Go faster

[konk]

My truck has i think 5.89 gears. what can i do to speed it up? Truck born 59 stock engine. thanks konk

[Charles Talbert]

My truck has i think 5.89 gears. what can i do to speed it up? Truck born 59 stock engine. thanks konk

4.89 ring and pinion gearing is a great option. That with the rest of the drive train as original will speed up your ground speed 10 MPH.

We offer a Cummins diesel / 5-speed transmission option with a .69 overdrive 5th gear. This along with the 4.89 ratio option puts you at a top end capability in the 80 MPH range.

[konk]

go faster

Iwould like to keep as stock as i can. Is there a overdrive unit out there that will help? I,M hopeing for 55 to 60. Thanks Konk

[Charles Talbert]

Iwould like to keep as stock as i can. Is there a overdrive unit out there that will help? I,M hopeing for 55 to 60. Thanks Konk

The 4.89 gearing will put you there, but you will be near the red line on RPM when you push 65 MPH. With the original engine, most people are not happy with taller gearing than this because the engine just doesn't offer enough umph to give the desired performance. I've heard of a few that were so unhappy after installing 4.89's with the original power plant that they went back to the 5.83 ratio. I think this is a little unrealistic of a mindset, and obviously there were issues in some form or fashion with the engine. A good condition 230 should perform just fine with the 4.89's, however much taller than that will simply overwhelm what the stock engine can realistically offer. You would be spending a lot of time in 3rd gear.

To address your question, yes some overdrive units do exist; and you can always look at taller tires to add more, but I think you may be unhappy with that unless you get more power and torque under the hood.

[MoparFreak69]

The 4.89 gearing will put you there, but you will be near the red line on RPM when you push 65 MPH. With the original engine, most people are not happy with taller gearing than this because the engine just doesn't offer enough umph to give the desired performance. I've heard of a few that were so unhappy after installing 4.89's with the original power plant that they went back to the 5.83 ratio. I think this is a little unrealistic of a mindset, and obviously there were issues in some form or fashion with the engine. A good condition 230 should perform just fine with the 4.89's, however much taller than that will simply overwhelm what the stock engine can realistically offer. You would be spending a lot of time in 3rd gear.

To address your question, yes some overdrive units do exist; and you can always look at taller tires to add more, but I think you may be unhappy with that unless you get more power and torque under the hood.

Charles it absolutely correct here, the 230 probably will push the truck with taller gears decently but you have to remember this, these trucks were designed and built in an era where they didnt have 65 and 75MPH speed limits. Running on the highways at 55 was also something that was simply just not done in trucks as they were designed to be workhorses in fields or tugging around hefty loads. Even in '59 when your truck was built, most of the Eisenhower interstate system had not been built and therefore most road structures in place were of poor quality and there was not a lot of major linking between cities/states. They were built to handle the conditions that were in the present, which meant 45 was not only acceptable, it was commonplace for many vehicles, cars included.

[Jason Mills]

My truck and I are happiest at 38-42 MPH... I have driven it at 50, and even went on a long road trip, where I averaged about 30MPH. I like the meditative pace that the truck demands. I found i was having to "work" at driving when running at the higher speeds, and trying to anticipate everything when running closer to 50 was not much fun, where as at 40 it was more relaxing.

Not having any experience with the an overdrive, or a diesel & overdrive, I wonder what would be like.. would I all of a sudden be willing to drive the WDX 60 miles round trip to get supplies for the weekend project? Unlikely.

I used to have 11.00-16's on a M-37, and I still could not tell for sure if I was holding up all the traffic in vermont, or just MOST of the traffic. I can't say I had to shift a lot more often with the bigger tires, and the ground clearance was impressive, but then I never had the truck loaded.. if it was to be loaded with the larger tires, I bet there would have been hills around here that were 2nd gear affairs.

[Chris Olson]

I guess it comes down to "don't drive faster than your (power wagon) angels can fly"

[olgraybeard]

what Jason said! Its like buying a draft horse and then want to go buggy racing.

[Doc Dave]

I would like to keep as stock as i can. Is there a overdrive unit out there that will help? I,M hoping for 55 to 60. Thanks Konk

What you should consider is a Dennan overdrive unit. Do a search on this forum and Joe's forum too.
I have one and it is really nice. Basically it gives you a fifth gear for when you are up aboud 45, to give you another 10 or so. YOu can also get gear splits with it, sometimes I use it with third to give me sort of a three and a half gear.
You still have your low gears which the 230 needs being a bit anemic power wise.
I also like it because if you want, you can remove it in less than 2 hours. I saved my old driveshaft for that purpose exactly. I bought a second driveshaft and had it shortened for the overdrive. That is the only thing you have to provide, everything else is in the kit.
The unit is activated by an eaton 2 speed switch on the shifter. When I first put it in I had trouble getting it to activate, but I found the problem which is that I needed to run a separate ground strap from the O.D. to the frame. Now it works fine.
All that said, I would not drive with it if I was going to do rock crawling or extreme off road stuff. But, many on the forum have them and go off road without a problem. I had my truck in west Va on trails and some mud recently without difficulty.

