dana 36 durability?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 543
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From: powhatan va.
dana 36 durability?
anyone have any idea how much horsepower a dana 36 can take?
i know certain things can make a difference like age,abuse and so on but just a rough idea. does anyone have any stories to share about there rear blowing out and what kind of power were you putting down
i know certain things can make a difference like age,abuse and so on but just a rough idea. does anyone have any stories to share about there rear blowing out and what kind of power were you putting down
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 173
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From: Mustang Oklahoma
I read this a few days ago in the FAQ that's stickied at the top.
"The maximum ratio that will fit in a D36 is a nominal 3.73. After that, your taking your rear ends life into your own hands. The D36 has a power limit of about 450hp... but it won't last long on the strip, even then..."
Hope it helps!
"The maximum ratio that will fit in a D36 is a nominal 3.73. After that, your taking your rear ends life into your own hands. The D36 has a power limit of about 450hp... but it won't last long on the strip, even then..."
Hope it helps!
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 62,155
Likes: 1,731
From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
C4 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
HP does not break things, torque does.
That said, there is not a concrete limit to what they can withstand. It may take 500 lb-ft for 10 years or 10 seconds, you just cant say.
What will break it is slicks, DR's put it on life support and it'll go anytime it wishes, but street use should let it survive quite awhile.
That said, there is not a concrete limit to what they can withstand. It may take 500 lb-ft for 10 years or 10 seconds, you just cant say.
What will break it is slicks, DR's put it on life support and it'll go anytime it wishes, but street use should let it survive quite awhile.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 543
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From: powhatan va.
yea, a 3.73 is the biggest gear you can put in a d36 and some rebuilders wont even put that in there. zips corvette here in richmond said that a 3.73 gear puts to much strain on the housing and has a more liklyhood of cracking the housing. im only putting out 371 rwhp and 401rwft. i have the 3.54 in mine so it looks like i should be ok for now. anyone have any more stories or info?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,479
Likes: 565
From: Clearwater Florida
Dana 36
The 3.75 gears are for the 2.59 carrier and the 3.73's are for the 3.07 carrier in the Dana 36 . I broke my 3.75 Richmonds doing a burnout at the local drag strip , that was with a set of Mickey Thompson drag radials . Every tooth on the pinion had cracked but none gave up and I was able to drive it home . I haven't had my car dynoed yet but it has a 409" small block TPI 11:1 compression 1.6 Roller rockers and a warm cam. The tranny is built and has a 2400rpm convertor . I have recently installed a Dana 44 3.45 ratio and haven't run it on the strip yet . The local track is 1/8th mile and my best time so far was 7.82 @ 85+ mph . I'm hoping the times won't change much with the different ratio.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 10,956
Likes: 681
From: Marlboro country MA
My D36 was upgraded to 3.54 gears. After modding the engine and exhaust, the engine was putting out an (estimated) 385 hp. The differential died a horrible death while driving vigorously on the street with ordinary street tires. YMMV.
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Le Mans Master
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From: Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Last edited by Casethecorvetteman; Dec 13, 2006 at 08:25 AM.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,653
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From: Melbourne Florida
Cruise-In IV Veteran
Here is my story...I went to a test n tune one night to practice on the tree...my only mods were long tubes, cut lid and 3:73 gears...I was running Sumitomo street tires all around...
On my first pass of the night I heard what sounded like a gunshot go off immediately after launch....I had a box full of nuetrals and pulled over to the side rail...
It turns out I reduced my spider gears to chicklets...I never got a short time for that run since I broke but I don't think I made it to 60' anyway...lol...back then my normal short time was around 1.96- 2.00...I was making right at 260 RWHP and 290 RWTQ...
I now have a Dana 44 out back with 3:73's in it...it took me about a month to find out I didn't like the 3:45's that came with the 44...I tell y'all this story so you will know it does not take a 1.60 or 70 short time to bust a 36...nor does it take slicks or DR's...nor does it take a lot of HP or TQ....all it takes is one "decent" hook....
On my first pass of the night I heard what sounded like a gunshot go off immediately after launch....I had a box full of nuetrals and pulled over to the side rail...
It turns out I reduced my spider gears to chicklets...I never got a short time for that run since I broke but I don't think I made it to 60' anyway...lol...back then my normal short time was around 1.96- 2.00...I was making right at 260 RWHP and 290 RWTQ...
