Changing gear ratios?

How hard is it on a '53 M38-a1 with 5.38's?

Or, would it be easier just to drop in a 4 speed tranny?

Dondo

 

Or an overdrive????? I take it you want to go faster? The 4 speeds that most people swap in won't do you any good, as they only give a granny low and the "4th" is the same ratio as your "3rd". It should cost big money for a 4 speed that has OD (adapter costs, driveshaft mods, etc).

Either swapping gears, coming across a cheap set of complete axles, or installing an overdrive would be on top of my list before swapping in a new tranny.

 

How complex is "swaping gears"? I assume that we are talking rear end gears, correct?

 

You need to do both front and rear axles so they match. As for complexity, it's not a job I want to do, so I can't say first hand. A few precision tools and patience are required.

 

You assume? Wasn't it you that brought it up?

It is not complex. It just needs to be done correctly. Not for most of us to do ourselves.

JB

 

See, shows you how much I know about whats going on...


too much Scotch I guess...

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll just live with doing 3500 rpm at 45 mph..

Dondo

 

personally when it comes to ring&pinion changes it is worth it to have someone else do. yes you could do it yourself but if you mess up you could either eat up a gearset or have your whole rearend lockup on you when you least expect it. just one of the things i gladly farmed out on my project. especially since the axles were back to me in 2 days and the guy cut me a deal on the setup.

 

Prolly a wise decision...... If you ever drive off-road you will appreciate the 5:38's much more than the 3.73's you would probably end up with. An overdrive would give the best of both worlds, but you have to invest $400+ unless you are lucky.

I have 4.88's and can cruise ok at 55-60 with my V6, but I still chose to go for an overdrive to let the hamsters rest a little and get me up closer to 65-70 mph. I drive mine a fair bit on the highway for hunting purposes.

 

Uh, don't most people use a rifle for hunting?

Now back to our thread....