If you can find a T5 with the proper gear ratios, you'll be all synchronized and you can use either a 3.07, 3.08 or 3.24 rear end very well. Here's how & why: OEM rear end ratio was 4.11 and first gear was 2.94. That gave you an overall ratio of 12.08 and for a pickup which will actually be used to haul things, that is in my opinion a perfect ratio with the 235. Second gear in the OEM transmission was 1.68 and that multiplied by 4.11 equals 6.90. And third gear was 1 to 1 so the overall ratio was 4.11 (1 x 4.11). If your T5 has the 4.03 first gear and you use a 3.07 rear end, you have an overall ratio of 12.37 (very very close to the OEM), second gear will be 2.37 (which multiplied by 3.07 will give you an overall ratio of 7.27 (again very close to original...actually will give you a smidge more second gear power), third gear will be 1.49 (which multiplied by 3.07 will give you an overall ratio of 4.57 (very close to OEM and will again give you a bit more power in third), fourth gear in the T5 will be 1 to 1, so your fourth gear will be ~25% less than 4.11 (at 3.07) and your fifth gear will be .86 which will give you a fifth gear overall ratio of 2.64...and on flat to gently rolling roads without strong winds will work fine. 3.24 will work fine, too...your fifth gear will be better but you'll have a stronger first 3 gears: 13.06, 7.68 and 4.82. Fourth will be 3.24 and fifth will be 2.79. All of which will be good. With the first example, driving your truck will feel exactly like it did when it was new, then 4th will drop your rpms by 25% and fifth will drop them by another 14%. Looks like you're running wider wheels/tires (5 lug), so somebody did some conversion there. Make sure your front end and suspension are in good nick before you speed it up. Good luck.
With gear ratios of 3.07, 3.08, or 3.24, when would one ever be able to use 5th gear?
From what I am gathering from your post, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear with the T-5 with the 3.08/3.08/3.24 rear end would be very similar to the stock 3 speed transmission's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear. To me, that seems like a less than optimal idea. Seems like it would suffer from the same lugging/screaming/lugging/screaming/lugging/screaming scenario of driving a stock truck.
To me, the beauty of a T-5 with a 3.73 or 3.90 is the close together ratios in the transmission, allowing one to be in the optimal power range of the 235 upon every shift without any hesitation and without having to redline the engine prior to the next gear shift to avoid as much lugging right after one makes the shift.
What am I missing?
