4.10's dangers or downfalls

Trippen Out

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I was speaking with a buddy of mine about our cars. he owns a t-bird and we were talking about gears. i told him i want to put 4.10 gears in the car and he started to rant about how stupid that is. saying that the 4.10 is a race gear and that the mark viii isnt set up to handle such a gear in a stock form. he then went on to tell me how the gears would cause me to chew up my splines and cause me to break my axles and that i should convert the car to a solid read end, also that i would destroy my transmission as well unless i modified it to handle all the added stress of having a 4.10 in the rear.

So i was wondering, does anything he say have merrit? i have seen a lot of threads on the upsides of installing 4.10s but what do i really need to watch out for. is it really as simple as just having the gears installed with a posi and a solid balanced drive shaft? should there be steps or concerns to take care of in order to do it right ?
 
I was speaking with a buddy of mine about our cars. he owns a t-bird and we were talking about gears. i told him i want to put 4.10 gears in the car and he started to rant about how stupid that is. saying that the 4.10 is a race gear and that the mark viii isnt set up to handle such a gear in a stock form. he then went on to tell me how the gears would cause me to chew up my splines and cause me to break my axles and that i should convert the car to a solid read end, also that i would destroy my transmission as well unless i modified it to handle all the added stress of having a 4.10 in the rear.

Your friend is an idiot.



is it really as simple as just having the gears installed with a posi and a solid balanced drive shaft?

Yes. It's pretty much that simple.
 
Sonds like he doesn't want that big'ol luxury yaught to outrun his "sportscar".lol:D
 
You'd be better off listening to those around here who have far more experience with these cars than your "bench racer Tbird buddy".

Kracker just put 430 gears in his mark 8 and he loves it!!!!
If you have an LSC and you put 410s in it.. your probably gonna be dissapointed in the outcome.

And... I'll make the same offer I've made no less than a dozen times.

YOU put 410s in your car.. and if your benchracing Tbird buddy was RIGHT?
I'll trade you my 373 FRPP Cobra center section for your 410 housing.

Put 430s in it..and I'll make you the same offer.

Like I said.. I've made this offer a dozen times or MORE and have YET to have a single person try to take me up on that offer.
 
he owns a t-bird
Great

he started to rant about how stupid that is.
One man's opinion.

saying that the 4.10 is a race gear and that the mark viii isnt set up to handle such a gear in a stock form.
Why? Are you going to spin the engine and thus the other driveline components to 8000 rpm?

he then went on to tell me how the gears would cause me to chew up my splines and cause me to break my axles and that i should convert the car to a solid read end,
Properly installed, should have little to no effect. Why anyone would convert to solid axle when they have an IRS is beyond me.

also that i would destroy my transmission as well unless i modified it to handle all the added stress of having a 4.10 in the rear.
You could do a simple j-mod (recommended) and could always add a lube fitting to the rear seal of the tranny to compensate for the higher rotational speeds the driveline will experience if that is so much of a concern of his.

is it really as simple as just having the gears installed with a posi and a solid balanced drive shaft? should there be steps or concerns to take care of in order to do it right ?
1) Do the j-mod - basically a free tranny upgrade.
2) Have your engineer bud add a grease fitting to your rear tranny seal.
3) Balance the driveshaft. Your 'expert' could also show you how to do that as a DIY project.
4) Get somebody that knows what they are doing install the gear set.
5) Add a differential cover brace to your 'aluminum' pumpkin.
6) Change the speedo gear.

Give it gas and watch him whimper.

The 4-valve engine he covets has the ability to spin much higher with less effort than his 2Ver.

Have some fun and don't listen to this guy. We have guys running 400-500 rwhp on the stock drivetrain.

Just remember, any time you spin something higher and for longer, you are going to add wear. So your buddy is right in that regard. But come on, do you want to keep the car for 20 more years and be bored or have a little fun along the way?

Really piss him off and put some 4.30's in if you don't do a lot of highway.
 
I almost feel like I am beating a dead horse by replying to this thread. But I'm going to anyway.

There is no reason not to go with 4.10s. The 4Vs like to rev and these are heavy cars. I have been running 4.10s for over a year and plan on 4.56s in the future.
 
Thanks for the info. i know this subject has been beat to death around here but its nice to have this thread to show him. i still plan on doing the 4.10s once i get the exhaust and a tranny cooler done and the jmod. stuff like that.
 
4.10's in my LSC and I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!!!!! also the posi unit too me and Tux go through a lot of tires...but I can't contain the beast!!! hehehe
 
Your friend has no experience with gears. Trust the tried and true formula of 4.10s in the marks. That's what made me go 4.10. It's been done on so many marks and is clearly a great setup along with a nice tune and possible converter.
 
make sure to get a posi of somekind. i have 4.10s, with the j-mod and with the open diff it wants to come around sometimes on the 1-2 shift.
 
hell my theory on starting the thundermark project was because my friend (midwestbird) was pissed my bone stock 98 lsc could beat his chipped 95 bird with 3.73's :D and yes he is now faster than me :(

and i think 4.56's are insane! mwb has them in his 82 gmc shortbed (and shes built) but for any length of driving its scary to have that thing winding down the highway
 
The only downfall in 4.10s is slightly less highway mileage. You're not going to break anything.
 
something slightly off subject. I told my brother when I got my 3.73's put in that my mpg didn't really change he thought i was an idiot for saying that, could explain why the gears don't effect the mpg greatly.
 
X8 your friends an idiot lol. i have been running 4.10 and a LSD for about a year now. i completely ignored the break in period and have been beating the gears for the past year with no problems. you would have to be putting down serious power to break your rear end.
 
and i think 4.56's are insane! mwb has them in his 82 gmc shortbed (and shes built) but for any length of driving its scary to have that thing winding down the highway

4.56s are only about an 11% change over 4.10s. That's roughly 300rpm at 80mph. Hardly out of hand at all IMHO.
 
So the general consensus is dont get 4.10s cause they are real bad? :p

JK all, I would have gone 4.10s but spend 3 hours every day driving 110 miles with 75 of those miles at 80 MPH so the 3.73 seemed like the better bet. I only wanted a little more gear anyway.
 
So the general consensus is dont get 4.10s cause they are real bad? :p

JK all, I would have gone 4.10s but spend 3 hours every day driving 110 miles with 75 of those miles at 80 MPH so the 3.73 seemed like the better bet. I only wanted a little more gear anyway.

I went with 3:73's for the same reason. I really wanted the trac lock and could have cared less about the gears, but the upgrade just made sense to me. I dont ever plan on upgrading the rear end again, I like it the way it is. some members prefer 4:30's and 4:56's., but I cruise around more than I drag race so 3:73's is what I chose and couldn't be happier.
 
If anything it's less strain on the drivetrain because it takes less effort for your car to get off the line, especially having a heavy car the extra torque is good to possess. An aluminum driveshaft would further the benefits because the lightened shaft would put less stress on your drivetrain.

Edit: I wanted to capitalize on something Monstermark said. He said many people are running 400-500 whp on the stock drivetrain. It makes sense because our transmission 4r70w is supposed to handle 700hp hence the 70 in 4r70w....atleast that is what I read in my research on our trannys.
 

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