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Old Mar 8, 2021 | 09:46 PM
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Default Diff choice

Hey guys I'm trying to figure out a diff setup. I want about a 3.9 rear gear, 4.1 would work too. 3.42 is just too low for my first gear ratio.

I need it to hold a lot of power.

Would you consider doing a zr1 or z06 case? Or just skip all of that and go to a 9" IRS setup? That's where I get a little concerned that this is going to end up being an expensive upgrade. IRS 9" suspension and spindles.... not going to end up cheap.


I have an auto 2.73 rear diff. Sometimes I think about just having it basically cut apart and modded to hell to take different guts. But at that point it's not too different in cost from a fabricated 9" housing.
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Old Mar 9, 2021 | 08:45 AM
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Call RPM. Tell them what kind of power you want the diff to hold and what you intend to use it for and what other drivetrain mods you have.
Whatever it is, they can build something that will hold up, for a handsome price.
IMHO, if you’re at the point where you need a 9” IRS setup, then you’ll probably need one of their powerglide conversions or a high-end custom manual gearbox to go along with it.
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Old Mar 9, 2021 | 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by 4head
Hey guys I'm trying to figure out a diff setup. I want about a 3.9 rear gear, 4.1 would work too. 3.42 is just too low for my first gear ratio.

I need it to hold a lot of power.

Would you consider doing a zr1 or z06 case? Or just skip all of that and go to a 9" IRS setup? That's where I get a little concerned that this is going to end up being an expensive upgrade. IRS 9" suspension and spindles.... not going to end up cheap.


I have an auto 2.73 rear diff. Sometimes I think about just having it basically cut apart and modded to hell to take different guts. But at that point it's not too different in cost from a fabricated 9" housing.
Do you mean 3.42 is too high for your rear gear? If it is too low, and you want a higher gear you are going the wrong way. Low gears are numerically higher and higher gears are numerically smaller numbers. Just making sure so you don't get wrong advice.

Last edited by D-Dub2013; Mar 9, 2021 at 04:08 PM.
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Old Mar 9, 2021 | 06:53 PM
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Originally Posted by 4head
Hey guys I'm trying to figure out a diff setup. I want about a 3.9 rear gear, 4.1 would work too. 3.42 is just too low for my first gear ratio.

I need it to hold a lot of power.

Would you consider doing a zr1 or z06 case? Or just skip all of that and go to a 9" IRS setup? That's where I get a little concerned that this is going to end up being an expensive upgrade. IRS 9" suspension and spindles.... not going to end up cheap.


I have an auto 2.73 rear diff. Sometimes I think about just having it basically cut apart and modded to hell to take different guts. But at that point it's not too different in cost from a fabricated 9" housing.
Absolutely nothing wrong with a Z06 differential as an upgrade from your 2.73.
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Old Mar 9, 2021 | 08:32 PM
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Since this is the FI section I'm going to assume you're running some form of FI. You need it to hold big power. Perhaps you can elaborate as to why you need such numerically high gears in a FI car making big power? 3.42 should be plenty of gear.
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Old Mar 22, 2021 | 02:19 PM
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Originally Posted by JetstreamGS
Since this is the FI section I'm going to assume you're running some form of FI. You need it to hold big power. Perhaps you can elaborate as to why you need such numerically high gears in a FI car making big power? 3.42 should be plenty of gear.
Car is setup to be able to run over 9k for the traps. Want to have a lot of gear for a 1.54 starting gear. Looking for a 6 starting line ratio on 28's.

Twin 78mm turbos on a 376 sleeved deal. Power will end up somewhere north of 1300, how much, no idea. 3.42 from a zr1 would be my go to, but as a starting line ratio it would be a dog at 5.26. With a 376 it will not be happy. Either have to blast boost out of the hole, or move down a gear, which is less ideal for a few reasons and will give me a bit too aggressive imho of a starting line ratio. Trans is a very custom deal.
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Old Mar 22, 2021 | 02:20 PM
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Originally Posted by subfloor@centurytrans
Absolutely nothing wrong with a Z06 differential as an upgrade from your 2.73.
Do the cases ever break with autos? Or should I just go ahead and make a case from billet? I'm definitely going to do some trans brake dumps from 4k. Not sure how hard that's going to hit that rear gear compared to a stick car, but I'd like to be able to run radial class stuff.

Last edited by 4head; Mar 22, 2021 at 04:03 PM.
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