I gotta know the down side of 4.10s

[Redbrd]

Ok I am wanting to put 4.10s and a 3500 stall in my 95 trans am a4 car what would be the down side to this,I only drive it after work and on weekends...would this combo thrash my tranny??Wouldnt I see some good ets from this as compared to my stock set up,I went 9 flat through the eighth and thought that was respectable for stock but i kinda figured if i could hook with the 4.10s I could shave bout 3 or 4 tenths off my stock time...Any input would be preciated..

[Chris 96 WS6]

Downsides to 4.10s in an automatic F-body with the stock rear:

1. You will run about 2800rpm on the highway at 70mph (gas mileage will plummet, it will be loud and annoying at cruise speeds) With the 3500 stall that is just going to be even worse.
2. 4.10s have more ring gear teeth than the smaller gears...therefore they have to be thinner teeth, and they are therefore more brittle. This just means greater chance of rear end failure.

I assume you are running the 1/8th mile, so its not an issue for you, but in the 1/4 mile, a stock automatic LT1 with 4.10s is going to shift into overdrive before the traps, which is not what you want to have happen.

[Grims]

4.10s can also make more noise than 3.42s

[ws6_z28]

...with 3:73 and a 3000 stall I run 3000 rpm at 75 mph (in OD)...:rolleyes:

[Grims]

Get some 28" tires :P

[Firebirdjones]

Hehehe, wow people have gotten soft. I personally don't know any downside to running 4.10's.
I run 4.10's in the chevelle and 4.56's in the Nomad and neither car even has an overdrive. No big deal to me. I drive them everywhere.
The guys I hang with would be telling you to lick your eyebrows and be somebody :lol:
As for the noise question, I set my own rearends up and it's done very meticuously. As long as you have proper pinion depth and back lash and also the proper preload on the bearings, there should be no noise,,,no matter what gear ratio you choose.
Both my 4.10's and 4.56's are as quiet as a mouse. Both of these are Richmond gears, which people tend to say are the noisy ones, but I find otherwise.
It's up to you though. People seem to have gotten away from alot of gear on the street compared to 20 years ago. We are just an old school bunch of guys that never changed I guess. Buzzing the motor down the road never bothers any of us, even my wife drives them without complaint. :thumbsup: Larry.

[Chris 96 WS6]

...with 3:73 and a 3000 stall I run 3000 rpm at 75 mph (in OD)...:rolleyes:

Don't you have a lockup converter? My car, when it was an a4, with 3.73s, ran about 2600 rpm at 75.

[ws6_z28]

Don't you have a lockup converter? My car, when it was an a4, with 3.73s, ran about 2600 rpm at 75.

Apparently not...

[CamTom12]

4.10s can also make more noise than 3.42s


This has more to do with properly set-up gears than the ratio, though

[Redbrd]

Well ok I can see the down side definitely,especialy on longer trips or cruises but lets talk about the pros to doin this gear swap as far as et through the 8th ...

[Chris 96 WS6]

Pros...car will run a quicker ET

Cons...greater risk of breakage

[Grims]

This has more to do with properly set-up gears than the ratio, though

Still seems to me that the higher I have seen the louder they are...maybe that's because the higher ones tend to be softer for race apps.

[Firebirdjones]

There are softer gear sets for racing applications, but the higher ratios are also available for street applications. Like Tom said, it's more of an issue of properly setting one up. If it makes noise something was not assembled correctly. Like I said, mine are quiet. I run 4.56's on the street behind a muncie 4-speed, quiet as a mouse. I drive these cars around all the time and actually love the gears, I don't need the overdrive.
If I wanted to do a gear change in a car with an overdrive I wouldn't even contemplate it,,,,but I am old school and used to driving car around without overdrives. I think people have been away from that for so long they have forgotten what it was like. Stuff like this used to be our daily transportation, and still is for me. :D I say put a real gear in it and go have some fun. You will like how it changes the car :thumbsup: Larry.

[Redbrd]

thanks Larry and all who had input for me,I think Im gonna go with the 4.10s and go with a light stall and just play a lil..