ha ha ha

 

This thread should be a warning to anyone looking to get a used CTD make sure you check to see what gears it has. Now I am sure someone will disagree with me here but from my own experience the standard 3:73 gears are plenty low enough for about 99.5% of all highway towing duty. If you're in a situation where you do a lot of offroad towing for whatever reason, I can see where the 4:10s would be really handy. My class 8 (18 wheeler) truck has 3:58 gears and pulls most east coast grades with relative ease and honestly this is the ratio I wish my CTD had. To be sure that "outta the hole" torque of the 4:10s is nice but in the end the added cost just does not justify it imo.

 

Good point.

The ONLY thing I'll disagree withyou on here (not really disagree, more of clarification), is that you axle gear ratio is just one item you have to look at. It's the FINAL gear ratio that you have to consider, not the only one.

You also have to consider your engines RPM range, tranny ratio's, t-case ratio (if a 4wd), axle ratio, and tire size. All of these are going to play a part in what kind of mileage you get and what kind of power you have.

Just as an example, if you offroad a lot, most people will tell you to get deeper gears. That's all well and good, but if this is also your daily driver you will generally be sacrificing your mileage at the expense of those deeper gears. Also, installing a gear set in an axle is a PITA and I wouldn't recommend it for the driveway mechanic.

Now on the flip side, if you have a 4WD, you could get a deeper gear set for your t-case. Instead of having say a 2.7:1 low range, you can get a 4:1 or deeper low range and still keep your 1:1 high range and not sacrifice your mileage.

It's all about the final drive ratio, not just the gear set. You have to take into account all those numbers to see what you are really putting to the ground.

My little Samurai trail rig, obviously pathetically underpowered, only had the stock t-case gears in it. Rather than doing both axles, I just upgraded the t-case gears to 4.3:1 low range. The high range was also dropped slightly to 1.3:1, and this helped it's little squirrel motor do much better on the road.

Just food for thought.

 

I had the same question & the mechanic @ the dealership said running 70mph. w/6pd you should run right about 2200 rpm. w/3.73's