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the axles. Pennsylvania has alot of hills, and even with the overdrive, it struggles to make it past 50 mph half the time. The thing is, the engine isn't screaming, it just doesn't have enough power. I'm not going to swap out the engine, and I won't regear if it'll do nothing for me. Opinions?

If you have the stock 5.38 gears then you aren't going to find any lower gear ratio for your axles. If you are climbing a long grade you must drop the overdrive out and run it in regular third gear.

I can't go with maybe 4:46? Plenty of people on the G503 forum mention regearing.

You are thinking your ratio's wrong. If the engine can't push you up a slope faster than 50 MPH in third gear then you are already either geared to high or the engine is just sick. To work the engine less you need a lower gear ratio (larger numbers). If the tired motor can only get you to 50 MPH with 5.38 gears then a higher ratio like 4.56 will only get you up to 40 MPH before the engine runs out of snort.

An overdrive can only help you roll over 50 MPH when the road is flat or downhill. If you want 50 MPH+ uphill you need to lower the gearing by dropping out of overdrive and using regular 3rd gear or increase the engine's power.

Higher gears will lead to lesser power. The134 is no high speed runner, hence the low gears. It's a worker, not a racer. The overdrive was introduced to lower rpm's at higher speeds but it also robs power.

Ok, gotcha. Yeah, on flat land, it slowly gets up to 65, which is more than I need. I'll drop it out of overdrive on those inclines.
I really doubt the engine is sick. It was rebuilt 300 miles ago, starts up with no use of the choke or throttle, and runs like a bull.

back in the day when i built my '47 2a, i had a buick v-6 and a warn o.d. i was 19 at the time and i had a" race jeep ". it still had the 5:38 gears in a dana 44. the way i used to shift it was, 1st - 1st over - 2nd - 3rd - 3rd over (2nd over and 3rd were so close it wasn't worth the extra shift) even with the v-6 i had to take it out of 3rd over to get up some hills. basically i had a 4spd with overdrive. i even used the overdrive in 4lo. i would never give up the 5:38's. if you get 65 mph out of that engine that's great! with my v-6 i could push 70. scary s*** to say the least.

yeah, I don't want to regear. I've resisted this long, even installing an overdrive instead. I would really like to keep any non original modifications to minor bolt-ons (like my 11" drum breaks, and turn signals).