I have a 54 Chevy Belair with an S-10 4x4 rear axle. I run a TH350 trans with a fairly stock sbc. Problem is, the rear is geared so tall that i run through all 3 gears in the trans and I am going about 50-55 mph and the motor is starting to wind the R.P.M.s.I would like to run on the freeway and interstate and not get plowed by a semi. I looked at gears for the rear, and the two sensible choices I found were 2.73:1 and 3.08:1. Anyone done this swap or have advice on which gear to use? I am not draggin or anything, just want to be able to go a little faster w/o the rpm's gettin up there and be able to keep up with the rest of the crew when we travel. also may help the fuel mileage some too. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Kenny
I ran a 250 six and a s-10 rear in my 50 Sedan. I was running 3.42 gears. If I had to do it again I would definetly go with 3.08's. It was good around down but revved a little to high on the highway for my likeing. Todd
The 2.73 will give you a helluva cruise rpm and mileage, but it might be a little sluggish around town and when hotrodding. I like my cars to be relatively quick, so I would pick the 3.08
Greetings! The "G" body rear end is the same width as the S-10 4x4. It's cheaper to buy a salvage "G" body rear end and a pair of axle saddles then it is to replace the ring and pinion in your S-10 rear end. Good Luck, Mike.
The prices on the 2.73 was $240 and the 3.08 was $200, so I think it will be cheaper to keep the same rear. i would have to put spring pads on and I dont weld good enough to do it myself and trust it. And I still have to have it built, so from an economic standpoint, I am gonna run the s-10. That will be a last resort to swap out the whole deal, but thank you for the input. it will be put in the memo file for a future project
Yes you have to wack off te original spring pads and weld in new ones. If you are not comfortable doing the welding, get it set up, tack it and take it to someone who can weld it up right. Also, keep in mind you can use a Chassis Engineering Spring kit and use a Nova or Camaro rear and not have to do any welding. I found a Nova rear with 3.08's for my current project on Craigslist for a real good price.Todd
i had a limited slip rear out of a 77 malibu unmarked police car with 308 gears in my roadster good all around and never broke anything left a lot of rubber on the ground for some reason
might be cheaper to replace entire rearend than paying for install of new gears, bearings, etc. check pick'n'pull, truck wrecking yards, etc just may be hard to find a 4X4 rear with 3:08. likely that the s10 blazer 2 wheel drive is same width as your rearend.info for gear ratio codes are in glove box-check online s10forum.com and other sites for info. if you get a wrecking yard one be sure to check front seal leaking, etc. others building rides with overdrive trans would like your current rearend.
Tugmaster, I have the C/E parallel (sp?) rear leaf kit. The car is already on the road also, just winds up too much for my taste. My only real need to to decide which gearset to change to. I can be back on the road in no time with the gear swap. I really dont want to have to re-engineer a whole new setup on the rear axle. I will keep the nova/camaro rear in mind for the next project though. Thanks for all the help and suggestions so far guys.
One of the things I discovered when I was researching cinging yhe gears in my S-10 rear. If you do a "signifficant" change in gearing. 3:43 to 3:08 you also need to change out the carrier. Todd
Did you consider a trans swap... A 200 4r is the same size as your turbo 350. I have one behind a built 400 SBC with an s10 rear running 410 gearing. First and second gears will light up the tires at will, in over drive it runs down the highway at 80 mph at about 2200 rpm...
Swapping gears is not exactly easy, for the uninitiated. It takes a dial indicator, an inch-pound torque wrench, and a way of pressing bearings on, and pulling them off. Given the choice between that, and welding on some perches, I'd pick the welding eevery time, and I am set up for, and well experienced with both.
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