Can I Find My Geare Ratio by My Vin UPDATED

Knowing your gear ratio is instrumental in determining which manual gear gear up is all-time suited for your truck. It is also important to know the ratio besides equally the tire size to determine which speedometer gear you demand so your speedometer reads accurately.

Here are three means to find the gear ratio of your truck:

The gear ratio is usually listed in the VIN code located on driver's door, the glove box, or the ID plate on the dashboard.
Count the times a rear wheel goes around for one driveshaft turn: if its 3 one/2 information technology's a three.50:ane
Divide the number of teeth on the ring gear by the number of teeth on the pinion gear.

Wondering what is the gear ratio in your truck? Permit'due south look closer at how to find out, and why it's important.

Why Is It Important To Know Your Gear Ratio?

The final drive gear ratio is the last bit of gearing between your transmission and the wheels being driven. When you alter this gearing you can drastically bear on your truck'southward performance.

If you change to a lower final drive ratio this will lead to less torque at the wheels but a college top speed. Meanwhile, a higher ratio will consequence in the reverse, i.e. more torque at the wheels but a lower pinnacle speed.

This gear ratio helps determine how much fuel economy, torque, and towing capacity your truck will have. A vehicle with a high axle ratio like 4.10:1 will have more towing chapters than a 3.15:i however, with the added towing capacity comes a lower peak speed and lower fuel economy. A smaller axle ratio will lack torque for towing simply will requite increased fuel economic system.

What yous plan on using your truck for determines what gear ratio you need. Is your truck going to be an off road rig that volition do a lot of towing or hauling? You don't want a high speed gear ratio if yous have a large camper or boat to tow.

Gear ratios are never just capricious values, they are highly dependent on the needed torque and power output, too equally gear and material strength.
Trevor English

If your truck is like my C10, I want it to be quick in the quarter and exist able to drive 10 to 20 mile distances without over revving the engine. Mine is a 3.73:one and I volition tweak information technology by adjusting my tire size.

The Gear Ratio Could Be In Your VIN Lawmaking Or Identification Plate

The VIN is a 17 digit lawmaking that every automobile has to identify and track them. Every number and letter of the alphabet within a VIN reveals information about the automobile, such as the brand, model, year built and the engine size.

Some but not all of these VIN numbers will accept a lawmaking for the gear ratio of the vehicle, but that volition depend largely on the information the manufacturer includes in the vehicle descriptor section (VDS) of the VIN.

Here are three easy steps to help you decipher your VIN code:

Stride i

It's easy to notice the VIN of your vehicle. Information technology can be found on the sticker on the inside of the driver's side door and is also stamped on a metal plate embedded in the dashboard higher up the steering wheel. Y'all tin as well notice it on your vehicle's championship.

Pace 2

The VDS section is the 4th through viii digits in the VIN number. This section typically includes information such as the vehicle model, engine size and body type. Not every vehicle manufacturer includes gearbox ratios in the VDS but this is where it tin be found if it was included.

Step 3

In that location are many places online with VIN decoder data such as Edmunds.com or the National Highway Safe Administration site. The meaning of the digits and their order of data will vary past manufacturer.

If your VIN number doesn't include gear ratios, check in the glove box, that is where I found mine. The ratio you discover on the VIN or ID tags only holds true if your truck has the original differential and gears in it.

There is always the possibility of your truck having a tag on one of the bolts holding on the differential pan. This would be really fortunate to have on a 50 year old truck simply I was non that lucky with mine.

A transmission effectively transmits the input torque from the engine or motor to the wheels. It achieves this through several gear ratios which provide the precise amount of torque to the wheels to allow the vehicle to advance whilst remaining within the well-nigh efficient RPM range of the engine or motor.
Racecar Engineering, 2019

Count Your Wheel Turns For Gear Ratio

My truck had parts from a few different donors so I needed to dig a petty deeper to verify that my tags were right. An like shooting fish in a barrel way to exercise this is to count how many times the wheel goes around per drive shaft plow. Hither are some simple steps to follow:

Block your forepart tires to keep them from moving.
Jack the back of the truck up so that the dorsum tires articulate the ground.
With the vehicle off the ground place information technology in neutral.
Put a marker on the driveshaft where y'all can see information technology from a rubber surface area.
As you rotate the rear bike towards the automobile front count how many times the driveshaft turns per 1 complete wheel revolution. This will give you lot your ratio.

Hither are a few examples of gear ratios:

two ¾ rotations = 2.73 gears
Just past three rotations = 3.08 gears
3 ¼ rotations = 3.27 gears
iii ½ rotations = iii.55 gears
3 ¾ rotations = 3.73 gears
Merely nether 4 rotations = 3.ninety gears
Merely past 4 rotations = 4.x gears

Dividing the Ring And Pinion Teeth to Find Gear Ratio

If you lot are still not assured of your gear ratio there is some other way to check that is 100% accurate. To calculate your gear ratio yous will demand to remove the differential cover and count the number of teeth on the ring gear and the pinion gear. Divide the number of teeth on the ring gear past the number of teeth on the pinion in order to decide the gear ratio of a truck.

Transmissions are some of the all-time examples of the practical applications of gear ratios. Anyone who has ridden in a motorcar or other motorized vehicle has benefited from transmissions in some form. And every manual is essentially just a bunch of gears and gear ratios packed closely together.
Trevor English

VIDEO: how manual transmissions piece of work

Last Thoughts

Now we know how to determine what our gear ratios are and also why we need different ratios. I did all three of these checks on my truck equally I wanted to know exactly what I have. Mine turned out to exist a non posi-traction 3.73:ane which is fine just soon I will change change it to posi-traction.