Gears vs. Mileage

Lol if I had a nickel for every time some one asked this question over the years. It's a marauder make it fast ! 410s are a blast on the highway especially with a centri.
 
HotRaud90 said:
Alright, new guy here. Seriously looking into a MM with 62k miles for around 11.5k. It's had a few things done to it. When current owner bought from previous owner, it had 4.10 gears in it. Current owner is an older guy that didn't want off the line kick, so he had 3.23 gears installed instead of stock 3.55 :(
He also said that the speedo is off which means it was never tuned for 3.23s. It also has 255 rear tires which further messes with odometer readings (I think?).

Well, he said he would give me the 4.10 gears with the purchase, and another positive is that he said he had the axles replaced during the swap. Now I'm just stuck wondering if I should go find/trade for 3.55s, install and get a lidio tune OR just use the 4.10s I have, install them and get the lidio tune for that ratio. I KNOW I KNOW, most of you will tell me to go with 4.10 and never look back ;)
But, I'm lookin for better fuel economy and since I will be puttin the good juice in it (89-93), I need to make sure I'm makin the right choice with the greenbacks. I don't wanna drop the dime for one swap and then figure out it wasn't the best choice.

This would be a DD with a 60 mile round trip commute, highway 65%/city 35%. I have no problem with being a lightweight on the pedal. I usually go 65 on the highway and around 40-50 in city driving.

I'm sorry for the long winded post. Any/all help is appreciated. This would be so much easier if it had the stock 3.55s in it :(
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the difference in economy from tuned 3.55 to tuned 4.10 is minimal. The fun factor however is substantial.
Install the free gears, tune for them, enjoy.
 
camelgrundle said:
Lol if I had a nickel for every time some one asked this question over the years. It's a marauder make it fast ! 410s are a blast on the highway especially with a centri.
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I know, I know lol. I almost hated asking for the amount of noob flames I would receive :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure I could get around 23 highway with a lidio tune and the way I drive. Just mostly wondering about the city part. Of course there's always the burning desire to mash the pedal at the dig, but I drive pretty conservatively to keep the green in my pocket.

Can anyone attest to gettin around 17 city with 4.10s, a tune, and a light foot? 19-20 mpg combined would be enough for me to go ahead and do the 4.10s.
 
HotRaud90 said:
so he had 3.23 gears installed
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No, he didn't...there's no such ratio. Maybe he meant 3.27? Even that is only one step down from stock and would have not been worth the money he paid to have it done unless he drove an enormous number of highway miles.

If you're going to change it, go all the way to 4.10, unless YOU are planning to drive a huge amount on the highway, then do 3.73s...it will be a nice bump from your current but won't kill you on highway economy.
 
HotRaud90 said:
I know, I know lol. I almost hated asking for the amount of noob flames I would receive :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure I could get around 23 highway with a lidio tune and the way I drive. Just mostly wondering about the city part. Of course there's always the burning desire to mash the pedal at the dig, but I drive pretty conservatively to keep the green in my pocket.

Can anyone attest to gettin around 17 city with 4.10s, a tune, and a light foot? 19-20 mpg combined would be enough for me to go ahead and do the 4.10s.
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80 mile commute every day. Mix of highway and city in some of the worst traffic known to man kind, the San Francisco Bay Area.

I average around 17 in commute and just below 20 on highways. O and sometimes ... I .... umm ... the tires loose traction upon acceleration on an on ramp.

Anthony
 
HotRaud90 said:
Can anyone attest to gettin around 17 city with 4.10s, a tune, and a light foot? 19-20 mpg combined would be enough for me to go ahead and do the 4.10s.
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I've had my 4.10s and a tune for almost 2 years now. I wouldn't say that I'm a 'light foot', but I don't mash on it every day, either...just every other day. I get around 17mpg driving around town and around 21mpg on the interstate as long as I keep it below 77mph/2500 RPMs...I once got 23mpg, but kept it under 70mph the entire way, which was meh...

The MPG I get now are about 1-2mpg lower than what I was averaging with the 3.55s. If you drive 12,000 miles a year, you will need to purchase about 4 more tanks of gas running 4.10s vs 3.55s during that span; if 91/93 octane is $4/gal, that's about $300 more a year, or $25 extra a month.

