well im new to the forum and 16 years old , i got a 72 maverick with a 302 but i hear people talking about 4.11 gears, are they talking about the gears in the transmission or the differeincial? i have a lot to learn so if there is an article that can help me on this subject i would aprecciate you showing me it ...........thanks
THis is a pretty good place to get basic information. http://autorepair.about.com/od/automotiveinformation/Automotive_Information.htm
And...4.11 is strictly for racing. Won't work for crap on the street/highway. 3.55 is the typical highway/strip gear, some go as high as 3.80 (such as myself) but expect 3000+ rpms at 60 if you gear it that high.
sooooooo the highest you can go is 3.80 and that has great acceleration but not good top speed. correct? and not that im gonna buy anything but where do you get these gears?
NOOOO!!! NOT the highest you can go...just what I chose after figuring out my highway speeds with various gears. If you don' mind dong 4500rpm at 60 (or whatever it comes out to) then go 4.11 or 4.56. I just figured that a good compromise for my driving style was 3.80... And look on JEGS or Summit for the parts...
most mavericks and comets come with a 2.79 or 3.00 rear gears. the lower gears like 3.50. 4.11, 4.33 etc give you better accelleration but you pay for it in driveability and gas mileage. gears like 2.79 are slower off the line but are better for the freeway. the engine will run at a lower rpm. most guys who build their cars up a little look for a happy medium. there's a give and take. you can look for gears in the junkyard or you can buy them from places like jegs or summit or a number of other parts stores.
Naw, their actually talking about me... Seriously though, 4.11 gears are cool if your engine can rev fast enough to use them, and make power more in the mid-range. They are however, terrible for economy and highway travel that is further than just a couple exits. If your engine will rev, and you have a light car, 4.11s can be a way to go fast. If you drive the car more than occaisionally though, I would recommend a higher gear (lower numbers). The more you drive the car, the higher (lower number) the gear should be. 2.79 to 3.00 for a daily driver, 3.00-3.55 for a regular cruiser, 3.55-3.80 for some diehard street fun, and 3.89-4.30 for a 1 night a week thrill ride. If an overdrive tranny is fitted to the car, then these numbers can skew a little to where you and have some cake and eat it too!
do the gears have to fit on that certain model year and trim and stuff .......im guessing no and i hope not
the gears have to fit the rear end of the car. a 72 maverick came with an 8" rear. many of the high performance cars came with a 9" rear. that's a lot stronger than the 8". the 8" is good for about 400 hp or more depending on how you use it. if it's a stick tranny and you dump the clutch a lot the 8" isn't going to hold up for very long and you need to find a 9". i've got a 9" with 4'.33 gears in mine but it is for the strip only. anotheer thing is the stock axles are 28 spline, mine are 33 spline moser axles and a full spool that locks the rear end so both wheels turn at the same time.
