Gear Question

[cartruck]

Mine is open diff im thinking i will go with 3.42s i cant spin one 235 50 16 so im guessing mine are pretty high.

 

[seawolf18]

No,

Ok thanks i dont want to go with a 4 speed the trans i have was just rebuilt an i have a th400 for a back up i wont be doing alot of highway driving but i do plan to do some. Is there anything inbetween 3.42 and 3.73s? Its not a daily driver any more so im not to worryed about the mpgs.

For a GM axle i haven't seen any ratios between 3.42 and 3.73. Ford has a 3.50 ratio, dosn't do much good unless you had a 9" swapped in.

 

[cartruck]

No, no 9 inch for me. I just wanted to use the 3.73s i got but if it is goin to be as bad as everyone says it will with a 3 speed i can get a 700r4 cheap from a friend but then there is more mods to get that to fit. So undecided again money for gears or trans and drive shaft. Overdrive would be nice but my th350 is new an the th400 i have still has plenty of life.

 

[seawolf18]

Since you said its not a daily driver,I would put the 3.73 posi rear in it. It will be lots more fun than the stock gears you have.

 

[cartruck]

Yeah its kind of fun now but i feel it could be alot more fun with them.

 

[ssiron]

I had a 1978 with 350v8 and 350 transmission with a 2.73 rearend. It was excellent for power and mileage was better than my 85 with a 305v8 and th200 transmission with a 2.41 rear end. I've since put in a 350 v8 and 200r4 transmission with a 3.73 rearend the gas mileage is about the same as the 305 setup, power is much better, but I had all kind of driveshaft problems. Finally had Denny's build me a 4" aluminum driveshaft that has greatly improved the problem. If I were going with the 305 and 3 speed transmission I think I would go with a 2.73 or at most a 3.08.