[punk1c5040]

i just got a set of axles out of a 1981 chevy half ton. i pulled the covers and from what i can tell it has 2.56 gears. is this umcommen? and if not then why? why would you want geears like that in a 4x4 truck? could i of decoded it worng? anyone with any info on this please let me know. Thanks

[M&M CUSTOM]

You could very well be correct.

What did you do to determine the gear ratio?

GM tried anything they could think of at the time to increase overall divisional averaged fuel mileage, and didn't care anything about power.

Do you happen to have a service parts identification tag in the glove box?

I would venture a guess you do have the 2.56's, and either a gear swap to steeper gears like 3.08 or 3.42's, or smaller tires (usually not the right choice) will give you more power.

[nohate28]

I believe you can either count the ring teeth and divide them by the number of pinion teeth, or simply turn the wheel one turn and count the number of times the drive shaft turns, should give the general idea. Those do not seem to be gears from a 4x4 to me, i would want some 4.11s or something....

[blade12376]

2.56 gears are totally an option in those trucks...i have a 79 half ton scottsdale and its factory gears are 2.76

[BOBCRMAN@aol.com]

I once had a customer with one of those trucks. He also had 36" tires on it and was trying to pull a two place horse trailer with it on weekends..

[Tony@AirRideTech]

Originally Posted by BOBCRMAN@aol.com

I once had a customer with one of those trucks. He also had 36" tires on it and was trying to pull a two place horse trailer with it on weekends..

those gears trying to even pull 36's had to be a sight to see... ha ha ha ha ha 36's you should be looking at 4.56's or 4.88's