I have a '98 F150 SC 4.2L 5-speed 3.08 gear truck. It is the lowest rated towing F150 from that year. I have considered the FIPK, chip, exhaust etc. to get more towing power but all of these options would put further strain on the drivetrain. I checked the owners manual and noticed that the 3.55 gear would give me 1300 lbs. more towing capacity so I have decided to make the change to the gear. I would like to hear from others who have done this. I would like to know the following;
1) Did you go with Ford or aftermarket gears?
2) Did you recalibrate your speedo and if so how?
3) Did the gears come as a kit with shims etc. or did you have to get shims and gaskets separately?
4) Did you put the synthetic lube from Ford back in (new of course) or did you use something else?

Looking forward to comments. Glenn Mc.

 

this weekend some friends and i changed the gears on an 88 chevy 1/2 ton (3.23-4.10) and an 83 camaro bracket racer that we're building (3.08-4.10)... its not all that hard if you have the right tools... the only catch is you'll need a hydraulic press to get bearings off and stuff. also you'll probably need an impact hammer to tighten the pinion gear. it took us about 3-4 hours for each rearend.

------------------
2001 F-150 XL SWB
4.2L 5-spd, 3.55

 

I don't really agree with your thoughts on performance mods putting more strain on the drive train, but thats ok. To correct for the gear change a superchip is required (I think).Talk to mike troyer he can set you straight on the corrections for your particular model year.As for what particular brand gears t go with I have no clue but the Fms should be as good as any brand.

 

Use only Ford gears, I've heard many a Mustang using others, (whine).I would have a quailified shop do gears, if not set up correctly, they will go to ***** quick.You have to set the backlash, and make sure that the gears seat right(in the middle of the ring gear)and the pinion gear is installed with a crush sleeve, it has to be done just right.You shouldn't need the shims, as the carrier was set up at the factory. If you have someone who has done them before, great!!, however I don't recommend doing them as a driveway job.Remeber to have the area aroung the bolt holes on the ring gear de-burred, if it doesn't sit flat, it could cause trouble.

------------------
2001 F-150 XLT S-CAB 4.6 "Fully equipt, and Superchip'd!"
96 Taurus GL
93 Kenne-Bell Supercharged Mustang
"Injection is nice, but I perfer being blown!"

www.kenne-bell.com/owners.asp
http://www.corral.net/cgi-bin/member...p00000403&p&p0


86 Kawasaki ZG 1000 A-1 Concours

 

The 3.55 will help a little, but if your looking for more bang for the buck, you should get the 3.73's or even the 4.10's! ALso, the 98's have a gear driven VSS so you won't need a chip to fix the speedo. You need to buy a little plastic gear that goes into this thing on your tranny. To figure out how many teeth you need on that gear use this equation:

New Ratio/Old Ratio - Then multiply that by the # of teeth you have on your existing speedo gear ( mine had 19, I think some might have 17 so you need to check!)

------------------
1997 Ford F-150
4.2 L V-6
Thrush Turbo Tube catback exhaust
K&N Air Filter
Window Tint
Pioneer 7000R CD player
2 Rockford Fosgate DVC HX2 10's
Rockford Fosgate 500a Amp
Lund bug shield
Vent Shade Vent Visors
GTS headlight blackouts
Bedliner
Chrome Toolbox
3" Body Lift
Lift Lips
305/70R16 ProComp Muds
16x10 Eagle 589
Chrome Westin Nerf Bars
4.10 Precision Gears
Custom Key racing stripes down both sides thanx to some a**hole in the HS Parking lot.
My WebPage


[This message has been edited by Mav07 (edited 05-15-2001).]