4.10 help - pros and cons
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles, CA
4.10 help - pros and cons I'm no expert in this field. I've heard of the 4.10 or the 4.11 gears. Here are my questions:
-is the 4.10 and the 4.11 the same?
-are the gears effective for the takeoff or from a roll?
-is it effective on all the gears or just one?
-i'm getting head/cams... will there be any complications?
-what are the negative aspects of getting a 4.11?
-is the 4.10 and the 4.11 the same?
-are the gears effective for the takeoff or from a roll?
-is it effective on all the gears or just one?
-i'm getting head/cams... will there be any complications?
-what are the negative aspects of getting a 4.11?
A crash course in ring and pinion. First of the pinion is a shaft with gear teeth on it, that transfers rotating energy from the driveshaft into the rearend. The ring gear connects to it, and drives the rear axles. These are housed inside the "pumpkin" portion of the rearend, for lack of a better word.
As far as gear selection, if your running a 10 bolt rearend (stock) I would not recommend a 4.10 gear (4.10's are for 10 bolt GM). That gear, while effective for drag launches, and even rolling starts, is notoriously brittle. If your running a 6 speed it only amplifies the problem. You will have to take into consideration that all the horsepower in the world is useless unless you have a good suspension, and traction adders. I'm a firm believer that its better to build the cars base (suspension, rearend, and tires) before you worry about adding more power.
I highly recommend that you stick with a smaller gear, such as a 3.73 gear if your running an automatic or manual. It has good pick up, and still offers very good street manners, as well as highway use.
Anyone of the sponsors on the list to the right should have a set to meet your needs. Be sure to also purchase an install kit, and have the bearings professionally pressed on, or have a reputable shop do the install. Keep in mind that you will have to program your PCM for the new gear ratio, so your speedo is working correctly. This can be done with most handheld tuners or with a dyno tune at a shop that has LS1 Edit.
Good luck, and have fun.
As far as gear selection, if your running a 10 bolt rearend (stock) I would not recommend a 4.10 gear (4.10's are for 10 bolt GM). That gear, while effective for drag launches, and even rolling starts, is notoriously brittle. If your running a 6 speed it only amplifies the problem. You will have to take into consideration that all the horsepower in the world is useless unless you have a good suspension, and traction adders. I'm a firm believer that its better to build the cars base (suspension, rearend, and tires) before you worry about adding more power.
I highly recommend that you stick with a smaller gear, such as a 3.73 gear if your running an automatic or manual. It has good pick up, and still offers very good street manners, as well as highway use.
Anyone of the sponsors on the list to the right should have a set to meet your needs. Be sure to also purchase an install kit, and have the bearings professionally pressed on, or have a reputable shop do the install. Keep in mind that you will have to program your PCM for the new gear ratio, so your speedo is working correctly. This can be done with most handheld tuners or with a dyno tune at a shop that has LS1 Edit.
Good luck, and have fun.
On The Tree
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 196
Likes: 0
4.10's are great, but aren't for everyone. I have them with a manual, and love it.
They are a bit much for an automatic tranny, a 3.73 is a better gear for that
You'll find yourself shifting a little bit more with a manual, but it hasn't bothered me at all. And if you do have a manual tranny, 5th and 6th gear more than compensate for the extra rpm's you'll be turning.
And I think your highly unlikely to break 4.10's without using drag tires.
A negative to 4.10s is that if you build a lot more horsepower than stock, you be mostly spinning your tires in lower gears...
You'll also need to adjust your speedometer to read correctly once you've installed them.
Oh, bought mine from Thunder Racing (a great sponser, w/kick *** service)
And got the "Motive" brand. While there pretty good, actual GM brand gears I think are considered better. I have no complaint about the Motives though.
I got the 'kit' which included gears, T/A cover, caps/bolts/synthetic oil, and maybe one or two other things.
While you can get gears alone for a couple hundred bucks, plan on several hundred more than that, especially if you don't have a buddy very experienced to help you out on the install, setting them up is not for the first timer to try. It also pushed me to get LS1Edit, which I needed anyways, but that was costly at $550. I caught some hell from the wife that week...
They are a bit much for an automatic tranny, a 3.73 is a better gear for that
You'll find yourself shifting a little bit more with a manual, but it hasn't bothered me at all. And if you do have a manual tranny, 5th and 6th gear more than compensate for the extra rpm's you'll be turning.
And I think your highly unlikely to break 4.10's without using drag tires.
A negative to 4.10s is that if you build a lot more horsepower than stock, you be mostly spinning your tires in lower gears...
You'll also need to adjust your speedometer to read correctly once you've installed them.
Oh, bought mine from Thunder Racing (a great sponser, w/kick *** service)
And got the "Motive" brand. While there pretty good, actual GM brand gears I think are considered better. I have no complaint about the Motives though.
I got the 'kit' which included gears, T/A cover, caps/bolts/synthetic oil, and maybe one or two other things.
While you can get gears alone for a couple hundred bucks, plan on several hundred more than that, especially if you don't have a buddy very experienced to help you out on the install, setting them up is not for the first timer to try. It also pushed me to get LS1Edit, which I needed anyways, but that was costly at $550. I caught some hell from the wife that week...
Last edited by 4mula1; May 13, 2004 at 03:18 PM.
