Posted by Clint Dixon on Thursday, February 14, 2002 at 0:51AM :
In Reply to: 4.89 bennies? WOrth it? posted by Sean on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 at 11:56PM :
I have a stock 230 in my '47 that I rebuilt 40,000 miles ago. I swapped in 4.89's about 30,000 miles ago. No regrets. I do a lot of hauling of fairly heavy loads i.e: full loads of firewood to the top of the 12 inch tall side boards, 16 foot lumber to the top of the box, 20 square of shingles, etc. This part of Illinois is rolling country side with a 15 mile trip to town carrying these loads. I run the NDT 9.00 x 16 tires. I have not checked milage around home but on recent 300 mile trips into the hilly "Coolie" section of Wisconsin, I averaged 11.8 miles per gallon. I have the governor set for 3000 RPM and with slight variences influenced by barametric pressure, I can run steady down the road at 50 to 55 MPH. With the truck unloaded, I notice no loss of power with the 4.89's. With it loaded, I find I have to downshift more often on hills and I generally use first gear when pulling away from a stop. The 4.89's seem to give enough additional speed to get me up and over the smaller rolling hills without the downshifting that I used to do when I was traveling slower with the 5.83's.
Clint
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