WIll my dana 36 with 3.07 take the abuse much longer?

Many of you know I have a new Pro-Built tranny on its way. My biggest fear is that the rear goes on the next visit to the strip.

With the old tranny I was pulling 1.7 60' with slicks. Dana thinks that will get better with his tranny. Am I entering the danger zone?

I have been spending money like wild on this thing and need to back off a bit. If the rear goes I am screwed bigtime. How much do you think it will take?

I know the Dana 44's are tough SOBs, just don't want to buy one just yet. Before racing again I plan on changing/flushing the old fuid out. What type of lub should I put in? Got the limited slip additive from NAPA. WIll that be ok?

Gove me your thought on the strength, lube and additive. Thanks guys! :cheers:

 

Not for long in most cases. You may want to change to drag radials and work on the top end instead to save it a little bit.

 

With slicks it is just a time bomb waiting to happen. Plan on going D44 when it blows.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. I once thought of doing just gears in the D36. Man, all the E town regulars would have burned me at the stake if I'd done so :D. Glad I went to the 44. You will be too.

 

How expensive is it to swap out a dana36 for a dana44 ? + install?
just curious.

 

If my memory serves me right..I directed mackeyred96 AND Red96Coupe to not just vettes in NY. Pretty sure it was $2000 for everything...and they both beat the snot out of them weekly :D. So far so good for both. mackeys car is a consistent 11 second car...Red96's goes low 12's(good air). They're durable
Many others have Dana 44's and they take quite a beating. Mine's doing fine as well behind my torquey 383


Not Just Vettes is out of long island. I forget their website. Do a search in yahoo or google and you'll find it.

 

You are asking for trouble with the slicks. If you can perfect a launch on street tires you would be just ok more than likely. So work on making up ground after the 1/8th and you should be fine...:)

 

My biggest question is why 3.07 when you are playing in a 1/4 mile. Those legs are a little long aren't they?

 

Jesse, i used my 36 with 3.07s for about 2-2 1/2 years (hundreds of passes) without a problem, but you just never know. The 36s with 3.73s are more prone to failure because of the smaller pinion gear and the additional torque. The 3.07s seem to hold up better. My guess is that if you stay outa the 1.6s, it will hold up...but like i said these things seem to be hit or miss. Make sure you hit the tires hard during your burnout...dont feather into it. You want both tires spinning immediately. The spider gears on the 36 are very small and a weak point. If your tires a not spinning together, then the spiders are spinning....and when the tires finally bite...bamm! btw, 44s are not immune to this either.

 

Thanks for all the insight.

The last time at the track it was test and tune day. The idiot that was running the water for the water box was not putting enough in the trench. I went through and usually spin them slightly in the box, move forward and light 'em up. The one time it just did not feel right, and I started to leave off and bam, just like you said it grabbed hard on the one side and jerked the car hard. Nothing broke and I wasn't sure what had happened. Keep in mind it was the first time I used slicks on the car. When I returned to the stand to sit with my dad. He said the drivers side was not spinning. It kinda worried me. Just then a 67 Chevelle with a 406 was trying to do a burnouot and it was doing the same thing. Dad slapped me on the shoulder and told me to look. Just then the guy stopped his burnout and shut the car off. Jumped out of the car. And started bitching the guy out at the water box! After that there was plenty of water in there.

Just a little story that you reminded me of. After that it made me feel better that he too was having a problem. Next time out, they both were smokin away. The car has no problem breakin the slicks loose for the burnouts. I have been running probably too much air in the slicks to avoid super hookups for the reasons of prolonging the life of the rear.

I am really just trying for more MPH, but think my tranny has been hurting me in that department.

Eventually I will put a Dana 44 in the car. What gearing should I shoot for. I thought I read where the SR and 219 cam were optimium with 3.07 gears? Fact or Fiction or just doesn't matter?

Thanks guys. I can't hardly wait for my new tranny! Christ, by the time I'm done I will have a new car!