As most people probably know, I run a 1800 kombi box in my baja. I used to have a n IRS beetle box and I loved the tall 4th. I cruised happily at
2500rpm down to Canberra and back.
But now with the stock 1800 kombi ratios I sit at 2900rpm at 100kph. This has made the highway fuel economy go to crap and makes communication
difficult. I have the HP to run a taller 4th, but don't want to sacrifice my nice low first. So I want a taller 4th gear. The stock 1800 4th is a
0.88
I can get 0.82 from a 1600 kombi box which will drop my rpm to 2700 on the highway.
I was also told I can get a 0.79 which will drop it further to 2600. I thought the 0.79 was only in the old 36HP style cars?
Does anyone know if they is an even taller 4th gear avail?
Maybe I should just sell the 1800 box and find a 2lt box
The .79 is from the 36HP box. The only others are the .82 and the .88, well at least I haven't heard of any others.
I don't think there are any other taller or lower ratios. I got gears cut by Ivan Albins in Ballarat. They may be an option as they will be
closer to a straight cut gear so stonger and you can pick the ratios. Although really 4th won't be the one you break so the extra strength
probably isn't an issue.
Cheers
Steve
I believe an aftermarket .77 is available from places like Rancho transmissions in the US..................
RobK
I was also thinking of getting a higher-than-std 4th gear in my L bug box (probably a T2 gear) before it goes into the finished pan. I was led to believe that it could turn out too noisy. Does anyone here use a kombi 4th gear. Would I notice the noise over the Thunderbird (exhaust, not the TV show)??
Hi
I have a full set of Albins gears in my bug, they have a very slight whine. The quaility is great and a lot of the gears that the yanks sell are
Albins anyway, so cut out the middle man. He has a website but I cant remember the URL.
1302Steve
Steve, thanks for the info.
Would you recommend going for a kombi 4th. Most of my driving will be at highway speeds (100 - 110km/h). I may even try for a quieter exhaust with the
heat exchangers restored. I just don't want to have the problem the guys have with straight-cut cam gears, terrible whine at cruising speeds.
BTW: http://www.albinsgear.com.au
[Edited on 12-9-2002 by 56astro]
[Edited on 12-9-2002 by 56astro]