Another gear swap thread...lol

[Squints2See]

Hi folks,

Considering swapping gears in my non PP GT manual from the stock 3.31's to 3.73's. I came from a corvette that had a lot of low end torque and I miss that feeling that a pushrod engine provides.

I did a lot of searching of the forums and found several threads, but a few of them were rather old and some of the information was speculative at that point. So here are my questions:

1. It sounds like the swap would require a reflash of the ECM and possibly another module in the car (can't remember the name). Can this be done by the dealer or would the purchase of a tuner be required?

2. Does my non PP GT have a LSD of any type? (I know the PP has a torsen style).

3. Is it worth the cost to swap to the torsen diff whether I do or don't have an LSD currently?

4. For what I figure will be about $1000 investment, would this be the best use of my money for low end acceleration as opposed to the Ford Performance Pack 2? (Only have 2k on the odometer so not comfortable with a custom tune yet).

Thanks for any input

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[robertwsimpson]

I love the 373 gears... In fact, I'm probably one of the few people who would go even higher if they had it from the factory. For $1,000, there are a lot of other things I would probably do first though. Just depends on what you're going for.

On the topic of programming, for what a dealer is going to charge you to go in and change the setting, I'd imagine you're between 30-50% of the way toward getting a tuner, so you might as well just do that. The rear end change is an easy setting to do yourself.

Without a doubt, get the limited slip. Doing all that work and not putting the limited slip in would be like putting a supercharger on your car but leaving the stock air filter.

For what it's worth, I'm also disappointed at the low end power of this 5 liter V8. The engine is happier in the higher revs, period. I'm just learning to change my driving style rather than worry about low end power. I keep the revs above 2k always. I go for 1 gear lower than what I think when I downshift. That puts the grin on my face. The sound and the power up high in the revs is awesome, so I just keep the engine spinning faster.

If you want another way to spend the money, just get exhaust. The sound puts a bigger grin on my face than the speed. It will also encourage you to drive at higher revs to hear the coyote really howl.

just my 2 cents.

 

[Squints2See]

Thanks for the input. So are you saying that there is no LSD of any type on the non PP GT? Or is it still a basic LSD but not a Torsen diff?

If it has no LSD, how expensive is that to add?

I love the 373 gears... In fact, I'm probably one of the few people who would go even higher if they had it from the factory. For $1,000, there are a lot of other things I would probably do first though. Just depends on what you're going for.

On the topic of programming, for what a dealer is going to charge you to go in and change the setting, I'd imagine you're between 30-50% of the way toward getting a tuner, so you might as well just do that. The rear end change is an easy setting to do yourself.

Without a doubt, get the limited slip. Doing all that work and not putting the limited slip in would be like putting a supercharger on your car but leaving the stock air filter.

For what it's worth, I'm also disappointed at the low end power of this 5 liter V8. The engine is happier in the higher revs, period. I'm just learning to change my driving style rather than worry about low end power. I keep the revs above 2k always. I go for 1 gear lower than what I think when I downshift. That puts the grin on my face. The sound and the power up high in the revs is awesome, so I just keep the engine spinning faster.

If you want another way to spend the money, just get exhaust. The sound puts a bigger grin on my face than the speed. It will also encourage you to drive at higher revs to hear the coyote really howl.

just my 2 cents.

 

[robertwsimpson]

I don't know what the lower trims have. I saw the gear ratio and went for it. I wouldn't drive a rear wheel drive vehicle without a limited slip.

American Muscle has two versions of limited slip that will work for you if you just wanted to change out the guts. Both have limited slip, but one is the torsen. If you've already got some sort of limited slip, I wouldn't worry about it. That's just me.

Can you do the work or are you going to get someone to do the work? Install is listed as 4 hours on american muscles site, and that would get expensive.

If you're going to go the gear/limited slip route, they have loaded rear diff housings, which would cost a bit more but make the install far more foolproof and easier, I would think.

 

[BmacIL]

Hi folks,

Considering swapping gears in my non PP GT manual from the stock 3.31's to 3.73's. I came from a corvette that had a lot of low end torque and I miss that feeling that a pushrod engine provides.

