd & 3rd from november to april. I wouldn't even recomend driving a Mustang Auto in the winter, period. I used to drive a 97 Ranger auto around, when I didn't have it in 4x4 that thing wound be steerin for the ditch when it snowed. grant I know there are only a handfull of days where drivin in the snow is a issue but those few days can kick your arse.

For you guys in the south where you rarley see snow. When you have an automatic and you loose traction on ice you can't just put the clutch down, depending on how fast your goin it can toss you into a Torque spin in the middle of traffic. if you happen to have Cruise Control on you could be about to die. I have had that happen to me... It sux. IMO get a lower gear if your gonna drive it in the winter. If your gonna get a winter beater get 4.30's or just change the gears for the season, can't be bad to be giving it fresh oil every season .

 

[Q's Stang]

i live in indianapolis and i have an auto GT and i see plenty of snow...the 4.10s are slowly on their way to my house too in a few days...dont tell me im gonna hate my life come late november/early december...

 

[XtorT'r]

i live in indianapolis and i have an auto GT and i see plenty of snow...the 4.10s are slowly on their way to my house too in a few days...dont tell me im gonna hate my life come late november/early december...

Maybe it's cuz I live in Minnesota, but sometimes when it is snowing and It's rush hour and idiots make me stop goin up hills, I almost can't get moving again, in 2nd & 3rd, with traction control ,and winter tires, and sand bags in the trunk, and stock rear end gears. It's prolly funny for the people around me to watch a mustang go up a hill sideways at 2mph

 

[01GT281]

When you have an automatic and you loose traction on ice you can't just put the clutch down, depending on how fast your goin it can toss you into a Torque spin in the middle of traffic. if you happen to have Cruise Control on you could be about to die.

I had the same thing happen to me here in KS of all places in my old 96 stang! I was going down the highway and the snow had just started coming down and the roads still looked good. I was going 70 and was getting passed until a small patch of snow on the road at the bottom of coming down off a overpass. I hit just right or something with the wind and did about 5 or more circles and stopped in the median facing the opposite ways. Stang was covered in mud and left black marks all down the highway. I was scared ****less and i thought i might have had a heart attack. About 10 or so people stopped to make sure I was okay! Cruise was on too but I tapped the brake and shut it off when I started losing control. Now I take it real easy in bad weather regardless of how fast people around me are going.

 

[Rio96]

If you drive a powerful car, rwd, automatic, be careful.
During (in my area) our once a year snowstorm, I see
people drive thru an intersection with: the rear wheels
rotating, the front wheels NOT rotating. These people
are usually in a beemer. Avoid doing this.

 

[Ruckus46Gt]

i had no problem last winter in the snow....just get some snow tires and 200lbs of sand in the trunk and i didnt get stuck at all not even on my gf's unplowed private road and her brothers mazda 3300 4x4 got stuck and i just drove right past i still laugh about that one lol

 

[MyEarsHurt]

It's prolly funny for the people around me to watch a mustang go up a hill sideways at 2mph

That happened to me twice last year, really bad, and it was only on like 2 inches of snow, I felt like an idiot.

Anyway, I guess I dont know what I want to do, because I certainly dont want to make winter driving any worse than it already is. I do use winter tires, and I put 2 50 lb bags of hard cement in my trunk each november.

 

[Scootr68]

Here in NE Ohio I usually see more 4x4's in ditches than I see RWD vehicles in the winter. I grew up in the age when there was no FWD so RWD is no biggie for me. I am looking at buying a winter beater just so the salt trucks don't chip the ***** outta my paint.