Hey guys, I just had my gears installed yesterday by LS1 Speed Inc. I have one major questions for you guys who had a 2.73(2 series) that upgraded their gears to 3.42...

I purchase a Richmond 3.42 gears (2 series) but when they where installing it, LS1 Speed told me eventhough the product number indicate a 2 series, it was actually a 3 series. So what they did to make it fit, they had to put spacers to fill the gap. I am not an expert on cars, but through this camaroz28.com forum, many of you folks said that converting a 2 series to a 3 series will take a lot of work and $$$. The spacers that they charged me was only $45 and extra labor went up to $130! They way they converted my 2 series to a 3 series, is that correct. Any concerns that I need to be aware off? I thought I need more than a spacers to make it fit! LS1 first quoted me $250 for labor and it jumped to $450 at the end of the day. It was wierd because when I first called them up to make an appointment, they said it will take the at least a day or two depending how busy they are. So yesterday, I dropped of my car at 9Am and got a called from them at 3 but told me they have to charge me an extra hour of labor. To me that didn't make no sense at all! I hope they didn't rip me off!

I drove the car and got it programmed but to me I didn't feel much difference than my 2.73. Maybe a 10-15 percent feel difference. I was accepting a major difference because throughout the forum, many folks said your car will feel like new and your traction will be bad. Both are not the case. I press the gas to the floor, expecting it to peel for at least 5 second or so but it chirp and took off. I currently have new tires 285 35 18 Michellen Sport. Well maybe the tires are doing it job! By the way, I did some high way driving and my RPM was not bad at all and I hear no whinning. That made me happy!

 

a spacer is fine,not sure about the labor charges.

2.73 to 3.42 isnt a huge leap,if you went 3.73's you would of noticed more of a difference.

 

i went from 273's to 342's didnt fell like a new car but i could tell they where there. i got some kumos and they spin off the line but dont just go up in smoke, i think your tires are doing the job.


BTW i just switched the entire rear with one that had 342's

 

thanks guys! I wish I went with a 3.73 gears instead.

 

The extra rotational weight of the 18" wheels and tires is going to cause another bit of power loss too. I can't say how much.

My car didn't feel like whole new car, but it is a MARKED improvement over the original 2.73s.

I do know that I gained better than .3 seconds in the 1/4 by changing gears.

 

I agree the spacer is not a big deal. Where did you buy the Richmond gears from?

 

A local shop. It only cost me 179

 

That equates to approximately a 20% increase in torque, that is a significant difference. 2.73 to 3.73 would be a 27% increase, a 7% improvement over the 3.42's.

 

So your pullin' holeshots the day after your gears were installed?

Smart, you can get the 3.73s when you nuke your rear end next week....

 

I floored it two times only but after that I went back to normal driving. The day I got it back I didn't feel much different and today I felt the DIFFERENCE. Why is that?

 

You will feel the most obvious difference from about 0-35 mph. (basically, most of 1st gear) After that, it's kind of a tradeoff, depending on which gears you have.

Dan

 

I disagree .

According to Richmond's own instructions, if the gears are intended to be used for drag racing, they require little to no break-in period. However if they're going to be for circle track racing, they need a break-in period consisting of a couple heat cycles --- meaning drive the car at normal speeds for about 10 miles (IIRC? ), then let the rear end cool for a couple hours, then do another drive to heat the gears up, let them cool again, and at this point you're good to go.

For normal, everyday street driving, I think that after 1 short drive to get the gears hot and then letting them cool, you're fine. My 4.10's are working perfectly, and that's basically how I did my break-in. I think I did about ~1/2 hour of light city driving, then parked the car for awhile, and they've been quiet the whole time.

As for the spacer they used, as long as your car is relatively stock, I don't think it should cause you a problem, but if you start making serious power, I would have wanted the proper 2-series gear (w/out use of a spacer) because now there are 2 shear points on the bolts, and I've heard of bolts breaking off because of using spacers (most likely behind big HP engines though).