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Old 09-06-2009, 06:09 PM
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MagicRat MagicRat is offline
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Re: selecting rear end gears

Trucks back then had a wide variety of optional gear ratios... you will have to get underneath and have a look... lift the rear end and spin the rear wheels together, and count the number of times the driveshaft turns.

I hope you will use the 400 trans in this combination, most th350's will be turned into Rice Krispies with that kind of power.

As for the ratio, are you putting tubs and a narrowed rear end in the back, so you can get wide, sticky tires?

If you are going to keep the stock wheelwells and streetable tires, a 3:1 rear end is about as short as you can go. Pick up trucks tend to lack traction at the best of times, so you will spin the rear tires in first gear, regardless of the rear end ratio. So you may as well have a reasonably tall rear, so highway cruising will be comfortable.
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