Opinions on gear ratio

[74 stepside]

I have the choice of 2 gear ratios on my 73 2wd short bed. The gears are 3:07 and 3:40. Truck has a sbc and 400 trans with 28" rear tires. Which would you choose for a daily driver?

[cory d]

3.40

3.07 is too close to 2.73 wich i have, and it sucks

[Firebirdjones]

Talking strickly no overdrive trainnies,,,,the 3.07's with a 28" tire works nicely if you have a torquey engine that can pull it around town easily. Nice on the highway. I have one car setup like this.

Personally anything up to 3.73 is a great gear along with a 28" tire. I use this in a couple cars as well. Still cruises at 65 mph at 2800 rpms which is comfortable to me.

3.42's would be a happy middle road solution if you don't like either of the above.

[74 stepside]

My 74 step has 3:73s. Its great around town but revs a little high on freeway. My 73 shorty has 3:40s in it, but I have another 12 bolt with 3:07s that I was thinking about using. Just to keep up with traffic around here is 70-75mph on freeways. Thats why I was asking if anyone here has the experience with either gear ratio and what is prefered since I dont have overdrive. Motor is a fresh 350 with 650 holley and a mild cam. It moves around decent.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by 74 stepside

My 74 step has 3:73s. Its great around town but revs a little high on freeway. My 73 shorty has 3:40s in it, but I have another 12 bolt with 3:07s that I was thinking about using. Just to keep up with traffic around here is 70-75mph on freeways. Thats why I was asking if anyone here has the experience with either gear ratio and what is prefered since I dont have overdrive. Motor is a fresh 350 with 650 holley and a mild cam. It moves around decent.

Hmm, well I don't care to keep up with traffic, I just let everyone go around, I find the 3.73's pretty nice (driven accross country twice with 3.73's/28" tire) Guess it's a matter of what you get used to.

If you want to keep up with traffic that's going 70-75 without winding the engine,,,,you'll need the 3.07 gears for sure.
I run this combo (3.07 gear, 28" tire) in my 70 formula, it has enough grunt to pull the car around town easily (still runs bottom 13's),,,and it cruises down the freeway at 75 mph while turning about 2800 rpms.

Don't need no stinkin' overdrive

[74 stepside]

Thanks for the input.

[cory d]

if you do allot of freeway driving then 3.07 wouldnt be bad, i do most of my driving at no more then 55 so the 2.73 kind of sucks