I have a 8" with 411's and a mini spool. How will this work on the street ? I have two choices of trans. 1st, is a tci c4 w/2500 stall. 2nd, is a rug. 3sp w/overdrive. I would like to use it but im on the fence about a mini spool for a street car. and w/411's what rpm would it run at hwy speeds ?
I think the 4.11's are gonna hurt you too much if you plan on any highway driving. My 4.30's kill me for anything but local. I can get on the highway but I'm spinning 3500 going 55 mph. I have a set of 3.89's that I'm gonna put back in that will make it acceptable. A 3.50 would be ideal in my opinion for the best of both worlds. Now if you go with an AOD it's a whole different story.
what Ray said on the gears. as for the mini-spool, just be careful driving it. i have also seen an axle warp from driving too much on the street with mini-spools and spools
The RUG 3+OD is the perfect transmission for your gearing but it is only as strong as the toploader three speed. It is not as strong as the four speed toploader. The spool on the street will be ok in dry weather but in the rain, snow or ice it will slide out from behind you with the application of any power. I have to question what RPM your engine will turn becuase if it is built with a cam that turns to 6000 rpm and up your torque is going to peak near 4000 and turning 3-4000 at freeway speeds seems about right - however if you have a nearly stock engine then the gearing is way too deep for any serious long term driving. It will be a great stop light racer with those gears.
My MAv runs 8" 4:11 gearing with a locker. It uses quite a bit of fuel around town but to and from work at 3000 rpm its actually respectable. The RPM gets under my skin after about 20 minutes though. I'd like to swap it for 3.5 posi. next year. The 4:11 is great fun chirping the tires around town on shifts but I like to venture out to the farm now and then 30 minutes away. Less RPM would make the trip more enjoyable. I suppose tail pipes would help as well. Damn budget. Maybe later in the year. As for the spool all I can say is even the Locker is a bit aggressive on right turns. Turns a lot of heads chirping around the corner. wouldnt want to drive it with a spool. The locker goes sideways on a corner with too much throttle. The spool would be a headache I think.
Been driving mine for 5 years with a spool. The only time it's really noticeable is if I'm in a parking lot, then you can hear the chirping. It was much worse when I had regular street tires. I run M/T ET Street drag radials now and very seldom hear any chirping. I never have a problem turning, even on wet roads.
The cam that is in my 302 is a 488" lift .50 I don't know the duration. The only reason I was asking is I have a 8" out of a 72 mustang, I was going to use in my 66 mustang. sold the 66 so I want to recycle the 3rd member to recoup the investment.
