4.56's to be installed but...
 

Hey Guys,

I have an appointment at my local off road shop (ORU) next Monday to have new gears installed in my 03’ Screw.

After reading all that I could find about ring/pinion upgrades, talking to several salespeople & installers, and going back and forth with my decision I finally decided to go with 4.56’s, as opposed to 4.10’s.

I opted for the 4.56’s because later down the road I may decide to run 35” tires, right now I currently have installed 33’s (w/a RCD 6” suspension lift).

My question is: if it happens to be some time before I go to the 35’s ~ if ever at all, do you think 4.56 is just too much gear for my current setup?

I figured that it would probably be better to have more gear in the event that I do go with the taller tires then to have the 4.10’s installed now and not have enough gear.

I would really appreciate any and all comments regarding this matter, especially from those who have had ring/pinion upgrades.

Note: I drive mostly on the city streets and occasionally on the freeway.
I also don’t plan to ever tow anything, and the chances of me really off-roading my truck is pretty slim.

-DaMatRat

Well with 33in tires 4.56's will be a little much. With you do mostly city driving this will be OK and make for killer take-off. Hell you could beat most all ricer off the line. You may suffer a little MPG drop, but well worth it IMO. I have the sames choice to make on my 97 if I wind up keeping it and putting a lift on.

You do have the option of splitting it right down the center with 4.30 gears. Also keep in mind taller gears are much more likely to have some noise. This is why I changed from 4.30 to 4.10 so I could get Genuine Ford Racing gears. The 4.30's had some gear wine that bothered me over time.

WLF
Can you find 4.30's in a reverse cut pattern for the front axle? If so and they are a quality set I would opt for them in my case.

Thats the problem, I've never seen a set of 4.30 gears for a reverse cut 8.8IFS axle before. Don't really recall seeing them for the 9.75 either for that matter.



I'd stick with 4.56 if you want 35s. 4.56 will put the truck pretty close to stock.

I don't know but you can call Randy's ring and pinion. If it's available then they will know.
Heres the link to their web site
http://www.ringpinion.com/home.shtml
They sure helped me out a lot when I was doing my gear change. Mine is 8.8 2WD.
Good luck.

Just picked mine up last night from Randy's Ring and Pinion. After contemplating the same issue and getting some feed back from MaxMitchell and others I opted for the 4.56's over the 4.10's. I don't have any milage info yet but I can tell you the Take off is now effortless with light throttle and I run 2300 RPM at 70 on the freeway. I also am running 33's See Sig below:cool:

That's what I thought on the 8.8 reverse cut stuff. There's a company called Southern Gear that makes a 4.30 for the 9.75, not exetremly high quality though.

Right now I'm running 265/75/16's so anymore than a 4.11 would be pushing it on the interstate. If I did gears I would throw on a body lift and 33's or 35's, then the 4.56's would be better.

Hey Guys,

Well the new gears were installed today, Precisions 4.56’s.
I can tell there is a difference at take off but not really all what I expected?

The guys at the shop told me that there is a ‘break-in’ period so for the next couple hundred miles I should drive the truck conservatively?

Perhaps after I put a few hundred miles on the new gears I will really get on it to really feel/appreciate the added acceleration/performance?

I would suggest you change out all the gear oil after that break in period. That first 500 miles is the toughest on the gears as they set into their wear pattern they create a lot of heat. Also, change the fluid will carry away in gear marking compond and any little bits of metal shaving from the break-in. So yes don't worry about a few little bits of metal sometimes. While it's open check to make sure the wear pattern is OK. Better yet see if the shop that did the gear change will do it all for you. When I have mine changed I'm going to make it a requirement that they do this service for me.

MR. Tude, I am not sure if you have a chip in your truck but if not, I can tell you there is a major difference in my truck with the chip in or out!

Nah, no chip yet.
With my $$ from my tax return I decided to go with the new gears and the Airforce One intake.
The Superchip’s Microtuner will be my next mod/purchase.

Correct me if I am wrong but the Microtuner should resolve the problem with my speedometer now being off after the gear change?

After the Microtuner what other performance mods would you suggest? i.e. electric fans, pulleys?

Mr. Tude,
The Microtuner will fix your speedometer. I have to say that I have always been skeptical about the performance people say they have with chips and tuners. After gears and tires I honestly purchased one for the tire and gear correction option. Now with having said that....I DEFINATELY recomend the tuner! It really makes the truck wake up.... I recently posted in the chip section about letting a friend use my programer on his Superduty with the V-10 and I couldn't believe how horrible it was without the Superchip program in my truck. Needless to say Mike will be selling him a chip for his truck now because I want mine back:D
As far as other Mods, I am going with the electric fan kit then the pulleys.....your on the right track and you will be happier with those gears after you get that thing programmed!!!:cool:

Thor,

Thanks for the reply/suggestions.
Definitely saving for the MicroTuner.

This is OUTSTANDING I was just getting ready to post the same question. I myself am going to be getting a lift at some point down the road and going with 35's however since I currently am running 33's I would like to get back to what I had when it was stock. I think the key here will be to drive with the OD turned on to keep the freeway RPM's down. THOR you said you are turning 2300rpm @ 70MPH I am assuming it is with the overdrive ON? What do you turn with the OD off ? I tow a boat so I cannot have those RPM's to high when in 3rd gear(OD OFF). Also has anyone put in a LOCKER in the 9.75 and if so which one and has anyone put a LS into the front 8.8 and again which one. If someone has installed a LOCKER in the 9.75 did you have a stock LS prior to this I have heard that once you have a LS you cannot put a Locker in ? Now this makes no sense to me personally since the complete unit gets removed so If it was an open diff it would still be the same size etc...

Richard D.