Could someone explain the difference in gear sizes?

hersheyman

New Member
Jul 15, 2004
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Oklahoma
What does the size of a gear refer to? For instance, what does the size 3.73 equal. Is it a metric size of something? Is it the amount of grooves on the ring or pinion? Just curious where it comes from.
 
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It's not a size, it's a ratio.

Stock gears are 3.27:1 What that means is the pinion gear spins 3.27 times to turn the ring gear once.

3.73 means the pinion spins 3.73 times to spin the ring gear once. Teh higher (numerically) - to a point - the gear ratio is the faster the car can accelerate.

The ratio comes from a tooth coutn of the pinion gear and the ring gear.

Example: Say the pinion gear has 11 teeth and the ring gear has 43 teeth. 43 / 11 = 3.91
 
tjm73 said:
It's not a size, it's a ratio.

Stock gears are 3.27:1 What that means is the pinion gear spins 3.27 times to turn the ring gear once.

3.73 means the pinion spins 3.73 times to spin the ring gear once. Teh higher (numerically) - to a point - the gear ratio is the faster the car can accelerate.

Yep. Compare the rate at which the car accelerates in 1st gear (3.38:1, meaning engine turns 3.38 times for every one turn of the transmission output shaft) versus 2nd gear (2.00:1). You won't go as fast in 1st but it offers more torque multiplication giving harder instantaneous acceleration.

Same thing applies to the rear axle where gear changes might go from 3.27:1 (3.27 turns of the driveshaft to one turn of an axle) to 4.30 or more. Higher torque multiplication at the expense of vehicle speed.