There's this kid (more like a straggler) who goes wheeling with my buddy and I up here in PA. He says his BONE STOCK Tracker soft top has 5.12 gears factory. Hahahaha. Is this guy that stupid or am I wrong?
Well that's surprising. When he told me that I was somewhat baffled at first but it is what it is. Just wondering why they didn't put those same gears in the Sammi's that had weaker motors....
Oh well, can't always be right. That thing does great off-road too. But I'll take my XJ with the 4.0 HO over a 1.6 anyday.
It all has to do with the output gearing in the transmission, the diffs are geared to match it so the rpms are in the right power range on the highway. Small motors do better at higher RPMs.
Toyota's w/ 5spd were 4.10 stock, some even came 4.88 fw/ factory option 31" tires, I don't find 5.13s that odd at all...
Sidekicks and Trackers mostly came with 4.62 or 5.12 gears. Samurai's came with 3.73, but the high range in the TC is 1.41:1 instead of the usual 1:1. This essentially gave the Samurai a 5.25:1 gear in the diff when in high range.
Well now I can say I learned something new today! The only real reason I doubted this kid at first is because he wants to turbo it with a turbo off a Probe GT.
The kid may still be an idiot. However, he's right. 4.30, 4.62, 5.12, 5.38, and maybe 5.83 were all available ratios in Trackers over the years. The 5.38, as far as I know, was only available in 89 in two-doors with the 1.3l. One year only option. I'm not sure what the 5.83 came in, but it's rare.