Need some rear end ratio recommendations

[63BoxNova]

Hi Everyone,

Looking for some advice...Im currently running a TH350 with 3.70 gears in a ford 9 inch, 25.5" diameter tires, 2400 stall converter, ZZ4 350 motor....This has me buzzing down the highway at 3000 RPM doing 60 MPH, and im getting kind of tired of it, especially with the interior drone from the flowmasters. This setup is great for romping around town, but I find myself taking longer highway leisure drives lately, and I would like to atleast keep up with traffic without turning 4000 RPM. A nice overdive tranny is out of the question for now (money too tight), so im thinking to swap in some 3.25 rear gears. What are some of you guys running? What is a comfortable cruising RPM in your opinion for a non-overdrive tranny?

Thanks for your suggestions.

By the way, the car is a fairly lightweight 63 Nova.

Thanks,
John

[pat mccarthy]

if you have 28 spinle axles the go to the bone yard buy a hole pig out of a truck/van they came with 2.65 or 3.00 should not be hard to find CHEAP . then you will have the best of both worlds if you want more gear latter put the 3.70 back in i use 3.50 and 370 for most builds i run a 3.98 s in my cars

[63BoxNova]

Ive got 31 spline axles...hard to find at a bone yard, but I like your thinking Pat.

[pat mccarthy]

Ive got 31 spline axles...hard to find at a bone yard, but I like your thinking Pat.

yep very hard but have pick them up. i had a 4 spider open 31 spline was happy to score that. i used the parts to re build my 31 limited slip ford

[uppster]

Craigslist has center sections every now and then, you could even put an add in stating what you want. Edd

[jerry clayton]

Nova doesn't have a lot of room for tall tires--

A 300/1 gear was very common also in the fords and probably easy to find---if need be just change gears to 31 spline---i also think a lot of the truck/vans had 31 spline 4 spider set ups

[pat mccarthy]

i use to buy 9 s out of a big scrap yard and two other small junk yards . i do not know how many 28 i pick out of them yards .many.. but i know how many 31s i pick out 2or3 . i am not saying they never put one in a van but i never found one. the 31 four spider L S i ever found came out of a king cab with a bbf and four wheel drives

[63BoxNova]

I cant run a taller tire than my 25.5...Ive got the lowered pro-touring look and not enough room like Jerry said. Im thinking Ill get my hands on some 3.25 gears, or find someone selling the whole chunk with them installed already (ebay maybe?). That setup should put me around 2700 RPM at 65 mph...much better than my current setup. I dont want too low of a gear like 3.00, I think that will make my car a dog at low rpm's? Or maybe im wrong? What are some of you guys running? Thanks.

[pat mccarthy]

buy a 3.25 put it in ford 9 s are E Z to set up . the hard part is getting that heavy S.O.B out of the car and and up on the bench to work on