what gear w these cam specs?

[90lxwhite]

Right now in the 95 gt I have 3.73 rear with comp cam with these specs 2000 to 5500 operating range, 281HR grind number, 281 in 281 ex duration, @ .050" 220 in 220 ex, .512 in .512 ex lift, 110° lobe sep angle. In first gear it feels like I'm pulling a piano and driving a ford tractor. It's running out of rpm's with no speed behind it and I have to keep it reved up or she'll buck and chug and sometimes die, ya can't just ease off the clutch a lil and go. However it does seem to buck n chug and die a little less often than when the 2.73's were in. On the highway at 65 or 70, (who really knows anymore speedo is off of course) the drone is killing me. Would 3.27 or 3.55 be a better choice for me? As of now daily driveability sucks and she's still slow, ya have to work your ass off to get to the quick trip and say I want to get on the highway and head 40 mi to fort worth it'll wear ya out too. Yeah the reason for being slow I guess is the freshly rebuilt stock heads but no $ for an upgrade now or if ever, next engine mod I believe will be tmoss ported lower and its on to making her pretty again, pain n wheels etc. Sorry for getting long winded, kinda went on a rant I guess, but anyway would 3.27 or 3.55 be any better you think? I don't guess I'm concerned too much about losing low end speed cause hell I don't have much now. Thanks for the read

mike

PS: not a daily driver but the gettin worn out factor out weighs the fun, especially since she's slow, 209 rwhp.

 

[jka]

I think 3.55 gears or 3.73 gears would be good. I'm running 3.73 gears in my GT and i love them ..i had 3.08 gears .. i burn a little more gas but who cares gas prices are high anyway.

 

[90lxwhite]

you love em? Not me so much seems like I do like 15 mph at redline in 1st gear

 

[90lxwhite]

When I ordered em I was thinkin hm Im gonna be quick now, but not the case

 

[90lxwhite]

maybe I'll try 3.31

 

[gearheadboy]

you love em? Not me so much seems like I do like 15 mph at redline in 1st gear

I'm gonna have to call bs on the 3:73 being a poor choice. I had a 95 GT with a 5.0 and 3:73's in it. I drove it 3hrs to the beach at like 75 and got 26mpg. I eventually put 18's on it and made it more friendly yet but it was great with 16's even. With the 18's and a 245/45-18 I think, it was perfect. It sounds like you have another issue like fuel or spark.

 

[86bluecobra]

I have very similar cam specs in my 351w. I have 3.73's and I love them with my 5 spd. I think its the best gear for the t-5.

 

[jka]

My cam also is very similar to his cam and i also run 3.73 gears with a 5spd ...perfect gear for the cam. Cams with that duration need 3.55 or 3.73 gears.

 

[90lxwhite]

My cam also is very similar to his cam and i also run 3.73 gears with a 5spd ...perfect gear for the cam. Cams with that duration need 3.55 or 3.73 gears.

for the track or for "living with" maybe if I was making more power I'd like it better but she's slow as a dog ya know, hittin the redline in 1st and barely moving. Do you think 3.55 would be worth switching to, so there'd be less drone on the highway? In 5th there's no need to down shift to accelerate which I guess is good but cruising around town and on the hwy wears me out

 

[jka]

Something missing here... if you have no take off power plus your car bucks and stall sometimes..it's not your gears it's your tune. My car use to buck and surge and stall out alot on cold start.

 

[90lxwhite]

Something missing here... if you have no take off power plus your car bucks and stall sometimes..it's not your gears it's your tune. My car use to buck and surge and stall out alot on cold start.

Not saying I have no take off power, I mean it'll throw ya back in the seat but it's not moving very fast when it does it, 1st gear is way too short I feel. How many mph would you guys say yall are getting out of 1st and 2nd? As for the bucking and such, ya it's possible that its due to the tune. The dumb azz builder (old guy) put a carbureted cam in it and when it was put back together he was like hmm somethings wrong... SO was taken to the dyno and I guess they got it sorted out, sorta.. Fixed the firing order for plugs and injectors. (I didn't know what was wrong w it at the time and ended up eating a $500 tune bill b/c the a*%hole put the wrong cam in. So maybe thats the bucking and chugging at lower rpms but I dunno, all cylinders are firing. But when I say it's slow as a dog I don't mean you give it gas and nuttin' happens, it's as quick as any 209 rwhp car. I guess what I'm getting at is the pleasure vs pain ratio sucks, I have a car that you have to shift the hell out of and at the strip and it's still slow, running out of 1st gear within the first few feet it feels like and the highway driving sucks. So I guess what I'm getting at would going to 3.55 be any better on the highway as far as a lower cruising rpm or not worth the install price. Dang, I wrote another novel, sorry..

