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Part Two:
Part Three:
Part Five:
Part Six:
Special Fabtech Gibson Exhaust
Tech Questions: |
With the basics of the suspension handled, this month we turn our eyes towards making our truck move out in a more respectable fashion, as well as perhaps picking up some of that lost fuel economy. The addition of 37" rubber will, needless to say, rob you of precious horsepower and torque.
Drivetrain Direct 4.56:1 Gear Swap www.drivetraindirect.com We sought out Dave Rittenhouse of Drivetrain Direct in Corona, CA to help us get things in the drive train spinning at the right speed again. By switching to 37" tires we altered the Expedition's OEM 3.73 final drive ratio by 20%, taking it to about 3.00:1. A wonderful ratio for a 150mph grand touring car. But woefully tall for an off-road truck. By swapping the stock 3.73 gears for a set of Superior Gears for the front Ford 8.8" and Precision Gears for the rear Ford 9.75" ring and pinion sets with ratios of 4.56:1 we compensated for the 20% change and returned the final drive ratio to stock. The speedometer reads spot on again. And we can use the overdrive on the freeway. Without changing the gears performance was terrible, worse than terrible. Acceleration was pathetic, and at highway speeds it would barely pull third gear on the E4OD automatic tranny. After the swap to 4.56's things were "just right." The work was done in-house at Drivetrain Direct by their expert installation staff and is a job not recommended for the average do-it-yourselfer. While gear swaps aren't technically challenging, they are as much an art as a science. Setting gear lash can be tricky. A mistake can be costly and will void any warranties on the parts. After watching Drivetrain Direct's tech get it right, no perfect the first time by feel and eye. It made it look much easier than it is. But leave this job to the pros. If you are going to upgrade to 35" or taller tires you'll need to follow that up with a set of gears to keep your engine/trans matched to properly matched to road speed. Everything you need to get the job done from the right parts to expert installation and technical assistance can be found at Drivetrain Direct!
K&N Generation II Filter Charger www.knfilters.com First rule of increased performance is more airflow. And the first rule of more airflow is K&N Engineering. Adding a K&N filter to your vehicle is not just a good idea it's the law! Better performance and fuel economy, longer intervals between maintenance and you never have to buy another air filter for your truck as long as it lives? All for about 50 bucks? Quit making excuses and and click the logo at the right and buy one for every vehicle you own. Or do what we did and step up to the better performing Filter Charger system. With the removal of the strangling stock airbox and engineered to replace the entire intake from the filter to the throttle body. You can expect a horsepower increase of as much as 10%, 2-3 more miles to the gallon in fuel economy, plus a meant for business look when you pop open the hood. Not to mention a delicious throaty intake sound that reminds me of flipping the the air cleaner lid on the family's station wagon when I was a derelict youth. Installation is a snap even for the most inept mechanic with only a pair of pliers and a sledge hammer in his tool kit. The directions are simple with photos so clear that one need not even be able to read to get the job done in an hour or two. The Filter Charger system also includes a "Recharger Kit" with enough filter cleaner and oil to last for years. K&N has an application for almost every vehicle on the planet, their quality is above question and the fact that their products perform better dollar for dollar than any other performance modification you could make says only on thing: If you make only one improvement to your truck... Make it a K&N On to more breathing exercises... Click Here for Page Two of the story!
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