'02BlackTA

i recently acquired a black '02 trans am with 3.42 gears. it is not a ws-6 so i don't know why it has these steep gears....are they after market or did the previous owner my father bought it from option it that was from the dealership? are these cxonsidered good gears to have in a TA? thank's,
nick

evil02z

If your car is a M6 then it has 3.42s as standard equipment.

'02BlackTA

actually the car is an a4 which is what seems weird, sorry i should have put that down originally....thnxs

CRAGER

What makes you think it has 3.42's?

M6 = 3.42
A4 = 2.73 OR The Performance Axle Optioned 3.23's




Peace,
Craig.

samz28

3.42's are pretty fun. good look at your door tag

gu2=2.73
gu5=3.23
gu6=3.42

i put 3.42's in mine and love it.

Brandon_TA

iTrader: (1)

i got 3.42's getting installed tomorrow... Replacing my stock 3.23's... hopefully i like them!.

'02BlackTA

well my dad bought the car as a private deal between him and a giuy who goes to the same bar as him after work... the guy told my dad when he bought it it has 3.42s. is there some way to check by the feel of the car as in like how it drives? i can't check the door code at the moment for two reasons A: the car is in VA beach with my dad and i am an hour and a half away at school with midterms going on. B: my father has yet to get the clear title so the guy he's buying it from,still technically has the car until like a week or two when every thing w/ $ can be worked out with GMAC etc. so the only way i "know" it has 3.42s is tha the guy told my father who told me.

samz28

ask the guy to read off the VIN and RPO codes. You do want to know what you are buying? You did run carfax on it before giving over any cizzash?

"dad have the guy read the RPO codes off the drivers door, and the vin # so i can check out whats really going on".

how hard is that?

if they hesitate on the vin# i'd take your money and run.

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

A4 cars were factory-equipped with 2.73 or 3.23 gears.

Racehead

If I sold a car to some dude and his KID started calling me to read him off VIN #'s I think I'd tell him to go take a cold shower !

VIP1

Then I wouldnt buy a car from you.

--VIP1

CRAGER

There is no way it has 3.42's unless this guy put them in. Check the door codes, also you can tell by the driveshaft. Steel driveshaft means 2.73's and the aluminum means it has 3.23's.





Peace,
Craig.

x phantom x

iTrader: (14)

.
Assumption is the mother of all F'ups. Never listen to someone who is trying to sell you a car.

You could have your dad the rpo code and the Vin number to you, and do what the above people have mentioned.
OR
You could also have him drive the car, and see what speed you are at when you reach a certain RPM.

For instance.... at 35mph in 2nd gear, you will be at ....

A4 w/ 2.73 gears ... ~2000 rpms
A4 w/ 3.23 gears ... ~2400 rpms
A4 w/ 3.42 gears ... ~2600 rpms

Take a drive, pop it in "2" ... go 35mph, and see what RPM you are at. If it is either of the first 2, the guy was full of **** ... if it was the third, be very happy because you have 3.42 gears.
.

'02BlackTA

hey everyone: thanks for all of y'alls help: my father asked the guy about the gears and from what he [my father] told me the guy was happy to produce receipts for the gears, a work receipt for their installation and tuning and the set of old 3.23s that came in the car originally. thank you for all of the help: my father says the door code says gu-5, so the seller is prolly being straight up. I'll have my father drive the car tommorrow and do the RPM test just to triple check but my dad says the car keeps you pulled back in the seat during WOT acceleration and the power off the line is right there so this all seems to mean that the car has what this guy is claiming. my dad's been an acquantance of this gentleman for a year or two now so i don't think he'd do us wrong, but in cars it doesn't hurt to be sure. thanks again y'all.
Nick G.
PS now that i know i have good gears what would be a good mild stall converter for mainly recreational street use with a little, just for fun, track time? i've heard like 3200 and 3800 are decent, i think these are vig models...am i right here that these would be a good choice for what im trying to do?

samz28

tci ssf 3500. odd that one would swap from 3.23 to 3.42, thats like nearly no gain for a good bit of cost

i could see 3.23 to 3.73/4.10 for strip car, i went from 2.73 to 3.42 because it sounded like a reasonable upgrade of strength/versus gain.

but 3.23 to 3.42? odd.

did the old gears have a problem?

'02BlackTA

no idea, i didn't ask my dad how the old gears looked: I will when i talk to him to tommorrow though. the car has only 25K miles on it so it seems weird that the gears would have had any problems with them in those few amount of miles. maybe the guy we're buying it from thought it was a good idea? the other upgrades he has are smart, long tube headers to a full, true dual exhaust system and some sort of upgraded intake incluiding a smooth bellows K&N filter [i know ive advised my dad to get rid of it] whisperlid etc.
he says its chipped,which im pretty sure knowing gm cars he's had pcm tuning done. next for stall converter. btw: how well does NO2 work on LS1s? i know on the v6 cars its a really popular upgrade and i almost got a system for my '99 3.8 bird. is the juice a common thing on the 350s, is it considered something smart to do to a TA?

Racehead

Go take a cold shower