Want gears! What to do, Where to go (be nice) :)

[94c4lt1]

I am looking into getting gears for my 94 LT1 corvette. I have a 6 speed manual.
Where is a good place to go to get these?
Do I need a new case to upgrade to 4.10's? What do I need, just ring and pinion gears?
I have a friend that is a mechanic, is this something we can do ourselves or do I have to take it in? How difficult is it?

Sorry about all the questions, I am just confused.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Vettelt193]

4.10's will work well, and will work in your carrier (dana 44) Richmond gear makes them, and they are reasonably priced

As for installation, if you haven't done it before, and don't know anyone who has, don't attempt do do it yourself... find someone that knows gears. If it is done wrong, you will just wind up doing it twice, and paying twice for the gears. It is easy to mess this job up, and if something goes wrong with the gears it could even cause an accident.

 

[94c4lt1]

Thanks for your help.

I will talk to my friend (the mechanic) and see if he has done it before. If not I will start searching around for a shop that has some experience.

Thanks again.

 

[94c4lt1]

Okay, maybe I am dumb or I am just missing something. I believe that my car had 3.45 or 3.54 Dana 44 right now. Am I wrong?

The only gears I can find for a corvette with dana 44 from richmond gears are 3.75's. And all the other dana 44 gears are for Jeeps, broncos, etc.

Can someone please point me in the right direction or at least clear somethings up for me?

Sorry for the dumb questions.

 

[Vettelt193]

yes, dana 44, 3.45 gears... maybe calling them would be easier... I know they make them, their web site isn't the greatest so the good old fashioned phone may be necessary:eyerole

 

[94c4lt1]

Great! Thanks. I will try giving them a call.

Now if I could just remember how to use the phone.

Thanks again.

 

[sothpaw]

anyone know...?

... if 1993 6spd gears are also 3.45? I would think so.

How much (ballpark) do the ring/pinion gears cost, is that all that he needs (parts wise)?

Very interesting...

 

[69MyWay]

Having just done this..........

I can tell you that it is a little more tricky than meets the eye. The Dana44 is standard in the stick shift cars, and the 36 is standard in the autos.

My 90 had 3.33 gears in the Dana 44.

I installed the Richond 3.75 gears. If I had it to do over again, I would have gone straight to www.tpis.com and bought their gear set as it comes with basically everything you need to do the job. The Richmond set is just the gears only.

The dana is tricky because it does not use the standard crush sleeve installation on the pinion. It uses a set of pressed on bearings. If you don't get the right the first time, you will destroy them removing them and trying again. I paid the local driveline shop to put the gears in and order new bearings/seals for me.

You also have to change the plastic driven gear on the speedo so that the speedo will still be correct. Again, the folks at TPIS are great to pick their brains about this stuff and get the right parts the first time.

Performance wise......it is out of this world. I have the miniram and 52 mm TB as well as the Edelbrock RPM heads, etc. etc. In other words I am up and above basic specs for even an LT4 motor. I can let the clutch out in 1st gear and give no throttle at all, even on a slight incline and she will roll forward smooth and easy. When I stomp the throttle it gets wicked fast, wicked quick, and if you don't have good solid dry pavement, it will light them up in 1, 2, and 3 from just dropping the hammer. It never did this with the 3.33 gears.

You will be impressed.

 

[Vettelt193]

Sothpaw... yes, 1993 has 3.45's...

The only comment I want to add to 69MyWay's reply... on the newer cars (not sure the exact year, i think 1994) you don't need to swap the plastic speedo gear, it is done through the computer.... hypertech power programmer will even do it.

 

[Mad-Mic]

ring and pinion gears are roughly 300 bucks not sure about the tpis set.

add another 700 or so for labor since you got to take the whole rear end out of the car to replace them.

the hardest thing about doing rear gears is getting the gears inline perfectly so the ring gear don't wobble on the pinion gear. this would cause it to break and possibly totally lock up the rear end and drive train even worst case scenario is breaking your trans also if they aren't installed right.

sothpaw look up a shop called Eirenes speed shop in pasadena. they do vette rear ends and they did my Z/28 rear and i was extremely pleased. another shop i would recommend is Superior Speed Shop in lithicum. both shops are recommended from capital raceway (Jim Cunningham)


BTW ELD sucks and if you take it there for any work you get what you pay for....high priced shotty work that you'll be b*tching about and most likely end up sueing them for the work that should of been done.

 

[luvmy92]

I am getting ready to have 3.73 gears put in on my '92 6-spd. I bought the gears from Randy's Ring and Pinion along with the install kit for around $340 ($230 + $110). The Gears say D44 on them and the Pinion is of the HD variety (I believe for a Dana 60).

If I'm not mistaken, all OBD1 cars can use the speedo gear but I don't believe GM makes one bigger than 3.73. If you are going taller than 3.73's, you will have to get a speed sensor (little black box) that hooks up between your ignition and ECM. I believe Abbott sells one for around $145. OBD2 cars can have their computer reprogrammed.

