Just in case anyone is wondering what the crawl ratios are for the '05+ Xterra. For those that don't know how to figure out the crawl ratios you take your first gear ratio mulitiply that by your 4 low ratio in the t-case mulitply that by the axle gear ratio. The number that you get is your crawl ratio. The bigger the number the better your truck can crawl.

C200 5A/T

With a 3.133 gear ratio you get: 31.597:1 crawl ratio
With a 3.357 gear ratio you get: 33.856:1 crawl ratio

M226 without locking diff 6M/T
With a 3.538 gear ratio you get: 40.566:1 crawl ratio

M226 with locking diff 5A/T
With a 3.357 gear ratio you get: 33.856:1 crawl ratio

These figures for the gear ratios were taking straight out of the ESM so if you have the 6spd OR with locking diff I am not sure if you have the 3.538 ratio or not. The C200 apparantly does not come in with a manual tranny so there are two different gear ratios that your truck can have. Not sure if they are model related or not like S and SE editions as it does not state that in the ESM.

Dan,

Thanks for that info.

Maybe you can help me with a related question. In March I'll be picking up an 06X 4X4 Off Road with the 5-speed Auto. Although the 6-speed does have a better crawl ratio based on it's lower gearing wouldn't the Automatic ultimately have the greater advantage because of the significant torque multiplication provided by the torque converter?

Reed

Yes, by far.

the hybrid dana axle (with locker) says 3.69 on the ratio box clearly on a barcode type of assembly sticker. I have not confirmed this with a check of the driveshaft revolutions.

I did come up with a 40:1 crawl ratio based on published specs for my M6 OR X, but I'm sure the published specs did not say 3.69 on the axle ratio.

what was the 1st gear ratio on the manual trans again? and the t/c ratio?

But remember, that only helps for uphill climbing. For slow, controlled, steep downhill or rock obstacle descents (the kind where even thinking about touching the brake will send you sliding; VDC be damned), the torque converter does nothing, and only the true crawl ratio matters.

But remember, that only helps for uphill climbing. For slow, controlled, steep downhill or rock obstacle descents (the kind where even thinking about touching the brake will send you sliding; VDC be damned), the torque converter does nothing, and only the true crawl ratio matters.

Very good point....

So is the manual transmission still the choice of the true hardcore off roader? Clearly they both have their pros/cons.

Yes, its true a manual is better for downhill crawl, but with todays modern brakes....But no, an Auto is the choice of 90% of hardcore wheelers, maybe 95% of competition folk. Its ALOT better in almost every way. Reliability, Crawlability, servicability, ease of drive, blah, blah.,....

At a competition crawling event last weekend, 22 of the 24 vehicles were slushbox..

autos work real nice these days because I think the software leaves the torque convertor locked much longer in 4 low creating compression braking until just at idle speeds.

I still prefer stick shifting.

First gear auto: 3.842
First gear man.: 4.368

T/C low range: 2.625