Lookin' for some Knowledge

ok....so I am trying to decide if I am going to sell the F150, and get a truck with more power, or maybe re-gear the rear end.

If I were to re-gear, I have a few questions, and I know I can get good info here.

(The truck is a 1998 ford f150 4.6ltr v8 automatic)

1) what size gears are in the rear end?

2) how hard is it to actually do the job?

3) Who manufactures a good "on-road" gear

4) Should I just buy a bigger truck?  

Is it 4X4? The 4wd and 2wd have different axle ratios. most of the 2wd were 3.07 and the 4wd could be 3.73 or 4.11 depending on the package the truck left Detroit with. If you've never done a gearing job before don't attempt it without someone there that has,(and I mean someone that's good at it). As far as who makes a good gear, there is tons of gear companies out there start researching more on price line. There are also tons of performance parts for the 4.6 as well. With some bolt-on power adders and re-gearing you'll have no need to look for a more powerful truck. Have fun.  
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Dave,

Are you trying to accel faster from a start? Or pump more weight over hills?

Engine mods with more HP will preserve current drive-ability, i.e., maintaining proper torque/hp curve at desired road speed.  

My Jeep has 4.88 gears which is great for rock crawling, but max speed is about 65.
It accels well through all gears, but the whine of the inline 5 Heep engine sucks the ear wax from your head at top speed.  

Wayne  

a 4.10 or so would be a GREAT gear
forget about doing it yourself (hell, I probably even wouldn't)
http://www.ringpinion.com/
bigger truck? Hm, depends on why you'd want one Dave. You can get a mid/late 90s cummins and its a pretty solid strong ride (go 4x4!) with GREAT towing power and MPG. But if your truck is doing everything you need, just regear it and run it.  

I BELEAVE HE HAD A TWO WHEEL DRIVE,BUT WE DO NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING WITH IT TO DETERMEN WHAT SIZE GEARS ARE RIGHT FOR YOU EXAMPLE.#1 DO YOU WANT TO GO MUDDING ONCE IN AWHILE?#2 DO YOU WANT TO CRAWL ON ROCKS AND VERY ROUGH TERRAIN.#3 DO YOU WANT TO LOOK COOL AROUND THE CITY AND DO ALOT OF FREEWAY DRIVING.#4 HOW BIG OF TIRES AND LIFT DO YOU PLAN ANYTHING AFTER 35 SHOULD BE GEARED.#5 DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU ANSWER IN ABOVE QUESTIONS WE CAN DETERMEN IF YOU NEED TO GO TO A 4X4 BUT WHEN YOU GO BIG IT DOES DOES LOOK GOOFY HAVING 2X4 OR ACTUALY 1X4 DEPENDING ON TRAC SETUP.  YES QTR. TON TRUCKS THAT ARE A LITTLE BIG LIKE YOURS ARE GOING TO BREAK PARTS THATS WHY WE GO WITH ONE TONS AND 3 QTR. TONS BUT SINCE ITS A TWO WHEEL DRIVE YOU PROBALLY WONT GET IN TOO CRAZY OF OFF ROAD SITUATIONS IM VERY GOOD WITH 2 TO 4 WHEEL DRIVE CONVERSIONS ON YOUR MODEL TRUCK BUT YOU HAVE TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS BEFORE WE CAN ANSWER ANY OF YOURS . I KNOW YOU HAVE POSTED AN OLDER THREAD BUT NOT EVERYBODY HAS SEEN IT SO PLEASE BRING US ALL UP TO DATE.  

P.S. DONT ATEMPT TO INSTALL GEARS YOUR SELF PERIOD,THERES A MILLION WAYS TO DO THEM WRONG..PATTERN...SPACING...AND ONLY ONE WAY TO DO THEM RIGHT. I DO EVERYTHING MYSELF BUT NOT GEARS....EVEN IF YOU CALL CUSTOM 4X4 SHOPS THEY WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING (WE HAVE TO CHECK WITH OUR GEAR GUY)THEY START AT AROUND 400 PER KIT FOR FRONT AND BACK,PLUS INSTALL OF ABOUT 250 BUT IF YOU HAVE TWO WHEEL DRIVE THEN YOU DONT NEED TO DOUBLE THOSE INSTALL PRICES 2WD-$450   4WD-$900 INSTALL PRICES DO VARY AND SO DO GEAR PACKAGES. POSI'S -$210          I SCREWED UP WHEN TYPING SO THESE ARE MY UPDATED ESTIMATES OF WHAT IT COST ME!! I WROTE MY RESPONSE'S WEIRD AND SCREWED UP ON MY OVERALL PRICE OF ESTIMATE OF GEARS BUT I FIXED IT AND FROM WHAT SPAWN X SAID IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR HAVING PROBLEMS WITH WHAT GEARS YOU NEED BASED ON TAKE OFF SPEED OR TORQUE OVER HILLS.....WHICH ONE OR EITHER ?  

Dave is not a street queen, he would never turn his 2wd into an off-road monster. He's had 4x4s, just not right now

I do think that price is a bit high, on average it should be around 250 for the ring/pinion, and 250 for install. 400 for install sounds kind of high  

OHHH CRAP, I WASNT READING WHAT I POSTED ,MY GEAR PACKAGE(FRONT AND BACK)WAS 400 TOTAL ....NOT 400 PER AXLE AND IT WAS ON SELL !! AND AS FAR AS THE INSTALL PRICE..IM NOT SURE IF YOU READ THAT PART RIGHT 250 TOO INSTALL MY GEAR PACKAGE PER AXLE NOT 400 .... I *** HATE WHEN I START TYPING TOO FAST AND WRITE SOMETHING WRONG.....THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW ABOUT MY TYPO!!!  MOST THE TIME IM COMPLETE AND THOUROGH BUT STUFF HAPPENS.....I FEEL LIKE A RICE GRINDER RIGHT NOW BUT I KNOW HOW TO FIX THAT ILL GO RUN ONE OVER!!! IT WILL MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!!!   -THANK'S  -DJ DIESEL  

I had a 98 F150 4x4 and it came with 3:55 gears. The 4.6 was okay for flat areas but sucked on hills. I put 385x17x70 tires on it and went to 4:10 gears but it only put it back to about stock with the larger tires. I say look for another truck with the 5.4 engine
Just my two cents worth.
George  
94 YJ Spring over with custom springs.
44's both ends with 4:56 gears. Auto 3speed and Atlas 11 (4.3). 35" Mud Terrians.
Detriot in rear and Lock-Rit in front.
Warn 8,000

I don't think he is planning on putting larger tires on the Ford, I believe he is staying with stock size  

just lookin to stay stock on the tires...Need more power when towing!  

Nice, Dave. Why didn't you just say so?  

The cheapest option is a tow hitch to the stern of Frank's Unimog  

Lowering gear ratio will give you crap driveability for towing.  

sell it and by a silverado Z71  
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You know I love you all (in a manly non sexual way) Spawn_X

booooo! a chebby  

DJD
Your posts are hard to read in all caps, can you undo the caps?

And it is also like shouting....