need help with gears

[xcovelectric]

I have a 71 Bronco it has 3.54 gears in the front and 3.50 in the back should that be like that? I thought you had to match both gears but who makes a 3.54 in a 9"? Can someone help,this is my first early bronco.

 

[Steve]

That's not a problem. You can't get the exact same ratio for Dana axles and the Ford 9" (for example, 4.10 and 4.11). 3.50 and 3.54 are close enough to not be a problem - assuming, of course, that you don't run it in 4WD on dry pavement.

 

[xcovelectric]

I did that already

I did that already and had to take a jack and pick up the back end to get it out of 4x4 lol

That's not a problem. You can't get the exact same ratio for Dana axles and the Ford 9" (for example, 4.10 and 4.11). 3.50 and 3.54 are close enough to not be a problem - assuming, of course, that you don't run it in 4WD on dry pavement.

 

[Apogee]

High-traction environents like pavement or slickrock will cause things to get a little bound up, but nothing a little back and forth won't usually fix. Try running 4.88's and 5.29's sometime...that's interesting (Note to self: Don't assume that just because a brand new diff is tagged with a gear ratio from a reputable national builder that it's correct).

 

[xcovelectric]

Will it started grinding and making alot of bad sounds lol

 

[Broncobowsher]

It's normal and acceptable.

Want to get a headache? Think what happens when you make a turn. The front axle makes a much larger arc then the rear, therefor it travels further. To what degree this happens is related to how hard the front wheels are turned.

There are reasons why 4WD should not be operated on hard, high traction surfaces. Low traction, tires are going to slip a little (maybe a lot) so you use 4WD to get extra traction. You are still going to have slip, it is required with a part time 4WD locking the front and rear axles together solidly (without a center differential).

 

[xcovelectric]

What would be better to just run a 3.50 gear in the front?

 

[Broncobowsher]

What would be better to just run a 3.50 gear in the front?

Did you read any of the above posts??

Just leave it alone. It was built that way. It is just fine. There is nothing wrong with it.

You will have a bigger variation in distance traveled by the wear and pressure in your tires then you will with a .04 change in gear ratio.

 

[tasthree]

My dad bought a new 79 Ford truck and drove it for a little while. I drove it one night and still being a youngun I snuck out to do some wheeling in the mud to see how it would do. ;D . It felt real funny to me and I had one h*ll of a time getting it out of 4wheel low. I had to admit to my dad I went wheeling in it to be able to tell him I thought something was wrong with the gearing. He took it back to the dealer and shure enough it had different gearing front and rear from the factory which the dealer had to change one of the sets. Sometimes you have to back up 10-20' or if you have locking hubs try to un lock them. Enjoy your new Bronco.