honest gearing opinion

[woody31]

hey 1slobu reread my post i said i would listen to you and dogshit,,, i know your tech tips helped shave off 4/10s since the last time out,,,thats huge,, thanks bro,,,
as for the topic...go for it,,
i run 373 gears with 28x8.5 x 15 hoosier slicks ,,,yes it hooks

 

[1SlowBu]

Sorry Woody my bad .I need to read alil slower 😳

 

[Intragration]

I don't understand why people say it's not worth it.

2.73s really aren't much of a gear. They're better than 2.29s, but it's a lot of money (or work for someone with the desire and ability) to go through just for not much of a gear. 3.08s would be better, 3.42s better still, especially for a small block with a 2.52/1.52 TH350, but since those options are off the table, I wouldn't waste my time and money on something lackluster. Just my opinion.

 

[pontiacgp]

2.73 aren't much of a gear?....I had 2.73 in my 74 GP that had a pontiac 400 that was slightly built with a 400 transmission and I could smoke the tire plus get decent fuel milage and got clocked at 143 mph. The GM performance gear for the G8, Corvette, Camaro and a few others is a 2.92. Those cars are running about 400 hp and a 6 speed transmission so they didn't put the 2.92 in those cars for highway gears. I have 3.08 now and tried the 3.42 but didn't like them so went to the 3.08. There is a world of difference between the 3.42 and 3.08 and there is a greater jump from 2.29 to 2.73. Plus it's not a difficult or long job to switch out gears. Gears that have been set up to run in a rear end will run with the same shims on the pinion in 99% of rear ends and he already has the back lash shims set.

 

[Intragration]

2.73 aren't much of a gear?....I had 2.73 in my 74 GP that had a pontiac 400 that was slightly built with a 400 transmission and I could smoke the tire plus get decent fuel milage and got clocked at 143 mph. The GM performance gear for the G8, Corvette, Camaro and a few others is a 2.92. Those cars are running about 400 hp and a 6 speed transmission so they didn't put the 2.92 in those cars for highway gears. I have 3.08 now and tried the 3.42 but didn't like them so went to the 3.08. There is a world of difference between the 3.42 and 3.08 and there is a greater jump from 2.29 to 2.73. Plus it's not a difficult or long job to switch out gears. Gears that have been set up to run in a rear end will run with the same shims on the pinion in 99% of rear ends and he already has the back lash shims set.

I wasn't trying to say that 2.73s inherently suck, just that when compared to something like 3.42s, they literally don't provide as much mechanical advantage, e.g. they're not much gear. Heck, my '70 DeVille's stock gear is 2.93, and in the Cutlass, 3.42s are just about ideal for me. You may have been able to hit 143 with a 400 and 2.73s, but the OPs stated goal is to get his car sideways, and he can currently only spin the tire on gravel. It sounds like he's looking for a profound difference, not just a little bump. The modern cars probably have around a 3.00 first gear, the Corvette I think is 2.97, that makes overall ratio with 2.93s in first gear 8.70 versus 6.88 with the 2.73 and a TH350. That's the equivalent of 3.45s with the TH350.

I think that limiting gear choice in this case to 2.73 and ruling out all other options is a little short-sighted and a waste of time and money. If he's going to tackle the job himself, then he's going to spend some time doing it, potentially have problems if he's never done it before, and the net result will be he'll still only have 2.73s. He did ask for opinions, I truly don't mean any disrespect if 2.73s have worked for you, I just don't think it's the solution for the OP.

 

[pontiacgp]

Intragration, it's not really a big job to do and if you ever have a chance to do one I think you'll be surprise how easy it is to set gears up, especially gears that's already been set up in another rear end. We've done it in about 45 minutes at a track where we had to run the 7.5 and not a 9" My thinking is that he has the 2.78 and they fit on his carrier so why not. It will be an improvement and he can always look for other gears if he doesn't like them