I finally did it! I called Dan at Van Steel and they got a 3.36 rear ready for me. I removed spare tire stuff, rear 1/2 of exhuast, strut rods and bracket, spring and bracket, 1/2 shafts, unbolted the drive shaft at the tranny, lowered the crossemember with the diff attached and slid the whole unit out. Removed the crossmember and rear cover and drove 2 hours to Van Steel to exchange the diff. and saved a bunch in freight. I also replaced all the Ujoints "while I was at it". The only snag I ran into was when I bent :smash: the ujoint flange that connects to trailing arm side on one half shaft. Dan sent me a new one with the Ujoint already in it so I wouldn't mess up the second one :p:

It's back on the road now, :steering: love the new gear. You guys were right: I was considering 3.08 gears and I think they would have been a little too low. The howl at highway speeds is gone as well as the terrible noises around turns.

Now to solve the vibration at highway speeds, definitely driveline related, doesn't do it in neutral or at a "float" rpm. Only under power, accel or decel... I'm thinking tailshaft bearing on the tranny. Since it does not occur in neutral, so I don't think it's balancer or engine relate. With all the new parts, I don't know what else to look for. Any thoughts?


edit: forgot to mention, I had Van Steel install new side yokes. The left side had about 1/2 inch of play, the snap ring was busted off and the only thing holding it in was the flared end.
:eek:


[Modified by isosceles, 8:20 PM 3/22/2004]

 

:cheers: :cheers:

Will you be at the EFCC this coming Saturday??

 

I'll see you there! With my new gear, I can keep up with those wanna be NASCAR drivers on I-75 without feeling like the motor is going to come flying out from under the hood at any minute.
Should be interesting to see how it affects my ET's. :skep:

 

What gears did you have previously?

 

3.70's. This L48 starts running out of steam past 4500 rpm.

 

I think it is gonna be 3.55s for me. I wonder if there would be a noticable difference between 3.08 and 3.36.

I really don't want to over do it.

 

check this site out for RPM's vs speed. they even have calculator for tire diameter. You can choose your tranny as well, then experiment with the rear end ratio.
http://www.smokemup.com/auto_math/mph_range.php

 

Looking forward seeing you there!!




[Modified by GrandSportC3, 1:08 PM 3/22/2004]