The other bit is, once you lift and put a reasonable sized tire on it, overdrive becomes an LOL - you don't get better economy but you do get the opportunity to burn up the trans if it holds in 4th gear under load... my 2 cents.
That's a function of axle gearing, not particularly the transmission's fault.
Yep. I'm shooting for 35's and 4:88 gears with a 4 or 5 inch lift. That's my target set up.
I have a set of 4 inch shackle flip brackets, and plan on a set of ORD's custom springs for the front. Still stockpiling parts...I am closer than ever now....
transmissions have gears too... it's not all leprechauns, magic and unicorns in there.
but we can put that to rest - the 700r4 has a lower first gear then the turbo 400. Also, it was an apples/apples comparison as all the test subjects had 4:10 gears and similar sized tires.
not sure I see your point.... gearing is gearing, after all, I'm pretty certain Ford didn't take into account 38.5" tires on an FJ40 when they installed the 4.56 gears in the axles at the factory - yet it works quite well in that rig. Optimal depends far more on the purchaser then anything else, the same goes with the designer who determines what ratios go where into factory set ups. From what I understand from your prior statement, axle gearing is the only factor - and that I have trouble agreeing with as there is gear reduction in the transmission and the transfer case which affects how the vehicle does what it's supposed to do. We haven't even talked about motor changes or weight reductions (or increases). Both of those things also change what a vehicle needs for optimal performance. I had a 2.73 Suburban on 31s - nearly 30 mpg but if there was an ice age, I'd fear not being able to outrun the glaciers.

Then again, anything they say is pretty much guaranteed to be false (if you ever wonder why they're so enamored with 118" wheelbase rigs - the answer is simple, that's the wheelbase of a short bus)

the nutshells is you never use the 5th gear, so why have it?
