Which gear
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 509
Likes: 8
From: Livonia Michigan
Which gear
I have an 87 A4 Dana 36 with some mods to intake, exhaust and motor. I currently have the 2.59 rear gear and was thinking of changing to the 3.07 but having a hard time finding that Ring&pinion gear. Anybody know of a good source or should I go to 3.54? Mainly do around town driving and a little highway driving.
Pro
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 508
Likes: 1
From: Miami Florida
Richmond Gear has ring and pinions for the Dana 36. If you select the 3.07 as I remember, you need a different casing. because of the thickness of the ring gear. The 3.54 and 3.73 will fit in the 2.59 case. I am currently running the 3.73 in my 89 and it is a monster out of the hole, but a bit hard on gas mileage. You'll probably want a good set of street radials or even slicks if you race it on the track. The 3.07 I tried was much snappier than the 2.59 and still got decent mileage. If you are going to do some serious racing (quarter mile or eighth mile, I would go for the 3.54 for the quarter, and 3.73 for the eighth.) I got mine from Randy's ring and pinion (as well as the install kit) up in Washington state.
Steve
Steve
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 509
Likes: 8
From: Livonia Michigan
Richmond Gear has ring and pinions for the Dana 36. If you select the 3.07 as I remember, you need a different casing. because of the thickness of the ring gear. The 3.54 and 3.73 will fit in the 2.59 case. I am currently running the 3.73 in my 89 and it is a monster out of the hole, but a bit hard on gas mileage. You'll probably want a good set of street radials or even slicks if you race it on the track. The 3.07 I tried was much snappier than the 2.59 and still got decent mileage. If you are going to do some serious racing (quarter mile or eighth mile, I would go for the 3.54 for the quarter, and 3.73 for the eighth.) I got mine from Randy's ring and pinion (as well as the install kit) up in Washington state.
Steve
Steve
Pro
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 508
Likes: 1
From: Miami Florida
You might contact randys ring and pinion. They show Dana 36 R & P sets but are only listing 3.54 and 3.73. Jegg's and Summit also have them in the same ratio but aren't showing a set in 3.07. You just missed on on this site posted today. I'll bet it was gone in less than an hour. I would still say to go with the 3.54 if you want some super street response. It isn't so wild as to kill your mileage a bunch and will give you a real SOTP rush!
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 21,094
Likes: 282
From: Phila., PA burbs
Its been pretty well established here that the 3.07 ratio is optimal for an L98 car. Steeper than that will get you out of the hole a bit quicker, but wil hurt you after that. My 91, which sees a decent amount of track time, has had 2.59s, 3.07s, and finally a 3.33 ratio. The 3.33 offered me virtually no gain over the 3.07 and I'd probably go back to a 3.07 if I didn't already have a ton of $$ wrapped up in this one.
Another option for you is to buy an existing rear with a 3.07 in it and just swap them out. You can easily do this by yourself in your garage in an afternoon and it'll probaby be the cheaper route. They come up for sale here fairly often. Just saw this one today.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-p...dana-36-a.html
Another option for you is to buy an existing rear with a 3.07 in it and just swap them out. You can easily do this by yourself in your garage in an afternoon and it'll probaby be the cheaper route. They come up for sale here fairly often. Just saw this one today.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-p...dana-36-a.html
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 8,838
Likes: 31
From: Australia
Buy the time you buy new gears ( D36 gearsets are very expensive ) and pay install costs is the cheaper option.
You have to remove the batwing / head assembly anyway to do the gear swap.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 509
Likes: 8
From: Livonia Michigan
I was planning on doing the U joints this winter, and thought that while I was there may as well do the gear.
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Race Director
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Its been pretty well established here that the 3.07 ratio is optimal for an L98 car. Steeper than that will get you out of the hole a bit quicker, but wil hurt you after that. My 91, which sees a decent amount of track time, has had 2.59s, 3.07s, and finally a 3.33 ratio. The 3.33 offered me virtually no gain over the 3.07 and I'd probably go back to a 3.07 if I didn't already have a ton of $$ wrapped up in this one.
