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Old Bastard !
Joined: Fri Dec 22nd, 2017
Location: California USA
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I have a Zf5 manual from a 460 big block in my 97 F350 with the 7.3 diesel. I have 4.10 ring and pinion gears and I went to 35" tires, so even with the 7.3 running out of RPM with the 35's I get a decent highway gear (like 2200 rpm at 65 mph)
The nice thing about a 5 speed manual behind a diesel is you can shift when you want to....
I WISH I had more OD...for long runs (Like from Colorado to Idaho) I am sitting at 3000 rpm for hours at a time...something the 7.3 does not mind, but it would be nice to have a gear splitter or aftermarket overdrive so I could do 75-80 mph and get my rpm down to like 1800...but that's a big chunk of $$$$
You know this but a lot of people don't... IF you are looking to increase the tire size on your Rig, you first need to determine what you are going to do with the Rig and what rpm range is right for the engine you have; once you can figure that out, then you can look at tire size vs rpm and determine the best gear ratio.
The best of both worlds would be a low cost Gear Splitter for smaller truck, I like that... Go through the gears, then go through them again, sounds like good driving !
With a Diesel, you need to understand that rpm's are limited BUT you have torque to carry you through, so you can go long on the gear, or other words... a higher gear ration and if it is a 4x then a good gear range in the T-Case helps off road or pulling.
That's one thing I like about the Atlas-II/4.3, a nice low gear once you are at the off road site AND I can drive in 2x front or rear, so I can tow in 2x Low... but that's another story.
I digress, IF I had a Diesel, I think a nice Allision 6 six automatic would be nice, but there are others, and I would need to find out about them before going further. I was told that with the R2.8L-Cummins, the low range of the NV4500 wouldn't work as well as some autos..., i.e. too much gear I guess.
Cost of the automatics is another thing... way too high for new stuff, rebuilt, I am not sure.
Thanks for this thread and the info put here, good stuff to think on !
Ltr
Last edited on Wed Nov 21st, 2018 11:26 am by Scrambler82
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Ltr,
2003 EDGE, Std Cab, Steppie, E4 Red, 5sp, 4x
5" SuperLift, 33" x 12.50 x 15"
Hurst Shifter
Mod'd Backrack to fit Steppie
Front and Rear Bumpers by Custom 4x4 Fabrication, OK; now Mike's Welding and Fabrication.
Working on more Mods, just need more time, longer days would work !