Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train rear gear

I have a 55 chevy belair. 235 six 3 speed. I understand rear gear is 3:90. wondering how a 3:36 gear would work

Dear Mike;

If you drive a lot on the highway it would save you some fuel, but a little to high for the city.

Good luck.

Hello. It will bring your RPMs down a little on the road and it might take a little more effort to get up to speed. I have the same gear in my Nova and it works for me.

Mike, Powerglides of the same year have a 3:55
rear.

Trucks were 3:90.

55-64 cars have 3:08 3:36 3:55 3:70 4:11 4:56.

If you're not going to be running overdrive or a big camshaft, and you're not worried about how hard it launches, the 3:36 would be a good choice.

Thanks Gear head.. and everyone else. I have taken a couple trips in the car. The car is a stock 235 six. At 65 the enigine is really running hard. I have not checked the gear in the car. It seems that its very low.. I keep thinking I should shift into 4th gear.. I plan on driving to Myrtle beach in March for the "Run to the Sun" car show. I want to run a little faster then 60 mph, but I dont want to blow it up. The higher gear should work out ok .
Thanks

Mike, After checking a pic of your car I have from Latimore last year, are you running smaller tire then a 6:50 equivalent? Just curious if that's affecting the rpm.

Hi Drew,
I am running a 215 75Rx15 tire, which is what the tire guys book says is the replacement for the 6:50. I rememeber when I bought the car and drove it home, it had the 6:50 tires on it and I still had trouble running over 60 with it. Sounds like it needs amother gear.

Thanks
Mike

Hey Mike, Yeah, that's the size of have too which is the closest to original diameter I think. Hope you can find a set that's not to costly. When I check ebay it's easier to find the whole rear then a set of gears.

Just read this on another forum appartently Chevrolet factory fiqures.
3:55 rear Std.Trans 670x15 tires 60 mph 2677 rpm
PG slightly higher because of converter slippage
3:70 2790 rpm
4:11 3099 rpm

Hi Drew,
I found a set of 3:36 gears on Ebay. I had to buy the whole housing but I did get one for $100.00.. I drove up to Buffalo NY Tuesday to get it. They had 3 ft of snow. But it's a nice clean gear set. so based on the Chevy factory figures this might bring me down around 2590 rpm or so.
Thanks
Mike
Mid-Atlantic Chapter

Wow.That's a road trip.

Update on the rear gear.

I put the 3:36 in the car. It has made a big difference. It runs out smoother and longer in first and second gear. In high gear, I run about 2600-2700 rpms at 60 mph as opposed to 3200 rpm at 60 mph.
I drove the car to Myrtle Beach and back this past week end for the "Run to the Sun" , car show, (1074 miles round trip) the car ran great.
In town the car works good and I don't have to use second gear as often as I thought I would. I do notice a difference on a hill where the car will slow some, but not enough to down shift.

Thanks
Mike

Good going, Mike. Nice run considering the weather we had here.

Thanks Drew,
The weather wasn't so hot in Myrtle Beach either. Rain, cold and windy.. 2400 cars showed up at the show.. Nice show.. As far as I could see I was the only "6" there. There was a Bucket -T there with a 4 banger. There was a lot of interest in the 55.. Apparently not many have seen a Belair hard top with a six in it.