Gears... gears... gears!

sixstringthing · Aug 13, 2004

I have an 02 GT 5spd and am stuck between 3.73 and 4.10, some questions:

1. Is the "feel" difference that big between 373 and 410?

2. I have some 245/45/17 aquatread tires (forget the brand, they came from the Ford dealership but they are new) with 410's would I have to get wider tires??? Keeping in mind the car is a daily driver and never raced.

3. Is the car still driveable in everyday conditions with 410s???

4. For those with 410s and an off-road pipe, how loud is it on the highway?? I have a ProChamber/Flows combo... you can't even hear it on the highway with the stock gears, I normally cruise around 70mph and with 410s im afraid of being right in the drone zone.

spikeGT_99 · Aug 13, 2004

if you're concerned with what rpm yer gonna be at go herehttp://www.wcfords.com/stuff/calcs/EGTcalc/egtcalc.php
i cant speak to the sotp difference, havent saved up enough cash for my gears yet, wish i could tell you more, personally the gas would kill me with 4.10s running back and forth b/t college and home, that said 4.10s are usually used for n/a stangs and 3.73s for forced induction, good luck whatever you choose
Spike

BlackenedSVT · Aug 13, 2004

Ok i have a 98 GT and i can answer some of these questions.

First off. If you have an auto, the 4.10 gears will drop your top end a LOT. Your top end will go from like 150 to 120. Thats because the automatics are 4speeds.

As for the tire thing..you dont need wider tires for different gears. But they look cooler

The sound...the car sounds GREAT with 4.10s Gets you to the redline faster, and makes the car sound sick.

Driveable...the car is completely driveable. But in the rain, just be easy with it, because your wheels will be spinning a lot more with the 4.10 gears for everytime the driveshaft makes one complete revolution. And since your car will have Traction Control, i really dont see this beeing an issue.

3.73's...had 'em, never installed 'em, last minute before the install time, i traded them for 4.10's never looked back HOWEVER, i am thinking about getting an '01GT and im debating 4.10s again, or get 3.73s. I HEAR that 3.73s are a better highway gear, and im on the highway a LOT. Sooo i think i might give them a shot. Keep in mind 1) DONT FEAR THE GEAR 2)stick to the basic rule if you really can't choose and thats: 4.10s if you are staying N/A and 3.73s if you are Power Adding.

Hope this helps

onesticker · Aug 13, 2004

Why not just split the difference and go with 3:90's?

BlackenedSVT · Aug 14, 2004

onesticker said:
Why not just split the difference and go with 3:90's?

The 3.90 gears are made out of a weaker metal...for some reason. And they do not last very long. Only about 30,000. (so i hear). I would not go with them

01GT281 · Aug 14, 2004

4.10's are fine for me with an o/r H and american thunder CB on my 01 GT 5spd. I drive 11 miles to work and 11 miles home. During the school season I drive about 18 miles to school and 18 back. Gas mileage went down probably an average of 3mpg but it depends on how you drive it. With stock gears mine were droning at about 70-75. Now I don't get drone. Bigger tires are a must. I need bigger tires in the worst way. Launching is kind of a luck thing. Tire spin is a problem with my car. I have 245/45/17's and they don't grip very much with these gears. I love my 4.10's and wouldn't change for anything. Huge SOTP gains! kick ass feeling. Good luck.

dmarco_4u · Aug 14, 2004

sixstringthing said:
For those with 410s and an off-road pipe, how loud is it on the highway?? I have a ProChamber/Flows combo... you can't even hear it on the highway with the stock gears, I normally cruise around 70mph and with 410s im afraid of being right in the drone zone.

i got the prochamber and 40's with 3.73's. at 65mph with 275's in the back.
its at 2000 rpms in the high way. I mostly do highway thats why i picked the 3.73's if there wasnt any highway i would had gone with 4.10's.

you dont really DONT know how loud your car is with prochamber until you drive behind it. I did and DAMMMM that B**** is LOUD specially in the highway. im glad i didnt go with 4.10's

at the same time i have some friends that drive with 4.56's and love it.
its up to you

krly79 · Aug 14, 2004

I went with 4.10's and I drive 25 miles of highway to get to work everyday. It's really not that bad. Doing 65 is about 2300 rpm in 5th. I got an average of 23-24 mpg on a 1600 mile round trip to Illinois with them. That is also alot of mountains too. My best was 25-26 mpg in that stretch. About the "loud" issue... I just had some MAC Flowpaths welded in place of 50 series flows (sucked so bad) and w/ an O/R H it gets pretty loud. THey don't drone as bad, but it can get loud. However, it isn't any louder than if I was running 2300 with 3.73's. It just comes down to two things.

