Another one shown the magic of gears. Just that small ratio change made that big a difference goes to show what lower gears can do. I recommend a posi swap also, just make sure you don`t get a GM Eaton "Gov Lock" also known as a "grenade lock" these units are prone to break, hence the name.

 

i've been debating the swap from my 3:08 to 3:42's....sounds like it makes one hell of a difference

 

I still am able to cruise on the interstate also. I wanted to go 3:73 but so glad I didnt. 3;42's on the highway is awesome. I dont have a tach but will get one here soon so i dont know my rpms. But the flowmasters sounds good at cruise speeds. Yea a posi is definitly in the investment book. I have brand new 17inch tires and they spend like 14 inch slicks. You'd swear left and right this thing was a big block by the way it leaves the line. Im just amazed. When I make a left turn and hit it, it catches and both tires spend. Im done im completely satified with this mouse of a 305 cause I can cruise on the highway, and shed some rubber when I want.

 

I went from 3.08 to 4.56. Yup, she tachs...

 

4:56!!!!! Thats an all out dragster right?

 

Thought my 4.10s were bad but 4.56? Geeze. Better have some big tires to keep the Rpms down a little.

 

I dont think ill be winning any light to light races cause that one right tire wont stop until I get off it.

Try this until you get a posi. Replace the right rear only shock with an air shock. Adjust the air pressure in it until you have pre-loaded the right rear to the point that both tires lay an equal patch. A front-motor, rear-drive vehicle twists on a diagonal when hammered. The left front and the right rear get light, while the right front and left rear get heavy. So, pre-loading the right rear will put more weight on that corner and make the tire hook.

Also, contrary to what most guys think, a street tire will hook up better with MORE air in it, not LESS.

 

Try this until you get a posi. Replace the right rear only shock with an air shock. Adjust the air pressure in it until you have pre-loaded the right rear to the point that both tires lay an equal patch. A front-motor, rear-drive vehicle twists on a diagonal when hammered. The left front and the right rear get light, while the right front and left rear get heavy. So, pre-loading the right rear will put more weight on that corner and make the tire hook.

Also, contrary to what most guys think, a street tire will hook up better with MORE air in it, not LESS.

That tooooo much work inspector. Ill feel better by putting some blocks in the back. Thatll be my excuse for not winning. Not hooking. Although on my way home from shop a guy in a 90 model camaro pulled long side of me(V6 what a waste of car). He lead me by a bumper from the light but I came around him spinning and all, after that it was over. Im gone get in a lot trouble with this thing. I wanna hurry and put a posi in just to see what itll do.

 

4:56!!!!! Thats an all out dragster right?

My C1500 shortbox daily driver with a about 500 HP 383. Getting a 200-4R very soon. Got 275/45 20s on her tho.

 

Wanna Race :boxing:

 

I was always taught the first performance mod you should make was a set of gears.

Try this until you get a posi. Replace the right rear only shock with an air shock. Adjust the air pressure in it until you have pre-loaded the right rear to the point that both tires lay an equal patch. A front-motor, rear-drive vehicle twists on a diagonal when hammered. The left front and the right rear get light, while the right front and left rear get heavy. So, pre-loading the right rear will put more weight on that corner and make the tire hook.

Also, contrary to what most guys think, a street tire will hook up better with MORE air in it, not LESS.

We used to put an Air Lift bag in the right rear, does the same thing.

 

Another one bites the dust. Took the old truck out for another spin today and came across a young thundercat in a square body mustang 5.0. We both spun real hard out the hole but the mustang had posi and got ahead. My 700r first gear is a monster, it wound and wound then finally scratched second gear. I could tell this guy wasnt experienced cause he couldnt shift worth a crap. I thinks thats why I got him for the most part. Id love to see him once I get my posi unit.

 

You're not gonna need that posi unit when you lose your license for drag racing on the street.

 

My favorite automatic drivetrain is the 700R4 light 2200 stall with 3.42 gears and a 26" tire, or 4.10's with 28" tire. You could build an "out of time" over carbed turd , and the drivetrain would keep it fast.

It is hard to beat the pulling G feeling of a torqued 440 with A833 4speed and 3.23's with 26"tire.

 

You're not gonna need that posi unit when you lose your license for drag racing on the street.

I second this. You need to keep it on the track, fella.

 

You guys are right im done. Im a nurse by profession and see lots of this stupidity. Thanks, but it sure feels good to know itll do it. What makes it so bad is that I dont drive fast usually. my wife complains all the time about how slow I drive. I just need to keep her out my truck

 

If you get a powertrax lock right, you could replace your spider gears with it kind of like a mini-spool. That way you wouldn't have to pay for installation twice.

Track is the absolute only place to go fast. What I do when I get tempted to street race is to nail it off the line and then let off before I hit the speed limit. If I can beat them off the rip till maybe 35 or 40, that's all it usually takes to satisfy me. Most people don't want none anyway :thumbup:

 

If you get a powertrax lock right, you could replace your spider gears with it kind of like a mini-spool. That way you wouldn't have to pay for installation twice.

Track is the absolute only place to go fast. What I do when I get tempted to street race is to nail it off the line and then let off before I hit the speed limit. If I can beat them off the rip till maybe 35 or 40, that's all it usually takes to satisfy me. Most people don't want none anyway :thumbup:

CLASSIC :thumbup:

 

Don`t let the gears fool you into believeing your the only one who has gears.
I`ve seen this mistake time after time when guys get gears they believe they just about can`t be taken. Keep driving it until you get used to it, then the bug will bite you for more power and more cubic inches. You`ll realize all of a sudden "this thing should have more get up and go than this" This is why I consider hot rodding a disease, once it bites you, you keep coming back for more.

