What were the rear end ratios available for the grabber? I believe mine is a 1977 but I'm not sure. Actually I just finished building a street rod ( ford falcon ) and I was told the c-4 and 3rd member came from a 77 Grabber. I took the project over with just the rebuilt trans and 3rd member installed and everything else I have done. Now that I have the car on the road for the first time it seems the the ratio is very low. From my experience it seems like 3.9 or lower. I have 17" rims on my car so how would this affect the situation? In any event what ratios were available for these Mavericks? I need to find something that I can install so that I can drive on the freeway without turning so much rpm. Or maybe go to an overdrive..Any ideas? Thanks in advance..
for a 71-77 i think they were 2.79:1 or 3.00:1 and 69 1/2 -70 they had 2.83:1 or 3.08:1 or 3.20:1 and i think the "grabber" option ended in 75
You can find your ratio by the information tag on the drivers side door jam. If you are not sure if the rear end is orginal or not you can find out by raising the tires off the ground and turning both back tires at the same time and counting how many times the drive shaft turns for one revolution of the back tires. codes for orginal rear end are as follows for a 77 3-2.79 6-3.00 Dean
I have never had a problem with it. Dean Hey Silver Falcon have you found out what ratio you have. I have a 2.73 hogs head that I would like to trade for a lower gear ratio. Dean
Ratio calculation by tire turning will work - but you have to do it differently for open and traction-lok (or spooled) rear ends. You have to compensate for the side gears planetary motion in an open rear. traction-lok or spooled: Raise both rear tires off the ground. Turn to tires 1 complete revolution and count the driveshaft revolutions. 1 tire turn to 3 driveshaft turns would be 3.00 ring (3.00:1), 1 complete tire turn to 2 3/4 driveshaft turns would be a 2.79 (2.79:1), 1 complete tire turn to 3 1/2 driveshafts would be 3.50 (3.50:1), and so forth. open rear end (what most have) Raise ONE rear tire off the ground. Turn the tire 2 complete revolutions and count the driveshaft revolutions. 2 tire turns to 3 driveshaft turns would be 3.00 ring (3.00:1), 2 complete tire turns to 2 3/4 driveshaft turns would be a 2.79 (2.79:1), 2 complete tire turn to 3 1/2 driveshafts would be 3.50 (3.50:1) ect. ect. 2 tire turns are needed for the open rear because the side gears are going around too and that needs to be compensated for. That is why in an open rear, if both tires are off the ground and you turn 1 wheel the other will turn the opposite direction. Eric J
Thanks for explaining that, Eric. Most people don't know it (I didn't know it either) and no one ever tells you that you have to spin the tire 2 revolutions on an open rear-end. I never had to do it on my Traction-Lok because I already knew what the gear ratio was, but it never worked on the one-legger and now I know why...
