tow package need to change gears any sugestions?

[raser13]

as it sais in the title i've got an '84 crown vic four door with the tow package and with the gas price the way it is the looooooowwwww gearing this car has is killing me at the pump and really hurting the preformance. i mean it's like taking off with a semi from every stop light. it's real bad when another vic or maqui is next to me at a light being driven by a grandpa and the car leaves me eating dust. i want to change the gears out but i don't know what to change them to any sugestions would be great. i'm not looking to become a hot rod but i need a little more ompf at the light.

[mrltd]

I think there is something else wrong. The 3.55's are pretty mild (If that's what you have) , And are wonderful for performance and decent for milage. I have run 3.73 on 2 of 4 panthers and get 19-24mpg with them. Not to mention 2 of the quickest 5.0L panthers around. It sounds like your car needs some tuneup work.

[Tiggie]

My towing package car has 3.08's open factory. Class-I trailer towing cars got the 3.55's. Class-II's got whatever the new owner/dealership wanted.

Check the door tag and see what your car currently has for a rear axle ratio. 3.55's serve most people well.

[gabegt90]

heres what the towing packege came with 3.55 track lock bigger rear brakes I think it was class 3 hitch. transmission cooler and powersteering cooler towing lights and full size spare. as for gears I would go with 3.55 or 3.73 like mike is saying

[LTDMan83]

I agree,something else has got to be wrong.If you have the tow package you should have 3.27 or 3.55 gears.I have 3.27 gears in mine and there is plenty of ompf off the line and good gas mileage.Start looking into what could be wrong with your engine,before you upgrade gears.

[87mefull]

x2, My car moves pretty decent off the line also with a stock 3:27 open rear. 84 is a CFI car which will not be as fast off the line as a stock, well tuned 86+ panther. Check for vacuum leaks, scan for codes stored in the ecm, and give it a tune up. I've seen a couple CFI cars that with a little maintenence were decent performers and got high mpg figures, even as high as 26mpg with mixed driving. Also, run 87 octane in your car, 89 at the max for wintertime. I've noticed a decrease in both gas mileage and performance in my car with 93 octane plus its not cheap.

[LTDMan83]

Not me,I got a nice increase in mpg from switching to 93.Did'nt notice any change in performance eather way though.

[raser13]

i apreciate all the input guys. the next question is kind of obvious and doesn't quite fit in this section but what would you recomen checking on the engine? it does have a vac leak somewhere since the heater is stuck on the defrost vents, but i'll be danged if i can find the thing.also this car was my grandmothers garaged all of it's life and barely driven.(it was a 76,xxx miles when i got it a couple of months ago)she also was not to good at maintaining it.when i got it the only thig i could tell was ever done to the car was the cats were replaced due to recall and two oil changes. since then i've changed the fuel filter,plugs, wires, cap,and rotor, and ran sea foam through the fuel system, oh and the air filter. any ideas would be great.

[mrltd]

Check parking brake release, the vacuum resevoir (coffee can) and all the lines. Those are the 2 most common leaks.