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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 3:54 "Hiway" gearing for early Ford V8

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Discussion Topic: 3:54 "Hiway" gearing for early Ford V8 -- page: 1 2

svmsr1044

07-03-2014 @ 1:56 PM

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My 40 dlx sdn has the optional 4:11 rear diff gears. A little too low for my taste. Anyone have the optional 3:54 gears? Any experience or thoughts with the high gearing? Thanks, Steve

kubes40

07-03-2014 @ 4:00 PM

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Steve, In my opinion of you have a stock engine, you'll be a tad disappointed in the 3:54 ratio.
I prefer the 3:78 in all of my cars. Good "off the line" and more than adaquet taking a guy down the highway.

ken ct.

07-03-2014 @ 4:07 PM

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If you drive a lot in hilly country you wont like the 3.54. Tough on clutches starting off on them. 3.78 is a better gear. 3.54's are good in flat country like Fl. ken ct omo.

TomO

07-04-2014 @ 6:55 AM

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IMHO the 3.54 works fine in the flat country of the Midwest. The stock 40 engine should give you adequate acceleration in most situations. Starting off uphill with any stick shift can be a problem.

The 3.78 seems to require too many rpms at 55 mph for my taste. It seems more comfortable at 45-50 mph.

Tom

This message was edited by TomO on 7-4-14 @ 6:56 AM

ford38v8

07-04-2014 @ 9:43 AM

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I took out 4.44 gears, replacing them with 3/78 gears. My 59L engine is happy at 72 mph. It goes over the Sierras in 3rd gear and start in the middle of a San Francisco hill without difficulty.

Alan

TomO

07-06-2014 @ 10:04 AM

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OK Steve, you now have 3 for the 3.78 and 1 for the 3.54. If you belong to a Regional Group, see if you can ride in a car with either gear set, and then you can make up your own mind.

I had to use 1st gear to get up this hill. So did most of the other people on the Tour.

Tom

deluxe40

07-06-2014 @ 11:11 AM

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I put a 3.25 in my '41 Sedan Delivery. Just right for cruising the Central Coast of CA. However, full disclosure requires that I tell you that my brand new, foreign-made, 9" clutch began slipping at about 10K miles. The disk wasn't used up and I believe the slipping was due to inferior design of the pressure plate, rather than the tall gearing. It now has a NOS Ford pressure plate with a new disk.

wmsteed

07-07-2014 @ 8:43 AM

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A quick way to solve the "gearing problem" on an EFV8 is to remove the fan from the engine. The fan blade design that Ford used was famous for being noisy, that's why they use to be called "screaming eights".
Modern cars with their clutch equipped fans sound like they have slipped into a lower gear, when the engine gets hot enough to engage the fan clutch.
Of course city and driving in hilly terrain requires a fan, open highways do not..
I ran my '36 without a fan for years, then I moved to Vegas, had to rig up a fan.. My wide spread carbs required some Yankee Ingenuity. Cutting down a '39 generator to use it for a fan mount, solved the problem.It has been on the car every since.

Bill
36 5 win delx cpe

juergen

07-07-2014 @ 12:05 PM

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If you are worried about "off the line", another choice is to use the 3.54 with a "wide ratio" Ford trans. It is 10% wider in first and second so the setup acts like a standard ratio trans with a 3.78 in first and second. By wide ratio I mean an early Ford trans with a 29 tooth cluster instead of the standard 28 tooth cluster. These were common in 40s Ford 3 speed pickups.

This message was edited by juergen on 7-7-14 @ 12:06 PM

Model B

07-08-2014 @ 5:56 AM

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I replaced the 4:11 in my '40 Conv. with a 3:54 gear. Works great. I live in Ohio...the terrain is mostley flat with some hills. I also have a '32 Standard Coupe with a 3:54. Great for highway speeds. Pat

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