I've been racing up sand hills in third gear with the gearing at 13:40 (stock) I'm wondering if switching to a 12:40 and running in fourth gear is faster or not? I know it depends on the RPM but just wondering if any one has tryed it?

 

have to tell us what machine ur on so we know where the power is at and how high in the revs its running now while ur climbing it.

 

Sorry , I'm running an 01 Raptor 11:1 piston,web cam(crap,Waiting on hotcam stage 1),White Bros silencer w/FMF header, Pro flow w/out air box, main jets 167.5 and 165 (mik) dyno jet needles on the 4th clip and 3 turns out on the fuel screw.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

My dads raptor is geared 12/40, and he shoots the hills in fourth gear.
The trick is to make sure you're rev'd out fairly decent before you start your accent up the hill. You loose all
your accelleration if you shift right before you start on your way up. He definitly noticed a differance
running 4th gear instead of 3rd. My buddies raptor is geared at 12/42, but he's running pro wedge II tires,
and they are a little taller then the average sand tire.

OutCast
88 LT500RJ

 

I would think that using a larger front sprocket, and a lower tranny gear (assuming that you want to keep it in the same RPM range) would be better because it would put less strain on your transmission bearings due to a mechanical advantage sort of thing. But also if you change your overall final drive ratio to one that makes you faster and you can only get there by running in fourth gear then so be it. Of course this is just a guess because I didn't use a calculator.

 

LOWBOWTIE, Go to the 12t front sprocket. Leave the rear alone and get into 4th before you hit the hill. Shift into 4th right out of the woop section. It might seem a little over geared but your Rap will pull through easy.