I did a lot of searching of the forums and found several threads, but a few of them were rather old and some of the information was speculative at that point. So here are my questions:

1. It sounds like the swap would require a reflash of the ECM and possibly another module in the car (can't remember the name). Can this be done by the dealer or would the purchase of a tuner be required?

Can be done with the Whipple Flare tool or modifying the As-Build data stored in the modules:
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61773

2. Does my non PP GT have a LSD of any type? (I know the PP has a torsen style).

Yes, it's a clutch-pack type LSD, known as Trac-Loc.

3. Is it worth the cost to swap to the torsen diff whether I do or don't have an LSD currently?

Yes, if you do any sort of performance driving (autocross, HPDE).

4. For what I figure will be about $1000 investment, would this be the best use of my money for low end acceleration as opposed to the Ford Performance Pack 2? (Only have 2k on the odometer so not comfortable with a custom tune yet).

This will definitely give you more SOTP acceleration increase than the PP2, though won't necessarily be much faster objectively since you'll be shifting more.

 

[15GTBEN]

Hi folks,

Considering swapping gears in my non PP GT manual from the stock 3.31's to 3.73's. I came from a corvette that had a lot of low end torque and I miss that feeling that a pushrod engine provides.

Thanks for any input

373's are not going to make your 5.0 feel like the vette down low. At least go test drive a PP GT before going down the gear swap road. Gears and tune will help some but if want low end from your 5.0, install a whipple.

 

[Grintch]

Want the feel of more power? Step on the gas harder and don't short shift. Maybe turn off traction control.

I just saved you $1000. If you can easily spin the wheels (which you can), lower gears aren't going to do much for you.

The 3.31s are the gears to have unless you are drag racing with taller than stock slicks.

 

[Squints2See]

I wasn't expecting it to compare to the low end of my vette, but I figured the higher ratio would definitely help. I am going to try and get use to revving it higher and get use to it, but I still miss that low end oomph...

Would love to have a whipple but not on a car with 2k miles on it and 8 months old. I'm not a mechanic so a warranty is to my liking, lol.

373's are not going to make your 5.0 feel like the vette down low. At least go test drive a PP GT before going down the gear swap road. Gears and tune will help some but if want low end from your 5.0, install a whipple.

 

[robertwsimpson]

Seriously, get a cat back on that piece and rev for the heavens!

 

[BmacIL]

Want the feel of more power? Step on the gas harder and don't short shift. Maybe turn off traction control.

I just saved you $1000. If you can easily spin the wheels (which you can), lower gears aren't going to do much for you.

The 3.31s are the gears to have unless you are drag racing with taller than stock slicks.

Yeah, I just want to get a Torsen swapped in and I'll be happy with mine.

 

[Rebellion]

Yeah, I just want to get a Torsen swapped in and I'll be happy with mine.

Why would you want a 3.31? What gears do you currently have?

I though of getting a 3.31 torsen...but it's too much effort to swap.

 

[2015 Silver GT]

Would love to have a whipple but not on a car with 2k miles on it and 8 months old. I'm not a mechanic so a warranty is to my liking, lol.

Well what do you think a gear change and flash of your BCM is going to do to your warranty?

 

[BmacIL]

Why would you want a 3.31? What gears do you currently have?

I though of getting a 3.31 torsen...but it's too much effort to swap.

I have 3.31. I think it's a great gear for DD and 2nd gear is fantastic for autocross (never too tall, and goes well past 60 mph). I'd like to keep the gears and swap the Trac-Loc LSD for the Torsen. It won't happen for a long time as it's much lower on my list of wants.

 

[Squints2See]

Well, other than a direct problem with my differential, as long as I have Ford do the calibration, I would assume nothing.

Well what do you think a gear change and flash of your BCM is going to do to your warranty.

 

[Squints2See]

Im curious as well, why would a 3.31 be desirable, unless you were going FI or something? I would think at least a 3.55...

Why would you want a 3.31? What gears do you currently have?

I though of getting a 3.31 torsen...but it's too much effort to swap.

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