I have a 4.3 - 1 rear axle, 283 with 2 speed power glide. what height should the rear tires be to get highway speed without too many revs?
That's a lot of rear gear to run on the highway without overdrive... What kind of car is this going in? If you're building a hot rod, 7.50x16s are very common - 31" tall. Using this calculator, you'd be turning 2800 rpm at 60 mph http://www.tremec.com/calculadora.php Malcolm (edit, didn't see the calculator post above...)
A 4.30 is more of a dragstrip gear than a highway gear. I would run the tallest tires that fit the car if it was me. With an overdrive of .70 to .80 it's probably fine as is.
I would just change gears down to a 3:73 or 3:90 personally. Sounds like way too much gear for a street car.
To answer your original question more directly - as big as possible. In fact, you're probably not going to achieve your goal with a tire that is going to look even remotely 'right' on the car. 4.30 is just too low to run without overdrive with a common sized passenger car tire, even a big one.
Where's your sense of adventure? While that's far from ideal, its a 283 SBC. It wont kill it to run 65MPH with that gear and a 28 or 29 in tire. I doubt you'll find it pleasant but if you had to you could from time to time. I've run my 327 at 82MPH for 100+ miles at a time with a 3.42 and a 28" tire that's about 3300 RPM I still get about 12MPG's.
I used to run a 4.56 gear with a 31" tall tire on the highway with no overdrive, my turbocharged blow thru carb setup 302 Ford had no problem turning 3500 rpms to run 70 mph for a 400 mile road trip, got 13 mpg doing it (on a nice 97 degree day).
you should send a PM to the fella that started this thread. You seem to have it all figured out and he was seeking advise. The two of you should get along pretty well.
Howdy, spark. My Deuce roadster turns 2100 at 70 mph with a 700R4, 3.73 rearend and 31" Hoosiers. I get 24 mph consistently running a '96-2000 Vortek 350 with a 600 Edelbrock 1406 4 bbl.
Yea, but that wouldn't be gay ol' man HAMB street rodder stuff...Quick cars have no place in traditional hot-rodding, thats for the LS-1 crowd... Get a T-5 and some 3.08s and run some 30" tall tires. If you run a 4.30 gear with an OD, there will be all sorts of problems. You know, excessive tire wear, directional instability at WOT, and if you are a typical HAMBer, potential coronary...
Years back i ran a 4:56 with a 28inch rear tire, with a 283 with an aluminum powerglide and if i remember correctly, 60MPH was 3000 ?
I thought I was wound too tight with 3.73 gears, 28" tire, and my 327 SBC. I'd like to go taller tire, but my fenders wont take them. I may swap to a 700r4 from the TH350 so I can cruise at 70 mph and not be so wound up.
I ran 4:56's with a rowdy 327 & turbo 400 in my 72 chevy truck. It was great fun stop lite to stop lite but i drraded hiway driving. I havent ran anything ovr 3:90 since. I would run 3.73 on his set up. If mostly highway id run 3:55
That is about what I was thinking when I first read your first post. Will 31 inch tall tires look right on the vehicle though? It doesn't take much change to go from "cool looking" to "cartoon looking" with tire sizes on certain cars. i
I'd say a Model A roadster pick up would look great with 31 in tall tire. What do you think? BTW a 4.30 with a 31" tire is about the same as a 3.73 with a 26.5 tire (about 3050 rpm's at 65 MPH) not exactly ideal for economy, but a stock 283 in good running condition can cruise at 3050 rpm's all day long.
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