 

[jka]

From 1st to 2nd about 30/35mph it depends how i take off ...and that's with the correct red 21 tooth speedo gear.. so my speedo is pretty correct. Have you changed your speedo gear..because it may be wrong. You may be going faster than you think.

 

[90lxwhite]

From 1st to 2nd about 30/35mph it depends how i take off ...and that's with the correct red 21 tooth speedo gear.. so my speedo is pretty correct. Have you changed your speedo gear..because it may be wrong. You may be going faster than you think.

no, I haven't just judging by sotp and by looking at the stuff I'm passing out the window. With stock h/c/i the powerband makes for a short 1st gear on the t-5, maybe if I had different heads I'd enjoy the 3.73's more. The only mods to car besides 3.73 are, cai, pre-cats removed, flowmasters, stock heads w/ 3 angle valve job and beehive springs and the comp cam and I think sometime next week I'm going to send the lower intake to tmoss for some porting. Doubt that will change the power band much but we'll see. I'm just trying to figure out if 3.55 would be much different than 3.73, I don't wanna go too high a gear but I guess anything's gotta be better than the stock 2.73 that were in it

 

[jka]

If you had the stock 2.73 gears with that cam...you will be going nowhere fast lol. I still think it's your tune plus you need to install the right speedo gear. Also is your clutch in good shape? if so you may want to try and adjust it..hey it may help.

 

[90lxwhite]

Yeah, had the motor done before the gear swap so rode like that a little while and yeah the clutch is new, well maybe 2 years old. As for tune yeah that's possible but once she's up and moving it's not bad, the exhaust drone at 70 is what sucks the most I think, feels like it needs a 6th gear.

 

[jka]

Which flowmasters are you running? I have flowmasters too but the sound is music to my ears. Have you bumped the timing up..because that will help your power down low/takeoff

 

[90lxwhite]

actually I gave false info, the flows are on the 90 lx and on the 95 I put forza flows. They sound nice at idle and under acceleration and not bad on the hwy but at 70 it's spinning like 2500 rpm in 5th and that gets old after awhile where as w/ the 2.73 it'd cruise at 1500 at same speed

 

[jka]

Okay your car is a 95 GT you will need to tune it with that cam... i was thinking you was talking about the 90lx. The computer in 94/95 mustangs don't like cams .

 

[castine917]

From 1st to 2nd about 30/35mph it depends how i take off ...and that's with the correct red 21 tooth speedo gear.. so my speedo is pretty correct. Have you changed your speedo gear..because it may be wrong. You may be going faster than you think.

May be going slower than he thinks too. If I guessed tire height and fifth gear ratio right these are the difference that would be seen. Speedometer says about 95 would put the actual speed at about 70.

Engine Speed (RPM) MPH 2.73 Gear MPH 3.31 Gear MPH 3.73 Gear
5000 RPM 246.10 MPH 202.98 MPH 180.12 MPH
4500 RPM 221.49 MPH 182.68 MPH 162.11 MPH
4000 RPM 196.88 MPH 162.38 MPH 144.10 MPH
3500 RPM 172.27 MPH 142.08 MPH 126.09 MPH
3000 RPM 147.66 MPH 121.79 MPH 108.07 MPH
2500 RPM 123.05 MPH 101.49 MPH 90.06 MPH
2000 RPM 98.44 MPH 81.19 MPH 72.05 MPH
1500 RPM 73.83 MPH 60.89 MPH 54.04 MPH
1000 RPM 49.22 MPH 40.60 MPH 36.02 MPH

 

[RangerJoe]

Question for you: You said he put a carb. cam in the car, with a different firing order. Is this cam a flat tappet cam? Not saying flat tappet cams don't make power, but not having a roller could cost you some power. Also, it has always been my understanding and experience that the more radical a cam gets, the better lower (numerically higher) gears are for drive ability. I would really have a difficult time thinking that a 2.73 would be more driveable then a 3.73. Sure, it will let you stay in one gear longer, but you will accelerate slower.

Joe