robertpel9

Alright, since i am keeping my vette for the foreseeable future i at least have to be done with these 2.59's. Can someone please explain to me first off why in the heck they put 2.59's in a corvette to begin with. Anyway i have a few questions. First the easy one what is the best all around gear to put in. Most of my driving is just cruising around but i want to get better acceleration. Also i have 102,000 miles on my engine. It purrs like a kitten and uses no oil. I want to keep it that way. Is going from cruising on the highway at 1800 rpms to something closer to 2500-3000 going to hurt my engine longevity. I believe i heard before that 3.14's were thel best all around gear for a late L98 engine. Please chime in with your thoughts. First the gear choice, then any negatives on my engine. Also anyone here change an automatic L98 from 2.59's to something else?? What did it cost and what difference did it make. All feedback is appreciated.

Caboboy

I have an '87 A4 and changed from 2.73 to a D44 with 3.07s. It made a hellofa difference off the line and doesn't spin too much on the freeway. For me, it was a good choice; but gearing really depends on your driving habits.

Take a look at this utility, it may help :cheers:

http://www.dalesplace.com/htm/inform...calculator.htm

J Z06

2.59's should have never EVER been installed in a Corvette. They're God awful.

Quite a few will tell you that 3.07 is the gear to go to. I like the 3.45's(D44). You can get a 3.54 ring and pinion for the dana 36 though.

:cheers:

hz900

:withstupid:

BlackBeast2

Robert,
Good to hear that your still keeping your vette. Its gorgeous !! You will get a lot of opinions on your 'best gear' question. My vote is for 3.73's as I believe that these will give you the best all around performance. With your auto, you will leave the line quick with these, but they're not so steep that they would hurt your top speed either. Get the bearing / rebuild kit while your at it, and swithch the gear lube to synthetic. Do your homework and you'll see that 3.73's are an excellent all around gear choice for cars like these. (Unless your looking for the ultimate in a drag ratio, then I would say 4.10's)
A good complement to this mod would be custom programming.

qkvette

We switched my brother's 86 from 3.07 to 3.73. I was told this was okay, since we upgraded the heads(trickflow), cam (hotcam) and intake (SR), to allow his motor to breathe at the higher rpms.But if your motor is fairly stock 3.73 may bee to steep for you. I would go with 3.55 or so.

Which ever ratio you go with, you will feel a huge difference from the 2.59s.

Good luck,

joel

vader86

Well you have a 2-series carrier, and you might have to change that to 3-series, unless you find the right gear vendor to make a 3 series fit.

3.07 is about perfect, 3.31 would also work out ok.

They put the 2.59 in for CAFE restrictions (better gas mileage)

robertpel9

what would be the difference between 3.07, 3.14, and 3.31? I am a little concerned about my older engine which has given me no issues taking to more rpms on a regular basis. I am really looking for the best of cboth worls: acceleration, MPG and long term reliability.

dbwade36

I have Dana 3.54's in my 86 vette w/Dana 36 rear-end. I did this in anticipation of future major mods to the engine. (yet to be done, due to some $$ limitations, etc.)
I still like the setup though. Not so great top end, but hits hard off the line.

robertpel9

Can you explain how it runs now. In specific what do you mean by not so great top end. Are you turning 3-4K rpms on highway and when do you run out of speed. What did you have before. And how much difference does it make. Also can the Dana 36 withstand 3.54's long term??

Bans25

I know dgoodhue had 2.73 in his 86 and moved up to 3.73's and hatted it.
He didn't like it on the highway. I think 3.73 and higher are ok for 6spd car but not for auto L98's.

If I were you I would go for 3.07's, dgoodhue did and he likes them.

Bans25

Saw this for sale, alot easier to swap the whole rear out..
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=648152

And you could (maybe) sell yours to get back some $