The Ford Barn - View Single Post

Ziggster · 01-31-2024, 05:50 AM

I don’t have a dog in this fight on whether one should use the S10 vs a Ford T5, but a HAMBER who’ve I personally met just recently posted that he was wishing to swap the gear set in his S10 T5. He doesn’t have a flathead, but mentioned first gear was useless.
In my OT project a couple years back I realized the gearing of the auto 3sp trans would result in around a 3,000 rpm highway cruising speed. I then decided to do the 5.3/4L80 swap due to the orig engine being woefully under powered and a gas guzzler (IH 345). I even ordered new R&P gear sets from Yukon so that at crushing speeds of about 70 mph, the engine was doing around 2,100 rpm. For me, this was imperative as I recall the days I had a 73 Ford Bronco with a 302/ 3 sp auto and 4.11 gears. It was brutal cruising at highway speeds with the engine winding out at 3,000 rpm. My point being is that folks should really look closely at the engine/trans/diff combo to ensure they have the correct gearing so that they can have maximum enjoyment from their vehicle.

01-31-2024, 05:50 AM	#64
Ziggster Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Ottawa, ON Posts: 1,375	Re: T5 advice I don’t have a dog in this fight on whether one should use the S10 vs a Ford T5, but a HAMBER who’ve I personally met just recently posted that he was wishing to swap the gear set in his S10 T5. He doesn’t have a flathead, but mentioned first gear was useless. In my OT project a couple years back I realized the gearing of the auto 3sp trans would result in around a 3,000 rpm highway cruising speed. I then decided to do the 5.3/4L80 swap due to the orig engine being woefully under powered and a gas guzzler (IH 345). I even ordered new R&P gear sets from Yukon so that at crushing speeds of about 70 mph, the engine was doing around 2,100 rpm. For me, this was imperative as I recall the days I had a 73 Ford Bronco with a 302/ 3 sp auto and 4.11 gears. It was brutal cruising at highway speeds with the engine winding out at 3,000 rpm. My point being is that folks should really look closely at the engine/trans/diff combo to ensure they have the correct gearing so that they can have maximum enjoyment from their vehicle.