Do I really have 4.27 gears?

My latest project has been cleaning out the diffs and replacing the old, crusted gaskets to prevent leakage. While removing both the front and rear covers, I found a little rectangular attached to two of the bolts that, after some cleaning off, had 4.27 stamped into them. Does that mean I have 4.27 gears in my Jeep? I always thought I had 5.38's because that seems to be the norm. I have the regular D27 and 44 axles. On a side note, I was amazed at how good the gears looked in there once I got them cleaned off. They were in very good shape. The fluid in the rear was completely nasty though! It looked like someone tossed a few Hershey bars in there and ran the Jeep for 20 years. What oozed out of there looked just like milk chocolate, but it didn't smell like chocolate. R) Anyways, I was just curious about that little plate and the gears that I supposedly have in there. Thanks for any info you can offer up.

 

More than likely it's true. Ring gear should also be stamped w/the ratio or at the least the tooth count of the ring and the pinion. Your should say 47-11, which, if you divide 47 by 11 you get the result of 4.27. HTH

 

Well I already have it put back together, so I can't check on that. I guess I will just assume it is correct, since the little plate certainly looks original....rust and all. R)

 

4.27 was the optional ratio for the F134, so almost certainly correct.

 

I have 4.27 gears in my '64.

 

Cool. Well I guess now I know for sure what I have in there. Thanks guys.

 

To be doubly sure, even if you have the cover put back on, you can also follow the advice from the Technical Library:

"How do I tell what ratio my axles have?"

Jack up rear end, mark drive shaft with chalk, rotate tires 2 full turns while countings number of times the chalk rotates. Unless you have a locker of some sort.

 

Actually I believe the 4.27s were standard in '64 with the 5.38s being optional, by the way your T90C has a somwhat lower first gear to help out.

 

Interesting. I just always thought I had 5.38's because of the way it drives. Well I got both diff covers done and leak free. Now I need to move onto the pinion seals. My Jeep bleeds alot right now!

 

It's not too bad. I guess it would be a whole lot worse with 5.38's. My f-head runs pretty strong. It'll probably run better once I get a Solex, Pertronix, and get my half crushed exhaust pipe fixed though.

 

What? An Fhead that runs strong LOL!!!!

 

Touche. But I do think it runs really good, considering.