De Soto Frank Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Jim, I find that theory plausible; prior to WW-II, many auto-makers combined stump-puller rears & "low second-gears" as a way to "shiftless driving" in the city (leave it in 2nd)... '41 was also the year that Chrysler Corp introduced the semi-automatic tranny (M-4 Vacuum-shifted semi-auto) on the Chrysler Six and De Soto, and abandonded their OD option on everything except the Chrysler Eight. I live in hilly country, here in Eastern, PA, and believe that my S-8 has been in this region all of its life. Perhaps a fresh engine with amenities such as "compression", might make a difference, but when I'm driving the hilly WPA roads around the Pocono and Endless Mountains, I find many situations where 2nd is "too screamin' low", and 3rd is too tall for the engine ( this would be a no-man's land between 25 and 40 MPH). I'm curious to find out what the ratio of the second gear in my 1940 De Soto OD tranny is... De Soto Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Soto Frank Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Frank good to see you aboard again. I wondered where you've been hiding.probably busy season at work. I was in your neck of the woods last week. Made a trip to Scranton Chrylers Dodge, to do a trade for the local dealership. Shoulda gave you a call for a quick lunch but I didn't bring my particulars with me. Hi Greg, Witness protection program, with a concentration in improving my photography skills (still film / analog, BTW ) ... Actually, I haven't done any wrench-spinning since putting the De Soto into "dry-dock" at a friend's place last fall and stripping the RF suspension off, beginning the LONG-overdue front-end rebuild. I need to get it back together soon though, as I want to take it to Das Awkscht Fescht in Macungie; this year's featured marque is De Soto. Hope all is will up there in the land of the Orangemen ! Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Douglas Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Frank, I was wondering were you we hiding... I just drove around town today in some of the hill sections and the second gear with the 1.83 ratio is a lot better on the hills than the 1.55 gear. Here is a little chart of the second gear choices: 1. Manual normal second gear ratio 1.83, rear-end 4.11, overall 7.52. 2. Manual "fast" second gear ratio 1.55, rear-end 4.11, overall 6.37. 3. M6 Semi-Auto (aka Tip-toe-Shift) ratio 2.04, rear-end 4.11, overall 8.38. You can see that when Chrylser and Desoto fitted the M6, which all had fluid drive, they bumped up the 2nd gear ratio a LOT. No doubt to make up for the fact that the turbine on the fluid couplings slip a bit until they hit about 5 MPH. peple should keep in mind that the fluid coupling does not have a stator like a torque converter so there is not torque multiplication like a modern automatic between zero and 5 MPH. Also it is interesting to note that the M6 used a 3.57 1st gear ratio and the 3-speed uses a 2.57 ! that is a big difference. Therefore, using the "fast second gear" in the larger cars and/or the fluid drive cars is not necessaraly a good thing. Best, James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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