What are you doing with the car? What kind of combo are you running engine/tranny wise? What rear tires are you running? The 8" rear is fairly limited on ratios, compared to the endless list of 9" gears. 2.79 (Just about any passenger car, including Mavs) 3.00 (Same as above, probably most common Mav gear) 3.25 (Ranchero, maybe others) 3.40 (Some Pintos, Bobcats, Stang2s) 3.55 (Same as above, but usually on cars loaded down with more options) 3.80 (??? I have heard some early vans used 8" with this gear) 4.11 (Aftermarket, maybe stock in ???) 4.62 (Aftermarket)
What will the top RPM of the engine be? What top speed do you want? Is top speed or accelleration most important to you?
for any kind of street use i wouldnt go higher than a 3.80, but that's just me. but like the other gentlemen have stated, the way your build your engine is very important. everything plays it's own role to have a good combination
I use 3.80 with a spool, and it is fine for city driving and cruising, but don't plan on hitting the highways unless you are comfortable driving at 60-65mph. Any higher and it sounds like your engine is SCREAMING down the road. I use 27" tires and I tend to drive the highways at 60-65. I CAN drive higher, but I don't like cruising at 4000 rpms. So, if you want a faster takeoff and don't drive highways, 3.80 is probably OK. If you do city ONLY, 4.11 is cool, if you do any highway, stick with 3.55
where dead you get your 3.80 from ........highwaysit will never see highways unless it is being towed
ive been thinking of ordering up a set of gears from summit. since i wont be running crazy HP i figure i can get away with using their cheap brand for $125 i was thinking of going 4.11 but theres a few roads around here where you need to be going atleast 50 to roll with the slowest traffic
Aw crap man, go for it! I used to run 4.11s on I240 5 days a week through Memphis when my 75 was my daily driver. 110 mph with 4.11s is fun on the interstate! (Or so I would imagine, if I had ever been stupid enough to do such a thing! ) Of course 5 mpg was a good day for that setup.
to me accelleration is alot more important then top speed but at the same time i need to be abloe to cruise at least 50mph at times going into town or where ever. i feel like 3.80's would be the best but at the same time i dont want to regret not going "ballz out" lol
If it is to be a "once in a while" drag car then 3.80 is fine. It will allow you to cruise at 60-70 mph on the road if you want to without stressing the engine. If you really want acceleration then the 4.11 is better. I knew a guy who used to race between stop lights with a 250" six and 5.56 rear gears. He never took it out on the road because it was trerrible on fuel and had a top speed of 90 something. He was extremely hard to beat when racing was less than a quarter mile though.
ha that sounds like fun my 250 is about to be evicted in the comming days so my gear shopping is going to be based of the new 302 going in. i think im going to get the 4.11's
If I did it again, I would go 4.11. But, I seldom do freeways, and when I do, I don't mind getting flipped off while cruising only 55-60 mph. My gears are Richmond from Summit. They weren't very expensive, less than $200.
How difficult is it to change out the gears? For $200 will new gears make a big difference in performance?
