Are 2.88's just too high for the street?

Whats the width on those? I'd stick one in my Chevy if it was the right size.

 

here are some ford rear end widths, and what cars to look for that they came in

http://www.mustangsandmore.com/ubb/FordRearDimensions.html

 

There are lots of Chevy rears available with ratios like that. 70s Camaros are a decent fit in a 57 chevy. Or you can get 3.08 gears for the original rear.

 

I had a set-up with the Saginaw 4 spd. and a stock 400 SBC , Rochester 2bbl. I had pretty tall gears in a light weight Nova, but it launched impressive enough to gain attention and was fun to drive around town.
I was thinking of finding an early Nova and try that combination again.

 

I bought a new Pontiac OT car with the 403 Olds engine, turbo 350 trans and 2.20 gears. It got exc. gas mileage and performance was quite respectable. Some early 60s Lincolns had 2.00 gears.

 

It sounds like I am good to go with the Jag rear. It's an earlier Dana 44; the gear bolt holes and such are different, and the U-joints are standard Chevy so I might be able to beef them up. I think I read it's a Saginaw.

That's part of what attracted me to the LL8. Decent power, or enough for a cruiser, decent MPG, and at least a little unique. It's not going to be raced.

My wife and I both love driving manual transmissions, but these newer autos are awfully good.

 

If you want a manual instead, and are still considering the new 6 you can use the setup out of a Colorado or Canyon pickup with the inline 5, flywheel and all.

Overdrive, and wide enough gear spread you might be able to run the 2.88s after all.

 

I am building a 1950 L-110 crew cab longbed (by welding my '50 and '52 cabs together and lengthening my long-bed frame even more), and will also be using the Jaguar IFS and IRS. My jag suspensions are from a '78 XJ12 (which means heavier springs) and my pumpkin is one of the posi/"Powr-Lok" versions (which is not a Dana 44 but the *very* similar Salisbury-the carrier is a bit different). I searched for a long while to find a posi with the 3.31 ratio. I wanted posi to help with running around in Colorado snow, and a lower ratio to help with towing and heavy loads in the bed. I plan on towing a 3-4k lb dual axle trailer a couple times a year. I may find out that the IRS isn't up to that tongue weight, or that I am wearing components out too fast or something and have to switch to a solid rear axle but I already have the IRS and am pretty stoked on it and will be running it to begin with (de-caged and hardmounted to the frame). I will be upgrading the sway bars to the 1" versions (from 3/4"), as well as using a weight distributing hitch and maybe air bags up front. I may try air springs in the rear if I end up towing a lot and have any issues before swapping to a solid axle.

My powerplant will be a Ford 300 inline six with an Eaton M122 supercharger (from a '03 Cobra), mated to a ZF5 manual transmission (tranny and supercharger all ready to go, engine build is waiting for the cab, frame and suspension work to finish). This tranny gives granny low first, but still has 5th as OD, and with the super stout innards it is the best transmission that I have found (that is easily sourced, easily and cheaply rebuilt, etc) for building a truck that will function as a truck.

The non-diesel ZF5 has the following ratios:
1 - 5.72
2 - 2.94
3 - 1.61
4 - 1.00
5 - 0.76
R - 5.24

I chose the ford 300 for a number of reasons: it keeps it an inline (yeah!), keeps the exhaust and intake on the passenger side (same as IH, so this reduces any issues with the steering linkage), they are *cheap* (found mine with all accessories including A/C and only 80k miles for $250) and easy to work on, run forever, have good upgrade potential (cheap: EFI year exhaust manifolds, Offenhauser C intake, good carb, med: cam and minor head work, $$: roller rockers, forged pistons, bigger valves, etc).

If I have time after all that (yeah, right!) I want to weld in the "International" lettering from a IH valve cover into a ford valve cover and make the whole build complete

 

In my step side, I'm running 2.73 gears in the rear, a very mild 350 sbc, and a Saginaw truck 3 speed manual tranny. 15 inch wheels with 50 series radials. Decent jump and roll on acceleration around town and below 50 mph (90%) of my driving. On the highway it screams like a banshee in serious pain. Fuel economy sucks. But that's hot rodding.