Guest John T Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Dear All, I have a 2001 Hymer CS554 on a Ducato 2.8 JTD, has anyone had the fifth gear ratio changed? If so what ratio were you offered and which, and why did you choose? TIA, John T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel E Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I had an Iveco Daily-based motorhome which uses basically the same engine (Iveco is Fiat-owned) but with a different gearbox with much lower ratios. The effect was that you only ever used first gear on hill starts and fifth was really too low, a fact they recognised by putting a six-speed box in the new model Daily. Fifth needs to be an overdrive ratio for comfortable cruising above about 55 to 60 mph - say about 2000 revs+ at 60 mph. Be aware that you can effect bigger changes to driveability by getting the engine re-mapped by someone like TBTurbo who will increase torque and horsepower without sacrificing mpg, but at the cost of a bit more exhaust muck (but well within the MoT limits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Madge Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Hi John T I've been in touch with a motorhome owner who has the lower 4/5 gears on his van. We decided a fifth gear in between the present high and low on offer would be ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RonB Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 I had the 'short fifth' as Fiat call it fitted to my last van. It was well worth it on a van of 5000kg where it is needed most - the original fifth was far to high to pull the weight. Of course, the advantages will not be so pronounced on a lighter vehicle, simply because they do not need it so much. I also note that Burstner, for one, are now fitting this option as standard on all models of 4000kg upward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Ord Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 I have the lower 4th and 5th gears on my Fiat 2.8 JTD engined Rapido 924F. The overall result compared to the higher gearing I had with the same engine in an Autotrail Cheyenne 635 is smother running at all speeds and the ability to pull 5th from below 30mph. Urban conditions are now much more comfortable as less gear changing is required. I have cruise control on this van and I had it on the Autotrail and on long motorway drags there is now no need to change down as there was previously. Gearing is around 21/22 mph per 1000 revs judging by the rev counter which is about 15% lower than standard gearing by my experience. There doesn't appear to be any increse in fuel consumption, I think this is because the engine is running nearer peak torque more of the time. Down side? top speed is reduced from a potential 90 mph to around 80 mph pretty much of academic interest only to me. I had my van weighed in travelling condition and it weighs 3,560kg so the lower gearing is of help if you have a van loaded around the 3,500kg mark. However, I do think that the perfect gearing would be somewhere between the white van gearing and what I have, 21 mph per 1,000 rpm in 5th is a tad low if you need to hurry i.e. 70 mph cruising. Hope this helps Bill Ord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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