I am going to install the Hurst shifter at the same time the gears go in. I hope it gives me a nice seat of the pants difference.

Mike

 

[sothpaw]

1/4 mi time change?

A gear change is interesting to me because the car is making
a funny noise in 6th anyway, and mechanic says the rear will
need some work some day.

1. Would a gear change to 3.73 get me 0.2 s in the 1/4 mi?
From 13.3 to 13.1? Would I just launch it at a lower rpm to
start?

2. Would this make the Hot cam more workable? What I mean is,
the LT4 hotcam has drivability issues for me since you need more
throttle to start the car. If 3.73's counter this effect, maybe the
Hot cam and 3.73's is what I should do (first anyway).

3. Fuel economy effect of 3.73's, if you cruise in 6th gear?
I thought it's not that dramatic going from 3.45's, maybe
1-2 mpg.

Thanks for the info, very appealing...

 

[Vettelt193]

here are some quick calculations for you....

first off cruising at 2000 RPM's in 6th:

3.45: 90
3.73: 83
4.10: 75

6000 RPM's in 1st:

3.45: 50
3.73: 46
4.10: 42


The reason why I picked 2000 RPM's is it is a happy speed for the LT1 to run.... not too high, but not too low that the car feels bogged down (ever wonder why your vette feels so good at 90?)

The 3.73's are a good swap, but for that kind of money, most just go for the 4.10's. I don't see 2 tenths in the quarter with 3.73's, but 4.10's should give you 2 thenths. On the flip side, the 3.73's are more for cruising, and you may actually enjoy your car better on a daily basis.

On your thought of compensating for the hotcam.... yes, it will help, especially on the highway... the factory gears don't really let you run enough rpm for the hotcam to work well in 6th gear going under 70.

To get going though, 3.73's will require you to get the rpm's up just to get moving.... But, the situation won't be compounded... you won't have to throttle up for the gears, and throttle up more because you have a hotcam... more gas off the line will handle both problems.

 

[luvmy92]

I chose 3.73's because it is a much better road race gear ratio than 4.10's or 3.45's. I personally could care less whether it gives me an additional tenth at the drag strip (although that's important to some), and think each person needs to decide what they plan on doing with their car, and then gear it accordingly...

Mike

 

[sothpaw]

both

I plan to do a little road racing and drag racing.

So, vettelt193, if I just do the 3.73's (and yeah, I know, 4.10s
are more extreme, but I think I wouldn't like it as a street car,
I drove a Viper and I much prefer my vette) , you think it will
take more gas to start?

I thought 69myway said with the 3.73's, you take off with little/
no gas (less gas than with stock)?

Reason for concern: Next year, this 93 will be the daily driver in
traffic jams on I-95, w/stop and go. It must be easy to start
from a stop.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[69MyWay]

Re: both

I plan to do a little road racing and drag racing.

So, vettelt193, if I just do the 3.73's (and yeah, I know, 4.10s
are more extreme, but I think I wouldn't like it as a street car,
I drove a Viper and I much prefer my vette) , you think it will
take more gas to start?

I thought 69myway said with the 3.73's, you take off with little/
no gas (less gas than with stock)?

Reason for concern: Next year, this 93 will be the daily driver in
traffic jams on I-95, w/stop and go. It must be easy to start
from a stop.

Thanks,
Andy

Just drove my 90 home in a bad traffic jam today. I only use the brake and clutch in stop and go. There is more than enough power with the 3.75 at idle to take off smooth and quick. Does it use less gas......I have no idea. It does however equal to less effort on the driver, and less take off gas pedal needed to avoid stalling.

 

[vettn94]

4.10's good choice. Good luck with them.
Gear change was the best mod I have done so far on my 94.
I think you can order the Viper gearset for the 4.10's.
Your spedo will need to be recalibrated with a Hypertech Power Programmer or the PCM will need to be sent out for reprogramming. There is no spedo gear in your trans (4L60E).

 

[kingman]

C4 96 Question.

Hi

l believe that the 96 had a change in the computer, where it was almost impossible to alter the chip inorder to compensate for the change in rear end gears.

 

[84vetteboy]

94c4lt1,
Since you live here in colorado I will give you some advice DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE YOU VETTE TO RICH @ CORVETTE CONNECTION HE IS A SCAM ARTIST!!!!!! However Corvettes Only dose some great work Mechanicaly and they also have Cars for sale for decent prices. If you have the money Purifoy Corvette is the BEST in my openion they do great work and charge a little high but it is fully worth it for the customer satisfaction. Since you are in the Springs you could probably call So Cal and see if they could do the work for you if you or your mechanic friend can not do it.

 

[vettn94]

Re: C4 96 Question.

l believe that the 96 had a change in the computer, where it was almost impossible to alter the chip inorder to compensate for the change in rear end gears.

The 94-96 PCM does not have a removable chip.
The gear change can be made in PCM the using a Hypertech Programmer or LT1 Edit in the 96 just as with the 94 & 95's.