Aaron Arceneaux

I have been talking to Dave at tep for a while now. These are my plans I want a fast 1/4 toy while maintaining my driveability for my Houston trips which are about 100mi from where I live. Dave doesn't suggest the 3.29 for power I plan to make with my cam and nitrous setup I'm shooting for. My options are 2.93 and 3.69. With 3.69 how is hwy mpg and what are your revs at 70 75 80 90 mph, also should I shoot for a higher stall while in the trans??

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

I have 3.69 gears. I don't drive at 80-90 so I can't tell you what the rpms are.
2nd and 3rd gear pull is amazing.. Good luck with 1st gear traction! I use a 285 wide tire, and I can spin them pretty easily.
At 60mph I am around 2200 in 4th. My 1/8th mile mph jumped up 3mph with the gear change but my 1/4 mph stayed the same. This is from me passing through at 5200rpm

Aaron Arceneaux

Thanks for the reply. That seems like a pretty large bump in cruising rpms, how does it affect your mpg. I feel my 2.93 are a handful with my 275 in fronts. I may stick with those especially with increased power im looking towards.

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

Trust me.. 3.69 are the way to go. Traction will always be a issue. The gears will get you into the powerband band quicker, and since these engines make peak tq around 5000 a 3500 converter would be wise

Aaron Arceneaux

I really am contemplating this, my worry is I don't want to cruising too high of an rpm because I do go to Houston 6-8 times a month if not more and I like my half decent mpg I have now. How is your city mpg by the way too? I know once I cam it, I see some noticeable drop with the lower gearing as well

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

I get 18 average and have gotten 24mpg on a road trip doing 75mph. You will not use much throttle with 3.69's when cruising.
Stick with DOD and 2.93's if you want mpg.
All you need is a good tune with the factory parts for great mpg

Aaron Arceneaux

Ladies & Gentlemen I believe a cam and 3.69's it is. I already have DOD disabled. There is a certain 5.0 in my neighborhood I am looking to take out as well lol

ImpSS07

iTrader: (3)

Looks like I'm gonna be a copycat, cause David just helped me make up my mind. I'm hoping to place my order by the beginning of the year if my work stays consistent.

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

I love my 3.69's and with a 26" tire; it's like having 3.73's.
Very little throttle is needed when cruising. Pins me to the seat pretty good once stabed!

brandonwittheimp

I have a question about the 3.69 gears? Will your top end be good or not? And also where can I get these gears from??

Aaron Arceneaux

I think some top end will be loss. I think the rule goes to gain acceleration you lose a bit top end & to gain top end you lose a bit acceleration, but I'm not sure to what degree though. I think Dave @ TEP & ZZP might have the gears. other than that idk. If you are doing gears might as well beef the trans up while it's apart anyways.

MC06SS

Why did Dave talk down the 3.29's?? That is the route that I was thinking about going when my tranny finally pukes

Aaron Arceneaux

He advised me that at the power ratings I am shooting for that they wouldn't hold up as well as 3.69's (2nd strongest) or 2.93's (oem and he says best choice)

Aaron Arceneaux

ok guys a little advice. I haven't found a shop in my area that will use the TEP kit for my rebuild and have me some kind of warranty. If I purchase a TEP trans and send mine back I'm close to $3800-$4k. I was reading in more forums and I found that PATC & MadDogPerformance work on our transmissions as well. MadDog gave me a really great low price that I cant repeat due to them honoring a mis-quote thinking I had a 4L60E trans. My question is will there be a huge quality difference between these two? I have heard good about both, they guaranteed me the same power ratings as TEP but won't do 3.69's I was thinking about doing, so I may be stuck with 2.93's and working on larger stall for cam that is going in.

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

You can also get 3.69 gears from zzp. I had a local shop install the TEP kit. Basically just gears sonnax valve body kit, 3 gear z pack, and a zzp Molly input shaft. Everything else was just std. Rebuild stuff.
I would stick with DAVE or insist with 3.69's. You already know what 2.93 feels like and 3.29 is going to make little difference. You will end up wishing for 3.69 gears in the long run.
The shop that did my work would only take responsibility for workmanship/Labor.

Aaron Arceneaux

I have be doin a bit of reading and research.

The cam I plan on using is 224/224 forgot lsa it's a gift from my mechanic. I believe you are running a "smaller" cam if I am correct? With the 3.69 ratio would 3500 stall be efficient for daily and few 100mi trips I make often. I was talk to guys at zzp and he says 3.29 gear is pretty reliable, so idk. I haven't told him abut my cam specs as I just found out about my gift but he recommended 3.29 with 3250 stall

1CL3ANSUP3RSPORT

iTrader: (23)

It sucks Dave is not doing the builds for everyone and shipping them out ,if you want MPG's then get a DD and leave the GXP for fun.

Aaron Arceneaux

I'm not entirely focused on mpg's lol I cruise around 75-80 mph everywhere I go. My ordeal is that I rather not be turning 3k RPM like a 4cyl on the hwy. It would be nice to be in the 20's on the hwy with my setup. I kno I get prob in the city since everyone out here drives racekarz

DavidGXP

iTrader: (14)

I am using a much smaller Cam. With a 224 I would definitely go with 3.69 gears.
I do around 2200 in 4th at 60 mph.

Aaron Arceneaux

If you could make a quick run to 75mph and 80mph and tell me what you're spinning I would be so grateful or provide with a calc so I could do some theoretical figuring lol

What would also be a decent size stall, I believe you are running 3500??