I will be doing a new rear soon and wanted some recommendations on rear gear ratios. My car is a 383 with a D1 with 12 psi. Built A4 with a 2400 stall. I plan on almost all street stuff. I may be dreaming but I would hope the car is fast enough that without a roll cage they wont let me play at the track. Good for me since I really dont want a roll cage. I have had a 373 and now have a 342 both allowing for useless 1st gear hard starts. I was wondering if 323 would allow for better hook ups on the street or should I just aim toward drag radials and stay with the 342 gear. Ideas anyone?

 

I really don't like a few things with your set up if it were me I would ake a few changes....I hade a 347 P1SC making 12psi. 3800 Blower/NOS verter......4.11 gears....and a good tire....and QA1'a all the way around....you shouldn't be having traction issues with 3.42 or 3.73 with the right tire.

 

No matter what gear or tire you aren't going to be able to dead hook on an unprepped surface. 3.42 is a good choice.

Rich

 

Right now I am finishing off the Eagle GS tires. I am planning some new things for spring though. Since the rear end is a very sloppy 10 bolt right now(lots of axle play) I know I will need the rear end. Since my car is a 25th Trans Am it has white wheels which turns out to be another problem since I am getting very tired of cleaning brake dust off white wheels. The rear in the car now has lots of axle play which is causing me more than the normal amount of dusting problems. So along with the rear end I will most likely be looking at new wheels for my car. Some thing in a 10.5-11.0 wide and use 315s on the rear. I would love to find a stickier street tire but I think no matter what I get this will be just some thing I will have to live with.

So as it stands now this spring should bring a different rear end,wheels and tires at the very least. Hopefully some other kind of brake pads to help with the dust. At that point I will be happier. I have sub frame connectors that need installed as well as a new ignition. I may also need to do something about the D1 slipping the belt a little. I have adjustable lower control arms and panhard rod now as well as a spohn cross member mounted torque arm mounted on the car. I do have some bfg drag radials(1st style) mounted on 16s that I tried and they seemed to help some but not fantastic.

I appreciate the vote on the 342s rskrause.

HodgesZ28 I am open to suggestion on what you think I should change.

Thanks for the help.

 

The Idea that going from 3.73 to 3.23 gears to increase traction is not sound. Traction will remain the same, and the ability to control* available traction will be REDUCED!! Only reduce gear ratio if you need lower rpms or higher top speed.
*Available traction is best controled with the throttle, the steeper the gear the easier this becomes. Tire choice will affect available traction.

 

Sorry to be confused but I thought if I used the numerically higher gear it would make it harder for me to keep traction. I realize that tires and suspension play a huge roll in available traction. I am looking into either the best street tire or just using a drag radial for the street. I thought that with the 373s on up it would allow the car to spin much easier than with a numerically lower gear ratio. So I am taking from this you feel that I should stay with the 342 or 373 for my car?