[Gordon Maney]

My truck and I are happiest at 38-42 MPH... I have driven it at 50, and even went on a long road trip, where I averaged about 30MPH.

I like the meditative pace that the truck demands.

I found i was having to "work" at driving when running at the higher speeds, and trying to anticipate everything when running closer to 50 was not much fun, where as at 40 it was more relaxing.

Not having any experience with the an overdrive, or a diesel & overdrive, I wonder what would be like.. would I all of a sudden be willing to drive the WDX 60 miles round trip to get supplies for the weekend project? Unlikely.

I used to have 11.00-16's on a M-37, and I still could not tell for sure if I was holding up all the traffic in vermont, or just MOST of the traffic. I can't say I had to shift a lot more often with the bigger tires, and the ground clearance was impressive, but then I never had the truck loaded.. if it was to be loaded with the larger tires, I bet there would have been hills around here that were 2nd gear affairs.

Good stuff.

[mannyc]

gears or tires

having done 2 dodge trucks, i would say that going to larger radial tires is a better way to get that extra 10mph with the stock engine. going to 489s doesn't improve traction if you stay with ndts. i did a m37 with buckshots and 489s. i then needed to upgrade motor to a 360 to move the truck. i stayed stock motor with my command car. im going to ditch the ndts for a set of 10.50 chevrons that are american made. since the command is lighter than a pw, i can likely push the command with larger tires and gears here on flat long island.

[Jason Mills]

What you should consider is a Dennan overdrive unit. Do a search on this forum and Joe's forum too.
I have one and it is really nice. Basically it gives you a fifth gear for when you are up aboud 45, to give you another 10 or so. YOu can also get gear splits with it, sometimes I use it with third to give me sort of a three and a half gear.
You still have your low gears which the 230 needs being a bit anemic power wise.
I also like it because if you want, you can remove it in less than 2 hours. I saved my old driveshaft for that purpose exactly. I bought a second driveshaft and had it shortened for the overdrive. That is the only thing you have to provide, everything else is in the kit.
The unit is activated by an eaton 2 speed switch on the shifter. When I first put it in I had trouble getting it to activate, but I found the problem which is that I needed to run a separate ground strap from the O.D. to the frame. Now it works fine.
All that said, I would not drive with it if I was going to do rock crawling or extreme off road stuff. But, many on the forum have them and go off road without a problem. I had my truck in west Va on trails and some mud recently without difficulty.

Doc, do you find that you use the O/D to reduce noise, and sort of produce a relaxed 'cruse' at 45-50 with it. Or to increase your top end speed. Or is it really most useful when you find yourself late for dinner on one of those days that being late for dinner causes tension with the chef..

I could see my self installing one, if the 230 had the reserves to pull high gear in overdrive at 30-40 mph most of the time, that would seem like a benefit.

[Jason Mills]

im going to ditch the ndts for a set of 10.50 chevrons that are american made.

What are 10.50 Chevrons? are they a 16" tire?

[Doc Dave]

Doc, do you find that you use the O/D to reduce noise, and sort of produce a relaxed 'cruse' at 45-50 with it. Or to increase your top end speed. Or is it really most useful when you find yourself late for dinner on one of those days that being late for dinner causes tension with the chef..

I could see my self installing one, if the 230 had the reserves to pull high gear in overdrive at 30-40 mph most of the time, that would seem like a benefit.

Jason,
I find it as much or more for reducing noise as you say as the speed. I really don't drive the PW when I have to get somewhere fast. Also at 55 the unbalanced tires start to protest a bit. The O.D. really takes the noise from the TC down a lot. I like the sound of cruising at 2100 a lot better than 2500 rpm.
I would recommend going to a rally up in New England, and try and drive a truck with one in it to see if you like it. I know TIm H has one in one of his trucks. There was a waiting list to get them so you might want to put your name "in" with Dennis Gronan and do your research in the interim.

[maineSS]

One of the things to keep in mind is that earlier 230's had a cam that gave peak torque @ 1300 rpm, later engines peaked @ 1600 rpm. Since I fitted the Fish carb, it's easy to tell when my '49 cam is past it's peak, especially in 4th gear.

I think it's possible to get more out of the 230 for highway use- I'm shooting for 120-130 Hp with the '59 head, improved carburetion and exhaust, and some valve and valve seat mods. Then, you could get a cam to make peak torque at 2000 rpm, and still have enough to move the truck in lower gears.