gear decisions

[89five0]

Well, some of you might have seen my other posts but i asked my dad about getting gears for my midly modded stang. Well he asked one of his best friends that is a mechanic and said he wouldnt put any gears lower then 355s in my car since i need to drive it to and from school and etc. This is fine with me since any new gears would be better then whats in it. My mods are currently bbk cai fenderwell,march u/d pulleys,bbk shorty headers,matching h-pipe w/cats,american thunder flows,msd distrib and wires,bm short throw shifter. The gears are my next goal and i was wondering if the 355s would be a good improvement for my car? also what all do i need to buy? How big of a difference shiould i see? my goal is to get into the mid 13s. Anyways my car is an 89 gt w/ 125,000 miles on the clock,runs very strong though
Advice welcome,
Thanks

 

[NKau]

Actually, unless you go over 80 MPH on the freeway a lot, 3.73's would even be a good choice. Nothing wrong with 3.55's though; there really isn't much of a difference between the too, but I would lean towards the 3.73's myself. You may want to look into buying a posi rebuild kit to go in with the gears (about $50) as the posi's tend to wear out after 100K. No sense in having to go back into your rearend again after the gears are installed.

 

[thompsonsd]

3.73 are the bomb! BUT, I highly suggest Traction Bars to go with them! Subframe connectors will save you a lot of twisting damage too. The thing with changing gears is that they boost your torque so much that unless you add the traction bars the Stang becomes really squirelly on you. You know what it's like driving in the rain right? Well that's what dry roads become like, no kidding.

 

[408stroker5.0]

Good Call Nkau. I would definetly go with the 3:73's, no question asked. Especially with a 5 Speed. On the highway your RPM's will probably be around 2000-2200RPM at 60-65MPH, depending on your tire combination, which is right were you want your motor to be reving at for economy, reliability, and increased engine life. I would not even consider the 3.55's as an option. Go for the 3:73's man. As for your 13 Sec time goal, I would say a couple more tasteful mods such as Intake, cam and heads to keep it simple would help you reach that goal pretty easily, if your motor is healthy like you say it is and if you have decent traction. If it's not in your budget, throw some nitrous at her (100-150 Shot) and you should have no problem getting into the 13's.