1. Are you staying N/A or going forced induction?

2. Do you fear the gear?

Cobra Jay · Aug 14, 2004

UDTBadkarma said:
The 3.90 gears are made out of a weaker metal...for some reason. And they do not last very long. Only about 30,000. (so i hear). I would not go with them

Where did you hear that from? And what company's gears are you talking about? I'm just curious.

I work for Ford at the axle plant, and we make gears from start to finish. ALL of our gears are heat treated. Even if a different type of metal is used, is still SHOULD be heat treated which hardens them. All the gears we make here at Ford are made of the same type of metal, and go through the same process, reguardless of what axle size and ratio it is.

admdavs · Aug 14, 2004

Why are 3.73's better if I plan to add a Kenne Bell or Vortech later on???

tangerine · Aug 14, 2004

3.73 is an all around excellent gear. If you go with 4.10 you traction problem is only going to increase. With slicks and staying N/A then go with 4.10 but if you have any doubt in you mind that you might put spray or a blower on your car the go with the 3.73.

04DarkShadowGT · Aug 14, 2004

Go 4.10 because at mustang tuning they are cheaper for motives, hey 5 bucks is 5 bucks. But they also have 3.90s too.

I bought mine yesterday and use stangnet as your coupon code and get 5% off.

http://www.mustangtuning.com/rearend.html

big T · Aug 14, 2004

UDTBadkarma said:
Ok i have a 98 GT and i can answer some of these questions.

First off. If you have an auto, the 4.10 gears will drop your top end a LOT. Your top end will go from like 150 to 120. Thats because the automatics are 4speeds.

As for the tire thing..you dont need wider tires for different gears. But they look cooler

The sound...the car sounds GREAT with 4.10s Gets you to the redline faster, and makes the car sound sick.

Driveable...the car is completely driveable. But in the rain, just be easy with it, because your wheels will be spinning a lot more with the 4.10 gears for everytime the driveshaft makes one complete revolution. And since your car will have Traction Control, i really dont see this beeing an issue.

3.73's...had 'em, never installed 'em, last minute before the install time, i traded them for 4.10's never looked back HOWEVER, i am thinking about getting an '01GT and im debating 4.10s again, or get 3.73s. I HEAR that 3.73s are a better highway gear, and im on the highway a LOT. Sooo i think i might give them a shot. Keep in mind 1) DONT FEAR THE GEAR 2)stick to the basic rule if you really can't choose and thats: 4.10s if you are staying N/A and 3.73s if you are Power Adding.

Hope this helps

I dont know what year u are reffering to(must be 96-98 auto's) cause Ive topped out a 145 mph on the freeway before I even hit the redline. 99+ autos have a .70 overdrive gear and manuals have .68 so I dont see the problem. I routinely drive 100-130 mph, on duty that is, and 120 is way too low for an auto/5-speed.

krly79 · Aug 14, 2004

admdavs said:
Why are 3.73's better if I plan to add a Kenne Bell or Vortech later on???

like tangerine said, it is just a traction issue when running 4.10's and forced induction. Unless you are running slicks, which you won't be on the street. 4.10's and a Kenne Bell aren't the ideal street combo because a KB makes full boost @ 2K and would probably kill even the best street tires. Now running slicks is a different story, especially if all you run is an 1/8 th.

GT JAY said:
Where did you hear that from? And what company's gears are you talking about? I'm just curious.

I work for Ford at the axle plant, and we make gears from start to finish. ALL of our gears are heat treated. Even if a different type of metal is used, is still SHOULD be heat treated which hardens them. All the gears we make here at Ford are made of the same type of metal, and go through the same process, reguardless of what axle size and ratio it is.

I've also heard that the 3.90's aren't as strong, but that was only compared to FRPP's 4.10's vs. ??? companies 3.90's.

