Gears & Axles Driveshafts | Rearends | Differentials | Gears | 12 Bolt | 9 Inch | Dana
View Poll Results: What gears?
3.42s
2
13.33%
3.73s
13
86.67%
Voters: 15. You may not vote on this poll

Gears for my setup

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Old Dec 11, 2008 | 06:52 PM
  #1  
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Default Gears for my setup

The choice is between 3.42s and 3.73s. The car is a regularly driven Z28, A4 with 3.23s and a Yank SS4000 (I love the converter but it needs more gear behind it). "Gas mileage" is not a big factor but driveability is. I currently have a set of Motive 3.42s sitting in the garage, but I want to do this once and do it right. Feedback is appreciated.
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Old Dec 11, 2008 | 09:05 PM
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I voted 3.73 because i have a 3.73 and 3600 vig. love it, i 60' a 1.59 on 245 nittos with this combo. A lot of the local guys around here are also running a 3.73 4000 stall setup and are mid 11's with a cam.

If you plan on heads and cam then do the 3.73 for sure, but if you want to stay internally stock then 3.42 may be better to keep you in peak tq and power range
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Old Dec 11, 2008 | 10:35 PM
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The car already has a mild cam (Hotcam) and 243 heads.
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Old Dec 12, 2008 | 09:26 AM
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3.73s.!
I'm running4.56s' with an A4.
Gas mileage will hardly be changed(depending on right foot).I went from 24.5 mpg with 3.23s' to 21.5 with 4.56s'.
Driveability will improve and the torque convertor will 'seem' slightly tighter going from 3.23 to 3.73 as slippage/stall is resistance dependant and gears provide a mechanical advantage over the resistance of the vehicle to get moving.
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Old Dec 16, 2008 | 12:09 PM
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Anybody take the side of 3.42s? LOL Looking at the gear calculator in the FAQs, I really like the lower RPMs for 3rd gear and OD cruising speeds as this car actually sees very little track time.
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Old Dec 16, 2008 | 01:14 PM
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You asked us to vote and we did.Don't get upset if you didn't want anyone to vote for the 3.73s.
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Old Dec 16, 2008 | 02:18 PM
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Who's upset? I'm just asking if anyone reading actually favored 3.42s. Geez...
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Old Dec 16, 2008 | 02:28 PM
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No favor of the 3.42 gears. The difference in the 3.23 to 3.42 is pretty much useless. 3.73 is the way to go.

Jeff
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Old Dec 16, 2008 | 03:17 PM
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Didn't mean to offend.
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Old Dec 16, 2008 | 03:19 PM
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love my 3.73!! espeically coming from 2.73..
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Old Jan 5, 2009 | 02:56 AM
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hands down choice..
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Old Jan 5, 2009 | 12:12 PM
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i voted for 343's because they are there. and i don't think it will make much difference.
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Old Jan 5, 2009 | 11:07 PM
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I voted 3.73's. As stated by others the difference isn't much if you go to the 3.42's.... although I must add that I did sell my 3.42's to a friend with an A4, 382 stroker, AFR heads, big cam, stall and nitrous and he loved them.
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Old Jan 6, 2009 | 04:26 PM
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I also voted 3.73s. That is the gear in my car now, but I'm 97.5% sure I'm going to be swapping to 3.50s since I'm running out of gear on the top end.
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Old Jan 6, 2009 | 05:03 PM
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i voted 3.73s also....
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Old Jan 7, 2009 | 04:08 PM
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Funny, im at the opposite end of the spectrum right now, as i am waiting to install my SS4000 stall and i have a set of 3.90s in the back right now. I went from 3.23s to 3.90s cause everyone with autos goes 3.73, so i wanted alittle edge, but if and when my rear dumps, it will be 4.10s!!!! Oh and i say dont waist the effort with those 3.42, not enough of a change for the amount of work!
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Old Jan 7, 2009 | 04:56 PM
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I have 3.70's. 80mph is a hair under 3k. Perfect....
I would never recommend any less than 3.70's, i almost bought 3.90's, which would probably be just fine.
3.42's are a waste IMO.
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Old Jan 7, 2009 | 05:04 PM
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any of you running 3.73's in your 10 bolts? Or if you did at some point how many passes did you get out of it before breaking that 10 bolt?
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Old Jan 7, 2009 | 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by 99problemz
any of you running 3.73's in your 10 bolts? Or if you did at some point how many passes did you get out of it before breaking that 10 bolt?
i have 410s and a 4k stall... i have about 10 passes under it right now...

BUT i had two buddies with that same setup.. one had a 3500 instead of 4k...
both sprayed 200 shots out of the hole... cant count how many passes they did...
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Old Jan 7, 2009 | 05:50 PM
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^^ wow impressive. The reason i asked is because i wanted to get some 3.73's and a 3200 stall and see how long that would last me.
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