Since its pretty much a given that a lightning ain't great on fuel enconomy 13/16 i believe, I was wondering if its worth it to go down to 3.08 or 3.27 gears.

With a lightning pushing close to 500 ft/lbs of torque I don't see having high gears as big as a deal than say something lighter.

I hear people who have gone from 2.73 to 3.73 see a pretty noticeable difference in fuel economy so i'm wondering if anything have tried this or heard anything about it?

Just a thought, try not to FLAME ME!!!

 

you know ford sells an SVT that gets great mileage, but then again it's a focus!

 

I would think it will take more than gears, you'll have to ballance that with smaller tires to get your end ratio back. You would end up with a L running 235/70/16s. Running 3.08 with bigger tires could cause the engine to lug too much and hurt gas milage.

On the plus side I think it would be easy to find someone to make the tire trade with you.

 

If you change the tire size, your going right back to the same final drive gear, so your gas mileage would remain the same...

-Mike

 

There is more change in the axle than there would be in the tire, so the end ratio would still produce a slower engine rpm. Plus, the smaller tire takes less energy to spin and push down the road.

Without the tire change it would be interesting to see what the engine rpm would be at 70.

 

Put in an overdrive that bolts to the back of the tranny. All you have to do is shorten the driveshaft. The bad part is they cost around two grand. Skip

 

those under/overdrive units are sick!!!!

 

hey skip any detailed info on the overdrive thing, im curious.

 

http://www.gearvendors.com/

 

Great Vid explaining it too, an extra gear for each gear.
An 8 speed Lightning, sounds pretty dam interesting
to me

 

Basically like fords old style overdrive but, I wouldn't count on it standing up to any heavy duty racing !

 

Read through their site. It's a lot stronger than our transmission. I don't think you will hurt it.

Eric

 

I had a 95 Powerstroke, 5spd, 2WD that I put some 3.08's in.

I got fantastic gas mileage with it. Regularly went 800 miles between filling the tanks. I only had to fuel up every 3 week or so. Ahhh...... those were the days.

However.... as far as the Lightning goes..... I doubt you would EVER recoupe the money spent on TRYING to increase gas mileage with money ACTUALLY saved at the pump.

Buy a 4cyl car for a daily driver. You can beat on those things and bounce off the rev limiter all day long and still get twice the mileage as trying to squeeze a couple extra out of the Lightning

 

i've had 4.10's and 3.55's in my truck and noticed no difference in mileage!

 

I'll trade you my 3.08 for your 3.73? whichever, I'll take what ever you have