I know Patrick's has 3.55 or so gears and there are some around 3.38 available. If ones engine is in good shape I think these are still way too deep. On the roads we now have I think 3.00 would haul and tow and 2.70's would cruise just fine, even uphill and into the wind. This isn't theory, I have a couple examples one can ride in or drive. One is a 57 chevy 4dr with a 3.08 rear and a Borgwarner OD which is a TWO SIXTEEN final and the other is my 37 Buick 4 dr which is a 3800 pound brick with a 2.73 rear gear. The 57 chevy 235 is a bit more powerful than the straight 8 Buick: 57 235 Chevy (car) is 140hp and 210 torque vs the 248 Buicks 110hp and 206 torque. Torque is what counts here. Both can be driven without frequent downshifting, accelerate smoothly with no pinging, and are right in their torque range when running with the other traffic. Since we're never going to see gas again in even the high $2 range this might be worth some thought.
Final Drive Ratios Sounds good to me Evan ! . Are those Buick values with single or dual carbys ? (for those who don't know , Buick had dual carbys on lots of it's OHV InLine 8 cylinder engines) I'm betting the higher ratio final drive will work out really well on a 235 with dual Carter YF's and a dual outlet exhaust manifold , timing set to at least 32° all in .
I dont know exactly what my ratio is but as best I can tell the wheels turns 1 time for each 2.25 turns of the driveshaft. It turns ~3000 RPM at 60-mph. Is it possible that may transmission is less than 1 to 1 in hi gear? Looks like 2.25 should be a lot faster.
Are you sure you shifted into high gear?? More likely that the other rear tire was stationary when you did the test. That would cause the tire you checked to turn twice as "fast" as normal. I'll bet you have a 4.56 gear. 4.56 gear at 3000 engine RPM with a 30" tall tire computes to 59 MPH.
Rear Gear Coilover, I will eventually be doing something with my rear gears to be able to get highway speeds (65) also so I appreciate the info here. What are the sources for the different ratios. Are they donor rearends or just available gear sets like from Patricks or CP. I know i would have to use the earlier carrier for the change to the 3:55 but what can be done for the other ratios? I've heard that a rearend from a 50's Chevy car can be used if you rework the spring perches is this the approach to get a different gear set other that the aftermarket 3:55s Thanks Craig
I tried the early '50's Chevy car thing. Had a '55 torque tube rear from a powerglide car. That rear was WAY too narrow to use in the truck. I would love to find a rear to swap out into our trucks with a lower ratio for sure. Sad to say , but I think the cheapest and easiest way is to eliminate the torque tube rear with an open driveline rear and re-work the tailshaft of my SM 420 to make it open driveline. Andy
This could help... My searching has turned up two (or maybe they are the same) rear ends that will work, and are 6 lug. They are the rear ends from a 2008 Canyon (60" mounting surface) and a Colorado (62" mounting surface- I think... hard to tell for sure with the wheels on.) Both of these are 3.73 gears. They both have 5 1/2" centers. I found that a Durango has a 3.55 gear ratio (2004), but have yet to see one to get the measurements off. I found an 02, but it had 6 lugs that were 4 1/2 " centers. Why bother with 6 lugs if your putting them that close together? Anyway, in case anyone would like to know besides me, these are two brand new rear ends with drums that would work. __________________ "Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long!"
Craig, I had to go to an open rear end to get the 2.73's. I wish I could have kept the torque tube but my old Buick came with the optional "city gears" which were 4.44 and kept gear shifting to a minimum. The 3.38 is the best I know of for the closed shaft set up; still a big improvement over 4.11's. Zig, I'll have to stop telling people 6 lugs are six lugs--foreign or American. Have used chevy wheels on Nissan and 4wd Toyota and vice versa but it looks like Chrysler buggered that. Nate, I have the single 2 bbl since mine is the ol' cheapy Special (40 series). I wish it was the Century which has the big Roadmaster/Limited engine in the smaller Special body. You know, Buick used a 2bbl on a 248ci engine which is just 13ci bigger than a 235 but I'm a 100% with you on spreading the carburetors out. Whether it's a 1, 2, or 4bbl carb, if it's stuck in just the middle of a long log style manifold it's going to drown some cylinders and starve others. Look how far it is to the end cylinders on a straight 8.
Now THAT'S a LONG BLOCK!!! That really does look like it needs a relay! I could picture that having EFI into each port! I bet you could come up with something like this, right Evan?
For those that have 3/4 and 1 ton trucks 410/1 is about as good as it gets. Unless you go to another makers rear ends or have the wheels sticking out a little past the fenders, or have one built that will get you on the road at top speeds. A '71 3/4/1T pumpkin will rebolt right back into the old housing with the big gasket and away you go. Today because I wanted the better gearing I spent all of my stimulas check on a down payment to have a 342/1 rear end built for my 1 ton. The 410/1 were much better than the 514/1 but. ..not so. You can if you want go to any racing shop and ask where they have their rear ends built?
well... I have a 3/4 and I'm going to install a colorado rear. (3.37) Another option is an early 70s Chevy truck back end. IIRC, some of those were high 2s. I just don't know which ones or how to tell. I know that a one ton really has no options due to the size/weight of your ride. I can get away with swapping out the front end with a half ton axle/6 lug hubs, and putting in a 6 lug rear from something much better off as far as gearing goes. I could go 5 lug if I wanted, because I could go 5 lug conversion on the front end. (discs, ya know...) I just don't want to unless I have to.
Zig, The rear ends on the 70's are wider than our trucks. The pumpkins can be changed out they were used from the 40's into the 70's also 70's 8 lugnut wheel rear ends are limited to the ratio. That is why I'm having one built that is shorter so I can have something between the 320's to the 355's (342/1). Why change out a 3/4 T to a 1/4 t , go get a 3100 rear end closed shaft and all, then get our hosts ring and pinion to a 388 or something like that. Wish you a lot of luck in finding what you want. The reason I'm having one built is I'm tired of buying things that do not fit taking them back then having to go and figure out something else. I have wasted to much $ on trying to put band aides on the problems for to long. I want to enjoy my truck while I improve it some, well change it to my liking so to speak. Enjoy,
That's great, with the engine you have it makes a good team for you. I need the one ton suspension and hyway gears to run from Ventura County ,Ca. to LaPaz & Pima County, Az. with a load of materials. So the 235 six banger and 342/1 gears n the rear should get where I need to get to.
Its too bad you don't use I-17 to I-40 to head back to Cali. We could meet up for lunch if you ever went back & forth by way of northern AZ.
Once I get it back from the shop we will see how see travels down the road. While out the we go up to Havasu from time to time and then again st brake up the drive we take 40, or cut up 177 to Parker. Sometimes coming back from Tucson we take 8 to Yuma then 95 up to Quartzsite and Brenda and Hope. Maybe on one of tem trips who knows.
Just got the truck home yesterday, Hoopers had the truck from 9/26 I guess they had a few issues with it, ???? never said what the issues were, I was told the they would have it only a week. Just able to drive it from the shop to home the ride was great, the speedo only went to 55/50ish, my other half side I was crusing at 65/70. Have not taken it out again, have to find where I put the current Lic. Tag sticker. So so far so good. Still have the carb problem which has to be fixed. Anyway it is home.
Pros and Cons Does the cost factor seem to get higher with a donor rearend, transmission changes, alterations, springs, shock mounts, centering opposed to paying the high prices for Patrick's gearing?