Another option for you is to buy an existing rear with a 3.07 in it and just swap them out. You can easily do this by yourself in your garage in an afternoon and it'll probaby be the cheaper route. They come up for sale here fairly often. Just saw this one today.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-p...dana-36-a.html
Another option for you is to buy an existing rear with a 3.07 in it and just swap them out. You can easily do this by yourself in your garage in an afternoon and it'll probaby be the cheaper route. They come up for sale here fairly often. Just saw this one today.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-p...dana-36-a.html
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 8,838
Likes: 31
From: Australia
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 78
Likes: 1
From: Cape Town
I changed to a 3.54 , almost no mods barring a set of headers on my 86 , cost me around $1000 for gears and installation , it's a totally different car ...smokes the tyres and shoots out the hole , top speed is around 225kph. You can feel the effects of a 3.54 vs 2.59 at the top end by just leaving your car in D and not in OD. Basically its the same as having only D but with 4 gears and a wicked 1st , 1st to 2nd gear will also smoke the tyres and 3-4th will twitch the back on WOT shifts. Best money I ever spent on my vette...cheapest seat of the pants "power increase" too. The 3.54;s are not over the top , no uncontrolled wheelspin , tho in the wet , the car is a bit of a handful when acclerating form a dead stop if you try being a little enthusiastic. Not sure why GM put in the 2.59 , stupid gear for a sports or performance car - makes it embarrasingly slow compared to modern hot hatches ..
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 8,838
Likes: 31
From: Australia
"If the average fuel economy of a manufacturer's annual fleet of car and/or truck production falls below the defined standard, the manufacturer must pay a penalty"
so the better fuel economy of the 2.59 gears helped raise GM's average MPG
Last edited by rodj; Aug 2, 2011 at 10:30 AM.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 78
Likes: 1
From: Cape Town
Yes , typical bean counter corporate response , just ruin the car with a measure to save a bit of boodle, cost me $1000 to "fix"....absolutely idiotic , Ferrari , lambo, Porsche et al would NEVER consider doing that or compromising performance..if you want economy , buy a honda jazz/fit like my wife drives...
Max G’s
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,751
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From: Monroe OH
NCM Sinkhole Donor
[QUOTE=TA;1578292151]Its been pretty well established here that the 3.07 ratio is optimal for an L98 car. Steeper than that will get you out of the hole a bit quicker, but wil hurt you after that. My 91, which sees a decent amount of track time, has had 2.59s, 3.07s, and finally a 3.33 ratio. The 3.33 offered me virtually no gain over the 3.07 and I'd probably go back to a 3.07 if I didn't already have a ton of $$ wrapped up in this one.
After thorough investigation of changing to deeper reduction rear gear with L98, Auto, 3.07, and 315/35 17's I have concluded that jsut as TA said that the 3.07 is optimal for the power band of the L98 and or similar intake. If you were to go to a 3.54 or 3.73, you will have to go to 4th gear (overdrive) to stay in the power band when running 1/4mile or going down long straight on the track. Likewise, my primary application is autox and if I moved to 3.54 or 3.73 I would have to utilize 3rd gear sometimes. As well, having to upshift to a higher gear may cost "overall gear reduction" even if in the power band. There is a lot of factors to consider when picking the optimum gear.
After thorough investigation of changing to deeper reduction rear gear with L98, Auto, 3.07, and 315/35 17's I have concluded that jsut as TA said that the 3.07 is optimal for the power band of the L98 and or similar intake. If you were to go to a 3.54 or 3.73, you will have to go to 4th gear (overdrive) to stay in the power band when running 1/4mile or going down long straight on the track. Likewise, my primary application is autox and if I moved to 3.54 or 3.73 I would have to utilize 3rd gear sometimes. As well, having to upshift to a higher gear may cost "overall gear reduction" even if in the power band. There is a lot of factors to consider when picking the optimum gear.