Can anyone tell me why reverse is about twice as tall as first gear? If anything it should be shorter. I can almost hit 50 in reverse. (dont try that at home kids!)Are the auto's the same way? Has anyone tried backing up an incline lately? I love my Ford, but I think someone goofed.

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1999 F150 4x4 XLT BLACK ORP 4.6 5 SPEED 3.55
LUND HOOD SHEILD
K&N
FLOWMASTER SERIES 40
SUPERCHIP
PREMIUM SOUND W/CHANGER
PIONEER 6815's(for now)

 

I can't shed any light on your question, but it reminded me of a funny article I read in a late '60s muscle car magazine. Turns out the magazine noticed that their test Roadrunner with a 383 and auto tranny had a really tall reverse gear, and they decided to do a 1/4 mile in reverse! If I remember correctly, it was about 16.8 seconds at 70 mph. Obviously it got to 70 pretty quick and stayed at redline all the way through the trap.

 

Maybe reverse uses the same gears as 2nd gear, but just spinning the other direction? It seems that reverse is usually taller than 1st on most vehicles.

 

Well back in my pizza delivery days in a ford ranger they had for a delivery truck one night I was doing about 50 in drive and just for the hell of it I put it in reverse and it squeeled the tires and and it ran fast in reverse but the next night when some one else drove it the trans went out for some reason.

 

BLACKENEDFORD: I believe you were refering to a manual transmission and one reason is the size of the gear and the case to put it in. The reverse gear occupies space and if you tear a trans apart reverse is usually smaller in diameter.
hmustang; when I was younger some friends and I also played with an auto trans in a 2 speed Chevy and it creeped home in low gear.

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97 F-150, 2WD, Reg Cab,Flareside,Dk Toreador Red, 4.6, 3.55 LS, EGR Bug Deflector, ******* Bed Cover, Bed Liner, XL Full Length Running Boards, Air Aid Kit, Gibson Single Out Cat Back, Superchips, TransGo Shift Kit, Hellwig Rear Sway Bar, Hellwig 2500# Overload Springs