There are other things besides driving habits that can help maximize MPGs.
 
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Warning!!! You will get noticeably less gas mileage. I usually drive the speed limit +/- 5-10mph...I just have a tune and can't stay out of the pedal. It is my fault for a heavy foot, but the smiles-to-miles factor is just too tempting. Heaven help me when the 4.10's are installed!!!
 
pantheroc said:
Thanks Bob, I was just thinking of putting the 3.55's in the CV.

Would it throw an error if I don't get a tune? Car has traction control.
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No error, but your speedo will be off and depending on the year you may need a tune to correct it, or a friendly local tech with an IDS.

See you and Diane in Looseville?
 
RF Overlord said:
No, he didn't...there's no such ratio. Maybe he meant 3.27? Even that is only one step down from stock and would have not been worth the money he paid to have it done unless he drove an enormous number of highway miles.

If you're going to change it, go all the way to 4.10, unless YOU are planning to drive a huge amount on the highway, then do 3.73s...it will be a nice bump from your current but won't kill you on highway economy.
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Um...unless I'm just completely inept, there IS such a thing as a 3.23 ratio. Used in plenty of cars. You are right in a sense though because (after some quick research) I don't believe they make a 3.23 for 8.8" rear end specs, which the Marauder has...hence why you're probably right that it's 3.27 in this case.

IwantmyMMnow! said:
I've had my 4.10s and a tune for almost 2 years now. I wouldn't say that I'm a 'light foot', but I don't mash on it every day, either...just every other day. I get around 17mpg driving around town and around 21mpg on the interstate as long as I keep it below 77mph/2500 RPMs...I once got 23mpg, but kept it under 70mph the entire way, which was meh...

The MPG I get now are about 1-2mpg lower than what I was averaging with the 3.55s. If you drive 12,000 miles a year, you will need to purchase about 4 more tanks of gas running 4.10s vs 3.55s during that span; if 91/93 octane is $4/gal, that's about $300 more a year, or $25 extra a month.

There are other things besides driving habits that can help maximize MPGs.
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Good to hear. Thanks for the info and everyone else who has/will contribute to answering my question.
 
3.23 vs. 3.27..."probably right"..."right in a sense"...the 3.23 thing in this forum MUST have been nothing more than a few typos...probably...
 
did not read all the posts but I put in 4.10s, CAI and Mo tune and went from 19.5 city to 19 city and 24.5 hiway to 22.5 hiway and lots and lots more bottom end. Tune and CAI seemed to help more than gears to me, but I could be wrong.
 
RF Overlord said:
OK, I didn't think I had to actually SAY that there's no such ratio for the Ford 8.8... :rolleyes:
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Hah! Fair enough. Just wanted to make absolutely sure. Sometimes (no insult or implication towards you), you just never know when it comes to the interweb and the people that peruse it :rolleyes: ...

prchrman said:
did not read all the posts but I put in 4.10s, CAI and Mo tune and went from 19.5 city to 19 city and 24.5 hiway to 22.5 hiway and lots and lots more bottom end. Tune and CAI seemed to help more than gears to me, but I could be wrong.
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Awesome. Thanks for the numbers. I appreciate all the info. Just a future owner soakin up as much as he can :D
 
Actual Personal Experience

Stock = 22 mpg:)
Change to 4.10s = 20.5 mpg:D
Install Trilogy = 24.5 mpg:D:burnout::D

Conclusion = install 4.10s and as soon as you can add Boost so you get better mpg than stock along with huge increase in "smiles per mile"! :D

(Then do conversion to manual 6-speed and get 33mpg!)
 
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Has any one run a set of 3:90 gears in their MM,if I calculate it right rpm's should sit around 2200 at or near 70 mph
 
fastblackmerc said:
I doubt it.....

Just install the 4.10's and be done with it.[/

I might not want to cruise at what is it 23 2400 rpm to me anyways at least a couple of hundred rpm makes a differance on the hwy which is why I asked if anyone has run them,I'm bad that way and tend not to follow everyone on what they do.
:beer:
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