Gears

richduty455

richduty455

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So I want some more grunt when i run from a dead stop, how does everyone like their gears?? also I hear that with the ford 8.8 when you install gear you just place them in, no need to do the shims like with a GM rear, is this the case??? how much will I love the gears?? will it kill my highway power??
 
Lol... whoever told you that you don't need to have the gears set up is dead wrong... the backlash and pinion depth need to be dead nuts on...

I have my 4.30 gears just waiting to go into my car... I'm expecting it to improve acceleration at all rpms and speeds and to decrease my mpg to the low 20's on the freeway.
 
richduty455 said:
also I hear that with the ford 8.8 when you install gear you just place them in, no need to do the shims like with a GM rear, is this the case??? ??
Click to expand...

Gears are the #1 best bang for the buck mod you can do to a mark 8.

but whoever told you they dont need "shimming" needs to really log off the internet and not post any more helpful tips.
 
richduty455 said:
how much will I love the gears????
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Only you can answer that question.

But.. if you go from a base mark 8 w/307 gears and put 373's in.. your gonna be dissapointed.

With a 307 car 410's are a must

with a 327lsc 430's are required to get the same "bang for the buck" the 410's give to a base model.

going from 327's to 410's is literally "the same gear jump" as going from 307's to 373's.. IMHO not worth the expense..
 
richduty455 said:
will it kill my highway power??
Click to expand...

no unless you travel or like to travel at 150+ MPH...


If you think about it a base model 307 car is still in 2nd gear at 100MPH.

moving to 410's or 430's moves 3rd and 4th gear into the "non triple digits" speeds, that means they are "actually" in a "useable range".. rather than 3rd gear being up in the 100+MPH range.

it wont hurt your hiway "power" but it may limit your "top speed" a bit.

a 60-70 punch w/430 gears.. PRICELESS!
 
I say swap to a really big gear, lock it, and dont shim it. Then when it grenades in a few launches, you'll know what you think of the new gears before you have to rbuild the whole thing
 
gotcha, I figured you still had to shim and set everything up. This guy is a d-bag anyways.....everything he has is all rigged!
 
I paid $180 to have mine installed properly at a Speed Shop... I brought them a loaded carrier and all the parts to do the install.
 
I paid 413.92 for the gears, tlock, and bearing + $180 for the install...

Total $593.93... which I don't think is bad at all.

Add another $80ish for poly diff mount bushings...
 
I just installed some 3.73s in my 98 LSC this weekend, and combined with the T45, it is an unbelievable improvement! I like to cruise around 80 on the highway, so I didn't want to go to 4.10s. But even the minor difference from 3.27s to 3.73s was very noticeable.

Also, while the gears do need to be set up properly, it is pretty easy to do yourself and save a bunch of money. My gear install cost me a grand total of under $100 cause I did it myself.
 
$180 is cheap. Around here at least it's $250-300 labor to set up gears. I forgot exactly how much I paid for gears/trac lok/install kit but I got everything from Maxx for a good price.

And don't forget the possibilty of needing a driveshaft after steeper gears do to vibration. Used '93 shafts can be founds for <$100 if you look hard enough or new units are considerably more.
 
the rear end isnt hard to do in your garage, but like I keep telling the LS guys, dont do it if you dont KNOW how to do it.
 
Ford 8 inch and nine inch rears dont use shims to set gear lash.
A 8.8 uses shims to set gear lash.

On a sling shot dragster you want to make sure the rear is setup dead on.
Because your nuts sit on the third member :eek:

ent7.jpg
 
kustomizingkid said:
If you have the tools already...
Click to expand...

You don't need much in the way of tools. You need a 1/2" impact and a dial indicator, and that's it. In fact, you can get away without the dial indicator by using a dial caliper and a friend to move the ring gear back and forth while you hold the caliper steady and check the reading.
 
yeah its pretty easy to do in a sat morning while watching power block, but not something for the newb to be doing alone
 
I forgot about needing the press. Even still, you could just take it to a machine shop and have them press the bearing off the one gear and onto the other, and you would still be ahead of the game.
 
richduty455 said:
$180? not bad (strokes chin)
Click to expand...

Pinion depth, bearing preload, back lash and mesh the rear. It's not too bad.. I did mine in about an hour total. Once you crank the crush sleeve down...you have to measure rotational torque of the pinion gear. It should be no more than 20 in. lbs.
 
I have 4.11s. I would not bother with anything lower than 3.90s if you're staying naturally aspirated.
 
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