BLUE03GT · Aug 14, 2004

UDTBadkarma said:
The 3.90 gears are made out of a weaker metal...for some reason. And they do not last very long. Only about 30,000. (so i hear). I would not go with them

you guys and your nothing but FORD gears in my car etc etc etc... I have Motive 3.90 gears in my car and i run my car like its stolen...i got gears for a reason.. to accelerate faster.. i drive my car as hard as anyone on these boards and ive had them in for about 10k miles now and they work great... no whine just like stock ..its the same stuff... they work just as well if not better...just as strong if not stronger.. as long as your gears are installed properly they are going to be fine. Friends of mine run Motive n Pro 5.0 3.90s as well and theyve had them a little longer than me..Look at other cars... like camaros n such they dont look to Chevy for gears they install stuff like richmond n such and they arent complaining cuz it aint chevy.. gears are gears

281Ponies · Aug 14, 2004

I agree, if Ford made a 3.90 ratio you’d see a lot more people running them. I believe the only reason the majority of people choose 3.73, 4.10s or higher is simply because they are following suit (what everyone else does) or prefer to put a Ford product in a Ford product. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, I am not trying to sway anyone here. However, that does not mean that an aftermarket company makes weaker or harder to install ring and pinions. I’ve read in several threads where people have said any gear set other than Ford are made of weaker material and that shops have a harder time installing gears that are not made by Ford. These statements in my opinion are misleading. I have seen FRPP gears installed and when my 3.90s were installed the procedure was no different. If I am wrong about the install or materials being weaker, I wish someone would provide link(s) that will correct my opinion and way of thinking.

I went with the Motive gear because my car is a daily driver and I believed the ratio would be perfect for the areas I drive in on a regular basis and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. At 75mph I’m turning between 400 and 500 more rpms, actually it’s closer to 400rpms and around town I can stay in 5th gear cruising between 45 and 50mph and I’m turning between 1400 and 1600rpms. For me and where I drive my car, it’s a perfect ratio.

-Cale

Cobra Jay · Aug 14, 2004

krly79 said:
I've also heard that the 3.90's aren't as strong, but that was only compared to FRPP's 4.10's vs. ??? companies 3.90's.

I'd like to see proof of this.

It seems to me that if someone(And I know for a fact it's not Ford. We don't make ANY 3.90's) is making 3.90's that are weaker or made of a softer metal, then I'd be willing to bet that ALL the gears that this MYSTERY COMPANY is making aren't as good as FRPP's gears. Like I've said in the past, We make everthing here from 7.5"-10.5" axles and we even make all of FRPP's gears and even gears for NASCAR. If NASCAR is using gears that are made by the same company that is making FRPP gears (using the same processes I might add)and going 200+ mph, I think that's reason enough to go with them. It's not about just because it's a product made by FORD, it's about PROVEN QUALITY AND RELIABILITY. I'd still like to know who's making "WEAK GEARS".

krly79 · Aug 14, 2004

GT JAY said:
I'd like to see proof of this.

It seems to me that if someone(And I know for a fact it's not Ford. We don't make ANY 3.90's) is making 3.90's that are weaker or made of a softer metal, then I'd be willing to bet that ALL the gears that this MYSTERY COMPANY is making aren't as good as FRPP's gears. Like I've said in the past, We make everthing here from 7.5"-10.5" axles and we even make all of FRPP's gears and even gears for NASCAR. If NASCAR is using gears that are made by the same company that is making FRPP gears (using the same processes I might add)and going 200+ mph, I think that's reason enough to go with them. It's not about just because it's a product made by FORD, it's about PROVEN QUALITY AND RELIABILITY. I'd still like to know who's making "WEAK GEARS".

Well, I'm just saying that I've heard others say that when comparing the FRPP 4.10's and the ??? (cant remember the company) 3.90's. That the FRPP's were a little stronger because of the slight differences in production processes. Like I said, I've heard.

twogts4us · Aug 14, 2004

Got both 3.73s and 4.10s and I've changed my tune - I like the 4.10 better, especially when running the A/C. With 4.10s, the car doesn't seem to lose much punch with the A/C on, but with the 3.73s it does.
Re: sound level - With any taller gear you'll be in the higher revs more often and therefore louder...
And with regard to NOT buying FRPP gears - show me the guy who has had problems with FRPP gears...?!?!?! There aren't any!
There are at least a handful of guys out here with problems with Motive gears, whining, etc...
Why would you want to skimp on drivetrain parts?

scalder · Aug 14, 2004

Okay, crew all that if you're staying N/A, GO 4.30 PERIOD...Had both .10's and now the .30's...no comparision...Just do a little to the susp and you'll be fine...and kicking some arse while you're at it!

Gears... gears... gears!

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