What gear ratio would you vote "best all around" with a TH350 and 215/70/14 tires? I'm taking mine in tomorrow and can't decide between 3.31, 3.42 and 3.55. It'll mostly be driven around town with very few long (3 hr) freeway trips. If you have these combos give me your take?
Best all around gear ratio?
TClovis
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Go for the 3.55's. When you take the car for a drive from time to time you will enjoy it more. I don't think your car is considered a daily driver. I have 373's in my car with a 4 speed. I love the set-up. If I do 1000 miles a year that's a lot!! Just my .02
If its driven like a daily driver...
When designing a car the general rule of thumb is to design build for 90% of its use for a particular driving style.
That doesnt mean stock.. a stock factory has a lot of compromise built in cams timing etc for marketing (very wide customer base) and warrantee stuff....espec pre modern ecu cars.
And its only 35/ 35 min for to guys to swap out a torque converter and diff, bleed brakes on a hoist for that other 90% when need once in a while.
a 308 T350 with 24 to 25" diameter tyres give around 2600 @ 60 mph... on a long trip it it sits on the very of becoming tiresome...around the 1800 to 2100 nice.. and far more economical....
When designing a car the general rule of thumb is to design build for 90% of its use for a particular driving style.
That doesnt mean stock.. a stock factory has a lot of compromise built in cams timing etc for marketing (very wide customer base) and warrantee stuff....espec pre modern ecu cars.
And its only 35/ 35 min for to guys to swap out a torque converter and diff, bleed brakes on a hoist for that other 90% when need once in a while.
a 308 T350 with 24 to 25" diameter tyres give around 2600 @ 60 mph... on a long trip it it sits on the very of becoming tiresome...around the 1800 to 2100 nice.. and far more economical....
I see. Well I've gotten a ton of opinions and read gobs of info so I may be more confused now then before I started with all the things to consider
I may just go 3.55 and call it a day. Looking at the rpm calculator the 3.55 and 3.42 are pretty darn close in rpms, especially at lower speeds. At 65mph it spreads a bit more but not day and night. Fuel isn't much of a concern when I won't be driving it much anyway. Thanks for the responses.
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On a Sunday in 1992 I was riding around checking new cars. I was driving around in my 1990 long bed Chevrolet pickup with its 35 gallon gas tank. I stop at Heritage Chevrolet when I saw this red Camaro with black racing stripes. It was a 25th Anniversary Camaro. Even though it had the RS package with a 305 engine it still looked awesome. It had black leather upholstery with T-tops. The tire sizes were 235/55/R16 with a 3.55 rear. The 3.55 rear had good take off from standing still and also had enough top end 115 mph until speed limiter shut it down. I would get the 3.55 and then later get an overdrive transmission, you will definitely be happy.
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With this example, you have to keep in mind that this camaro had the 700r4 transmission, with a 3.06 first gear, which is why the 3.55 rear felt particularly snappy.
Transmission gear ratios are just as important as rear gear ratios. The whole combo works together, so its important to consider the total gear multiplication, and figure out what is the ideal final drive ratio for your particular application. :thumbsup:
Here's a breakdown of popular transmission ratios for reference:
http://www.race-track.com/news.asp?TOPIC_ID=532
Done! Camaros In the shop getting Detroit tru trac installed along with Strange 3.42 gears. I thought I was set on 3.55 and after talking to the guys at the shop I went the other way. I'm excited to see how it drives! Update in 2-3 days.
I received a call from the shop doing my rear end and they said the passenger side rear axle needs replacing. I was kind of surprised by this for a non racy low mileaged car but I went with it. What can go wrong with those anyway. He mentioned "the face" being worn. Well I told him to replace both sides as he said the other side wasn't far behind. I hope it was kosher but they did a good job on my last Camaro.
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18,696 Posts
A shop just put a new posi and gears in my buddy's car. He got the same axles are bad call.
They told him he could bring new ones or buy from them so when he asked what I thought I figured legit.
In your case water under the bridge at this point but I would still be curious to see the old ones and see what they charged for the new.
I think $170 each side on new axles.i told them to save all the old parts as I want to save the original gears anyway. I realize it doesn't matter now and I'm not thinking I got jabbed..just wondering how that can happen. It that something that wears a lot? Anyway I'll guess I'll have an old new rear now.
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