Posted by Charlie on May 29, 1999 at 23:12:12:
In Reply to: Overdrive posted by Drew on May 29, 1999 at 19:51:56:
Contact me at 52m37@alaska.net or 907-349-8673 after 9AM Alaska time for details.
A Ranger will NOT work in a stock PW for the following reasons: the 7" length will force you to move the transfer case, and the bolt patterns dong match, nor do the spline patterns. All of these can be gottenaround (move tc, custom splining on output gear of Ranger, drilling new holes in front and rear of Ranger, maybe in bellhousing), but there are alternatives. Assuming you have and want to keep the flathead, you can do the following:
1) install 4.89 gears. Always a tradeoff. Motor must be in excellent condition.
2) install larger tires (see answer to tire question on Forum today). Likewise a tradeoff, but with the bonus of improved off road performance and way better ride (hard to believe but very true). the quivalent of going from 5.83 to 4.89 would be going to 41-42" tires.
3) 5 speed with 5th overdrive. See "Best of the Forum".
4) Gear Vendors overdrive on rear output of transfer case. You retain 5.83 gearing for in town use 2nd-4th and for off road. Effective highway gear is 0.78 X 5.83 = 4.55.
I may use a Ranger in my newly acquired WC53 Carryall. Behind a turbocharged Perkins 4.236, in front of SM465 Chevy 4spd and NP201. One useful feature of the Ranger is its' very steep 0.73:1 ratio. That produces an effective 4.26 final drive ratio, allowing 5.83s to be kept in a diesel re-power as long as 11.00-16s or taller tires are used. that of course saves $636 for the 4.89s and bumps up performance in the lower gears.
Yes, the more "forwards" in the powertrain an overdrive is, the more stuff is over-driven. The tradeoff is that torque is muliplied down the drivetrain. The torque output to the rear output of the transfer case is (with the flathead) 180 ft-lb X 6.40 = 1152 ft-lb. If you promise yourself to only use the overdrive in 3rd and 4th, the maximum torque delivered to it is 1.70 X 180 = 306.
Charlie