 

Don`t let the gears fool you into believeing your the only one who has gears.
I`ve seen this mistake time after time when guys get gears they believe they just about can`t be taken. Keep driving it until you get used to it, then the bug will bite you for more power and more cubic inches. You`ll realize all of a sudden "this thing should have more get up and go than this" This is why I consider hot rodding a disease, once it bites you, you keep coming back for more.

you are so right cause all ready im looking for more power. a guy at my job is selling a bone stock 454 out of a 90 model dually for a 1000 bucks. so tempting. i wonder if i can get it without my wife knowing :nono:

 

I swapped out the "desert overdrive" 2.29 gears in my Malibu for a set of 3.73 and the TH-700R4 made sure to tell me it liked it a WHOLE LOT more, by giving me a 6 MPG increase just for the gear swap. It chirps the 1-2 shift almost every time, has the TV cable properly adjusted, and won't win most races, but feels really nice to have 19 MPG total average out of a 29 year old carbureted car. It don't go any faster than a lot of cars out there, but boy- it sure does hug those corners real nice like compared to my 2000 Impala.

 

Seriously It's like it's never quite fast enough.

 

Took the truck out again today just drove around no speeding. Got on the interstate and cruised for a bit at about 60mph. I really need a tach so i can know my rpm's. the good thing about it is that I got bigger tires. 255/50/17, before I had 275/40/17 that made my rpm's higher. So now lower gears and bigger tires Is just right for cruising. My son who is six loves to ride in "his truck" always say go fast daddy, he's my hotrdding buddy. Its gonna be cool when he's sixteen pulling up at school in the 86 chevy with the flowmasters and cam thumping. Everyone else will be in there space cars.

 

American,

the reason your one leg rear doesn't grab at launch is due to the stock truck weight distribution (around 65% front/35% rear sitting level??)
your not lifting the front suspension quick enough (!!!) and/or far enough to transfer enough weight to the rear at launch...
(that's what putting some blocks in the bed would actually do,,,help the front end lift)

preface,,, I'm assuming your front suspension and steering are all original parts (which are getting tired)...

my cheap/easy/effective way/choice to cure weight transfer and balance the tires grab is:

add just one or two "load leveler" coil spring rubbers (or the twist-in kind) to the driver side front coil spring,,,that put's a minor lift pre-load on that spring,,,counters the motor TQ twist,, and restores the spring to original height (and rating?),,,just jack up the truck to install and costs <$10?...
{the D side front spring has lived a hard life,,,every time you have driven away from a stop sign/light all the motor torque was transfered into that spring}
if you carefully measure left and right sides from the floor to a same point on both the fenders,,,darn common to find the D side is sitting a 1/2 to 3/4" lower than the P side (spring rubber added cures that)...

second step is "tune" the front sway bar...
release just both end links bolts and confirm the sway bar is free to pivot so the whole front can/does lift instantly,,next to no pivot resistance,,,grease the pivot bushings if needed ...
(at a drag strip guys often set the end links bolts to way way loose to help transfer weight quicker but for street safety you DO want that bar to function)
the shapes and sizes of the bars and oem end links rubbers varies to much to give explicit instructions so just for the "idea":
usually (80%? of the time),,,a slightly taller end link stack (1/2"?) on the D side helps by countering the motor twist TQ so the bar can/does respond quicker (partly cause your D side motor mount is worn),,,test to see what just adding some fender washers to the D side link does for launch traction/burn out pattern...
"fair chance" due to your stiff frame,,, you will have bite and both tires will break loose with just those two easy to do changes!!!

LOL,,, how in the world do I explain the following clearly and briefly????
first,,, measure the "stock" installed/compressed end link height from the bar end to the A frame,,,just fairly close is good enough and write down the measurement for future reference...
the end link rubber donuts come in a huge variety of shapes/demensions/rubber durometers (=how elastic)/materials and they are inexpensive...
you can mix and match different donuts on a link,,,say have 2 rubber and 2 urathane on a link so it still rides smooth over pot holes but the bar can/will respond abit quicker on hard launch....
heck,,, you can bench grind a taller-softer rubber donut and/or cut the tube spacer by a bit to accommodate a taller one used to compress abit quicker at launch...
"because" when you have found a installed new donuts combo you really like for ride and launch the last thing to check is that the bar is at reasonably close to the original position based on the new compressed link height measurement (within + - 1/2" should be plenty close) ....

additional potential benefit from playing with the donuts is all around more responsive steering/cornering....
(oem parts choice is to accomodate both on and off road on a pick up as a example)...

summary:
LOL,,,
with about $20? worth of parts you can spend a whole Sat trying different combos and have a excuse for doing test burn outs at a SAFE location without even breaking a sweat doing the changes...

for others reading this thread tuning/tweeking the front suspension on a older unibody car can really help...

the (simple) rear gears change/gain math:
motor flywheel TQ x tranny ratio x rear ratio = total TQ acceleration force applied to the tires (versus car weight=power/weight ratio)...
illustration:
300ft/lbs motor x 3.0 low gear x stock 3.08 rear gears = 2772 ft/lbs of tire twisting force applied to the tires...
300 ft/lbs motor x 3.0 low gear x say "3.73" rear gears = 3357 ft/lbs of twisting force!!!!

edit add:
here's a link to "all" the Wallace racing calculators to save...

including one for determining cruise rpms from mph and gears ratio and tire diameter by just plugging in values...

http://www.wallaceracing.com/Calculators.htm

http://www.wallaceracing.com/gear-speed.php