Installed my 3 7s...opinions.

hotmustang331

Active Member
Apr 29, 2004
2,967
3
48
Bastrop,TX
Well me and my dad finished installing my 3.73 gears WED. night. Install went pretty good, didnt even have to shim anything in the gears, just switch the 2 shims around (although they looked the same) on the side of the carrier(sp). Just as much slack (pretty tight, like an 1/8 inch of turn in the yoke) as stock...filled it with some Royal Purple and drove it to a gas station and NO noise. Didnt romp on it durring that drive, but it definatly isnt TOO low...and yes you can go with 4.10s, they wont be crazy low but they also wont be doing 1950-1975 @ 65MPH either. :nice: Every gear just sets itself up perfectly for the next one and it doesnt feel strained when changing gears. I love shifting at 3K+ now and usually do LOL.Well that next morning on my way to work I pulled out on the highway and nailed it from a rolling 15 or so....WHOOAAA man it pulls hard, ran it a little into 4th and I look down and its showing 85....I am so glad I didnt go 4.10s, it would have been to much when you nail it and seems like you wont get any pull out of 1st...W/ 3.73s every gear ends fast ENOUGH and keeps me right in my powerband. But let me state that YOU CAN GO 4.10s NO PROBLEM, THEY SHOULDNT BE TOO LOW, ESPECIALLY FOR A STOCK GT. I just like having some pull out in every gear and room to expand at the track before I need to hit 5th gear. 3rd gear ends at 85mph (5800) and according to a CAL. 4th ends at about 115 (5500). Funny I seem to be getting way better milage(even though I have been hammering it quite often), better or just as good as I used to when I babied it to work.Gears combined with the Chip (installed a few days before), the car almost scares you....especially when you nail it in 1st while rolling 10-15 (tires light up and since the low gearing start to hook after about a second or 2) then slam second and the tires keep spinning and you fishtail around and drift around and almost hit a curb with your rearend LOL....yea good times, OH AND LISTEN ALL YOU PEOPLE W/O GEARS AND A SHIFTER, I WAS ONCE A SCEPTIC LIKE YOU AND THOUGHT THE STOCK ITEMS WERE GREAT AND LOVED THEM, BUT NOW AFTER DOING THE MODS....I am going to say, LISTEN TO THESE GUYS, GEARS AND A SHIFTER ARE THE BEST MODS YOU CAN DO.
 
The problem is finding the right shifter and rear end gear to go with. The 4:10s and daily driving sticky is Excellent for those who are skeptical. I wish I could figure out how to film my Speedo and RPMs while driving, but I almost wrecked trying to do so. So some one with 3:73s and any other gear set should make a good video like the sticky.
Awesome that you installed them yourself, I just didn't trust myself to try.
 
You probably blew all kinds of **** out of your engine and exhaust by romping on it a bit. Thats why you sometimes get better gas mileage, its that you babied it too much where stuff started to build up. I remember I took my moms car for a ride one time and decided to see what it had (redlined it through 1st and second) and this is a 1996 Olds Bravada by the way. The next day she was like "damn my car felt really fast today!". She had been reving it so low every single day that stuff started to build up.

I remember when I first got my car too, I parked it in the driveway, and revved the **** out of it. There was a TON of crap that got shot out when I did that.

Anyways, when I do decide to get gears I am getting 3.73s. Thanks for the info :nice:
 
4.10's and Hurst Shifter here. All I can say is ANY aftermarket shifter is better than stock. 4.10's have been good to me and I drive at 70 mph for 25 miles each way to work with NO complaints. Ford Ranger P/U's turn more RPMS @70 MPH than I do. :D
 
jmk97GT said:
You probably blew all kinds of **** out of your engine and exhaust by romping on it a bit. Thats why you sometimes get better gas mileage, its that you babied it too much where stuff started to build up. I remember I took my moms car for a ride one time and decided to see what it had (redlined it through 1st and second) and this is a 1996 Olds Bravada by the way. The next day she was like "damn my car felt really fast today!". She had been reving it so low every single day that stuff started to build up.

I remember when I first got my car too, I parked it in the driveway, and revved the **** out of it. There was a TON of crap that got shot out when I did that.

Anyways, when I do decide to get gears I am getting 3.73s. Thanks for the info :nice:

Well actually, I romp on the car about 2 times on my way to work and 2-3+ on my way back LOL, so there is no carbon in my engine....those times I baby it, (2-3 times LOL) I cant go all week W/O hitting it because for some reason EVERY time, someone wants to race me LOL. And to the above poster, the car was down 2 or 3 days, but only because we didnt have much time to work on it and 1 day we didnt do anything. I usually try to have my dad there when I work on it because A. we have 2 minds working and remembering how it came apart and B. to make sure I do things correctly.My dad is a take charge kind of guy(most dads are) so he basically does most of the fine tuning like checking pinion depth and pulling the carrier while I unbolt the anti sway bar and do other stuff to make everything go faster like jacking the car up, BEATING the pinion out, draining the oil. We have done 8 inch rear ends, 9ich (me and a friend did most of the work on the 9), 7.5, and now an 8.8 inch.Total time would be in the 6-8 hour range and that was taking our time and figuring out how to get the axles in to pull the C clips (ABS sensor was in the way :rlaugh: ). just have to get in there and do it, not that hard.
 
hotmustang331 said:
Well me and my dad finished installing my 3.73 gears WED. night. Install went pretty good, didnt even have to shim anything in the gears, just switch the 2 shims around (although they looked the same) on the side of the carrier(sp). Just as much slack (pretty tight, like an 1/8 inch of turn in the yoke) as stock...filled it with some Royal Purple and drove it to a gas station and NO noise. Didnt romp on it durring that drive, but it definatly isnt TOO low...and yes you can go with 4.10s, they wont be crazy low but they also wont be doing 1950-1975 @ 65MPH either. :nice: Every gear just sets itself up perfectly for the next one and it doesnt feel strained when changing gears. I love shifting at 3K+ now and usually do LOL.Well that next morning on my way to work I pulled out on the highway and nailed it from a rolling 15 or so....WHOOAAA man it pulls hard, ran it a little into 4th and I look down and its showing 85....I am so glad I didnt go 4.10s, it would have been to much when you nail it and seems like you wont get any pull out of 1st...W/ 3.73s every gear ends fast ENOUGH and keeps me right in my powerband. But let me state that YOU CAN GO 4.10s NO PROBLEM, THEY SHOULDNT BE TOO LOW, ESPECIALLY FOR A STOCK GT. I just like having some pull out in every gear and room to expand at the track before I need to hit 5th gear. 3rd gear ends at 85mph (5800) and according to a CAL. 4th ends at about 115 (5500). Funny I seem to be getting way better milage(even though I have been hammering it quite often), better or just as good as I used to when I babied it to work.Gears combined with the Chip (installed a few days before), the car almost scares you....especially when you nail it in 1st while rolling 10-15 (tires light up and since the low gearing start to hook after about a second or 2) then slam second and the tires keep spinning and you fishtail around and drift around and almost hit a curb with your rearend LOL....yea good times, OH AND LISTEN ALL YOU PEOPLE W/O GEARS AND A SHIFTER, I WAS ONCE A SCEPTIC LIKE YOU AND THOUGHT THE STOCK ITEMS WERE GREAT AND LOVED THEM, BUT NOW AFTER DOING THE MODS....I am going to say, LISTEN TO THESE GUYS, GEARS AND A SHIFTER ARE THE BEST MODS YOU CAN DO.

Nice! :nice:
Like 'em myself :D .
I notice the same to with gas milage aswell,it seems to be better. :)