stock gears

[glenn201]

i have a 87 ranger it has the stock rear end it had 4cylinder 4 speed does any one know what gears are in the stock rear end because its way to low geared for the v8 4speed it has now an what should i go to i do a lot of high way driving

[cgrey8]

Most 4 cylinder and many V6 Rangers were outfitted with 7.5" rears. Although there are some 8.8" equipped 4s and 6s out there...mostly on 4x4s.

But as for what gears are in it, there should be a tag on the rear that indicates the gears that are in it from the factory. I think my 2wd 2.9L V6 had a 3.4-something in the stock 7.5" rear. I can't remember if it was 3.42 or 3.46 or exactly what it was. The 8.8" rear I pulled from a 93 4x4 was equipped with 3.73s.

I don't know how Ranger transmissions were geared, but I recall that Mustang T5s made for 4s were geared lower than T5s made for V6s and V8s.

So to know for sure, look at the tag. Use this link for reference on how to decode it:
TheRangerStation.com>Ford Ranger Rear Axles

[plowboy34]

As cgrey said there should be a tag, if there is no tag you can pull the cover and count teeth and do some math to get the ratio. You can also mark the driveline and mark the tire, rotate the driveline counting how many revolutions the driveline turns in one full rotation of the tire. If the driveline turns like 3 1/2 turns you have around a 3.50 gear. If it turns 3 3/4 you probably have 3.73's.

On our 85 which had the 4 banger with 5 speed it had 3.08 gears. They didn't pull off the line real well but top end was unbelievable and the fuel mileage was awesome. We got 20mpg all around driving and 25mpg on the interstate, we have never really checked what the 3.45's do but it is unreal the difference it does off the line.

cgrey, if it was a 3.4 something was probably 3.45's. They also had a 3.55 gear to, we have the 45 in the boy's truck right now.