gears...

[matt11583]

where exactly do gears go in a drivetrain??? and extactly wat do they do and why is replacing them help so much.. alot of ppl have told me it is one of teh cheapest n best mods to do when i get my 5.0

[sierrap615]

a 5.0 mustang as with most RWD car have to sets of gears, one in the transmission the other in the rear axle.

the purpose of gears is to multiply engine torque and match engine power with different speeds and road conditions. in other words the engine can only work in a certain range (IE- 600RPM to 6000RPM) and has a certain peak power point( IE 5200RPM to 5400RPM) the wheels need to work in a much wider range (0MPH - 100+MPH) the gears in the rear axle are set at one speed, the gears in the transmission have several speeds.

the different speeds in the transmission allow the engine to work in the ideal RPM at any road speed. for example, if you only had the first speed, you engine would red-line around 30 MPH. or if you only had the last speed, you would be able to go above 100MPH, but you would need some other vehicle to push you to get above 60MPH.

the rear axle gear only has one speed, but it also multiplys torque.

how much the gears miltiply the torque is called the gear ratio. changing the gear ratio affects when your car has the most power in relation to wheel speed.

those people are probally just talking about regearing the rear axle. its not the cheapest to my knowage and how well it affects performance all depends on how the car feels to you(IE- no power off the line but lots of power at high speeds or vise-versa then you may want to look in to it) be warned - regearing is not a small change, the car will feel and act very different. and what you gain in power you will lose in gas mileage.

i hope i explained that right...

[383PhoenixAm]

Look up differentials on www.howstuffworks.com

The gears they're talking about are rear end ring and pinion gears. I'll dumb it down here.
What they will do, if you get new ones, is basically make your engine operate at a higher operation range. This amplifies power and RPM output, basically, but it also means that when you do things like cruise, or anything else for that matter, the engine will be moving at a faster speed than normal. Its good for performance, but bad for wear and mileage. If its a daily driver then you don't want to do anything past....3.73, I believe.

Also, be aware that the installation is not a simple task. You have to recalibrate the speedometer for the change afterwards.