I bought my FRC with a DTE/Hoosier built diff. Only thing I hate is that it has 4.10 gears. I do mostly highway driving & the car will never see a dragstrip, and want to go to 3.42 gears.

So will it be a PITA to switch a ring/pinion or just swap the diff for a 3.42 unit.

Thanks

 

I'm sure someone would trade you their 342 diff.

 

Is your car auto or manual?

 

Be careful what you wish for. Have you driven a C5 with 3.42 gears? If not, I would suggest doing so before swapping. Stepping down from 4.10 to 3.42 has the potential for significantly decreasing the fun factor your car already has. I wasn't wow'd with the C5 gearing since the day I bought it, it felt too "long legged". There's really no punch there with 3.42s. I just had it regeared with 4.10s a couple months ago and even though it's still not quite the punch I was hoping for, it is, as many others have echoed over the years, the way the car should have come from the factory. As others have also said, I find myself actually shifting less with 4.10s (1-3-5 or 2-4-6). A 1-3 shift with 4.10 feels pretty much the same as the factory forced 1-4 shift or better.

I guess my real curiosity is your reasoning being that you do more highway driving...in 6th gear, you're a mere 300 rpm higher than you would be with 3.42s...and you can actually stay in 6th gear to easily pass vs having to downshift. I honestly don't see any benefit to swapping down to 3.42 haha.

With that being said, most people just swap out the entire case as the easier and safer route. I think I found one of the only reputable companies still around that was able to regear the factory case, with it still on the car to boot. For you, it will be very easy to find an OEM 3.42 case for cheap to have swapped in and I have no doubt you will easily be able to find someone to trade their case for your case. If I hadn't just done mine, I'd trade you in a heartbeat.

 

Manual

 

My 1st FRC was a heads/cam/nitrous car, and I do a lot of roll racing, so the 3.42's were perfect for that lol. so the 4.10 aren't great for that, plus I hate that lurching feeling when you leave from 1st gear. Just a personal preference, I guess....

 

You'd likely come out ahead buying a stock 3.42 diff and selling the 4.10s.

A couple of links on rebuilding the diff.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ld-how-to.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...procedure.html

 

You mean like when you hear a UPS truck take off sometimes, and it pulsates a little until the RPM picks up speed then smooths out?

 

Lol sounds like you know what you're doing then, carry on haha. I'd definitely trade someone for their stock case plus some cash on their side.

What do you mean by lurching feeling? I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. If anything, it makes clutch engagement a little quicker, less noisy (throw out bearing), and easier to drive/crawl with in traffic haha

 

thats funny, I actually think it’s more challenging with the 4.10’s in traffic. Idk it just seems to jump & not roll into it when disengaging the clutch.

 

Haha it does require a little more finesse when slipping the clutch into place, I actually stalled for the first time last week taking off from a stop on a slight incline. It engages a lot quicker I guess you could say. But once it's engaged, I find it easier to crawl at lower speeds.

 

So decided just to get it re-geared from RPM transmissions, really don't wanna trade for a stock diff. and take a chance.
Thanks guys

 

Did you send your diff out for re-gear yet? I have a 3:42 with only 23000 on it. Very tight and quiet. I pulled it and put in a used 4:10 i bought and the 4:10 wines like crazy. Now i have to get that one rebuilt or look for another. Id be willing to pay out if your interested in a trade plus cash. I would 100% guarentee my 3:42. The car had 2300 on it and the whole drivetrain indicates it was taken care of. Diff was super clean

 

Sorry, just decided to get my built diff. re-geared.

 

Thanks for replying