I now have a Dana 44 out back with 3:73's in it...it took me about a month to find out I didn't like the 3:45's that came with the 44...I tell y'all this story so you will know it does not take a 1.60 or 70 short time to bust a 36...nor does it take slicks or DR's...nor does it take a lot of HP or TQ....all it takes is one "decent" hook....
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 40,156
Likes: 45
From: San Pedro CA
HP does not break things, torque does.
That said, there is not a concrete limit to what they can withstand. It may take 500 lb-ft for 10 years or 10 seconds, you just cant say.
What will break it is slicks, DR's put it on life support and it'll go anytime it wishes, but street use should let it survive quite awhile.
That said, there is not a concrete limit to what they can withstand. It may take 500 lb-ft for 10 years or 10 seconds, you just cant say.
What will break it is slicks, DR's put it on life support and it'll go anytime it wishes, but street use should let it survive quite awhile.
I will tweek the quote to include references to the use of slicks, which will **** up a D36 faster than fast.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,638
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We run dana 36's with both a 3.08 setup as well as a 3.73 setup. The c ar (a C-3 in this case) has 458 HP at the crank. We use it for roadracing all over the western US. We assumed 3 years ago that we would be upgrading to a 44 or a 9inch ford in short order - but so far - no hint of any problem - sooner or later it'll let go - but we will have alot of fun breaking it!
Carl Johansson
Carl Johansson
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 2,875
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From: Olive Branch (Memphis suburb) MS
Cruise-In II Veteran
3:54s in a Dana 36 with a HD cover. 396 LT1, street tires, 3500 stall. If you're ever going to mod the engine, go ahead and up grade to the 44 now.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 20,905
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From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
HP does not break things, torque does.
That said, there is not a concrete limit to what they can withstand. It may take 500 lb-ft for 10 years or 10 seconds, you just cant say.
What will break it is slicks, DR's put it on life support and it'll go anytime it wishes, but street use should let it survive quite awhile.
That said, there is not a concrete limit to what they can withstand. It may take 500 lb-ft for 10 years or 10 seconds, you just cant say.
What will break it is slicks, DR's put it on life support and it'll go anytime it wishes, but street use should let it survive quite awhile.
I've been running a couple D36's in my turbo 355 six speed for several years. My thing is road course events, not quarter mile. I run sticky tires, but there's no clutch dumps, and I try to make my downshifts smooth. So far things have held up well, but I don't abuse it unnecessarily. YMMV.
Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 325
Likes: 2
From: Chattanooga TN
my D36 with original 3.07`s has taken considerable abuse both on the street, and nearly 400 passes at the track, and produced many high 1.70`s-1.80`s 60 ft. times. still doing fine, as far as i can tell...
a friend of mine was wanting to change the 3.07 ratio in his D36 for something lower, only to find both carrier bearing caps broken near the bottom bolts... and i think he also had one spider gear tooth broken off as well... the strange thing was, the rear wasnt making any kind noises. neither of us were expecting to find any damage.
but his car had been driven just as hard as mine, and he was using drag radials. one difference, was that if he left the line with wheelspin, he would just stay on the throttle. often, the tires would abruptly hook, sending a violent shock through the chassis.
my car has done this a few times as well, but usually, if i spin at launch, i will release the throttle before the tires bite, and abort the pass, and just cruise down the track.
i suspect that spinning, then the tires suddenly grabbing, are probably what kills many of these rears, not just hooking well....
a friend of mine was wanting to change the 3.07 ratio in his D36 for something lower, only to find both carrier bearing caps broken near the bottom bolts... and i think he also had one spider gear tooth broken off as well... the strange thing was, the rear wasnt making any kind noises. neither of us were expecting to find any damage.
but his car had been driven just as hard as mine, and he was using drag radials. one difference, was that if he left the line with wheelspin, he would just stay on the throttle. often, the tires would abruptly hook, sending a violent shock through the chassis.
my car has done this a few times as well, but usually, if i spin at launch, i will release the throttle before the tires bite, and abort the pass, and just cruise down the track.
i suspect that spinning, then the tires suddenly grabbing, are probably what kills many of these rears, not just hooking well....
Last edited by BigLee; Dec 22, 2006 at 09:57 PM.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 19
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From: Old Orchard Beach Maine
We run an '85 & '88, w/ both a 36 & 44 we have broken them both. I believe that when you do a bad burn out and do not hook up well ( come out of the hole sideways @ a 45 degree angle ) due to not enough water, this SEVERELY effects the spyder gears.
