gears setup WAY TOO TIGHT , how much power loss ???

2002BLGT

Well-Known Member
Dec 18, 2003
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Bedford VA
I know this is 5.0tech but this is a rearend question and there are alot more knowledgeable people on gear tech in this forum ??? but anyways here goes , I have a 2002 GT with a vortech and paxton intercooler , it put down 385rwhp at 10 lbs of boost , everyone else with this setup is hitting closer to 400 rwhp .......so my question is this , when I took my rearend apart and went back thru it myself yesterday after paying some guy that was supposed to know what he was doing and obviously didnt , because he had them set up so tight that its a wonder it hasnt locked up on me , it was so tight that it was making the driveshaft get hot to the touch ...so how much power was I losing due to this ? anybody had any experiences like this ? man I was pissed .......sorry had to vent........nothing like paying someone to do a job and they screw it up .......
 
I can't give you an estimate on how much power you lost... I don't think there will be a easy way to guess. but having the rear gears set to tight introduces a lot of friction which then turns into heat and heat reduces the life of almost any car part.

My only guess is that the added friction caused by this, was heating up your pinion and that was transfering the heat to your driveshaft and maybe even into your transmission. YIKES.

Good thing you caught it.
 
srothfuss said:
I can't give you an estimate on how much power you lost... I don't think there will be a easy way to guess. but having the rear gears set to tight introduces a lot of friction which then turns into heat and heat reduces the life of almost any car part.

My only guess is that the added friction caused by this, was heating up your pinion and that was transfering the heat to your driveshaft and maybe even into your transmission. YIKES.

Good thing you caught it.

well it didnt do it all the time but the car would take spells and act like the brakes where grabbing ........and I am glad I caught it , or the guy that set them up would have not liked the repair bill I would have sent him .....