Question on Gear Change to 4:10

[95ZR1#418]

I have a '95 ZR-1 with the Dana 44 stock gear set up. I would like to remove the differential gear case myself & bring it in for a professional set-up with 4:10's thereby saving some money, and taking a little pride in doing some of it myself.

According to the service manual it looks straight forward but they do show the use of a special tool, a rear transverse spring compressor. My guess is if I had to buy that item I might just as well bring the whole car in to have the work done, not to mention I would never use it again. Is there an alternate method or trick to get around it? Are there any other unconventional tools needed, not mentioned in the service manual? The car has about 4K miles on it, would I need to(or would it be best to)have all the bearings/seals replaced?

Anyone who has done it themselves have any tips beforehand?

Thanks in advance

 

[cvette]

Ok I'm going to go with what I have been told so someone correct me if I'm wrong. I believe that when you go to a 4:10 gear you have to step up to a supper 44 housing. I believe that you can go with a 4:09 gear in a stock housing. It is also my understanding that the supper 44 is about 50% stronger than the regular 44. I will tell you that I do my own work on my car and for the $1200 it costs, I believe it to be money well spent!


Charlie

 

[rkreigh]

the dana super 44 (viper gears) will fit the stock housing. you may have to clearance at the top and bottom only very slightly.

they work great.

 

[Nigel80031]

Don't forget you will probably need to change the speedometer correction gears as well.

 

[91zr1]

I love the 4.10's on my 91 ZR1.You will love yours.
91zr1 #661

 

[91zr1]

91zr1#661

 

[vettl83]

#481 check with Marc Haibeck at www.zr1specialist.com he would be in the know, he can do the change over or sell you a Dana 44 set up, so you can do it yourself. I'm considering driving out there myself next year for the swap. 84 CF 91 ZR-1 #2039

 

[95ZR1#418]

I just sent my gear box to Marc Thursday evening. He is going to do the complete set-up including, new bearings,seals,drain plug. He is also suppling part of the speedometer correction gears as well as LPE for 4.30's. I am also considering buying Marc's stock LT5 programmed calibration chip. While it's apart I'll also install Bill B. C4 Beam Plates and that will take care of it probably for as long as I own it. I'm also bleeding the clutch while the exhaust is out as preventive maintenance(never been done).

Yes, I believe Marc Haibeck is the way to go, no worries now. I've recently read some horror stories on new gears disintegrating after being installed by those without that much experience.

 

[White 68]

Did Marc recommend the 4.30,s for your car or was that your choice ? I don,t want to start a war over which gear ratio is better just curious of Marc,s opinion of the 430,s ....Thanks Tim

 

[95ZR1#418]

Marc specifically enumerated about each ratio. I asked his opinion on 4.10 and 4.30's. Hands down it was 4.10 if you wanted to do 1/4 mile runs because you do not have to make a shift to 5th gear in the last couple feet of the quarter as you would have to do with 4.30's. Also, the 4.10 in his opinion (I believe) is far better suited for those who plan to add more mod's to the engine, which I do not plan on. He said the 4.30's were more responsive (as you would expect) to stop light racing which more suits me. I really, never plan to run the car even one pass down a drag strip. It has close to 4K miles on it already and I have hardly ever driven it, basically for fear of rain, then of course it's up for the winter from Sept to mid April here in Montana.

I am done with the car after this. I am going to buy his stock LT-5 chip which will give an honest 10Hp. I don't want to go too far beyond stock for resale reasons, except for the gears everything can be converted back in a few hours, and I will have all the original gears/bearings etc to reinstall if necessary.

So, when I take the car out I'm going to really enjoy the snap it has with the new set-up. I think Marc would recommend 4.10's for most applications but he really left it up to me and if I didn't do this I know it would haunt me. You should know that I did run my 1966 GTO "built" on the street with 4.88's- and I loved those, absolutely nothing could touch me, I liked that.

I can hardly wait.....