2.96 gears with a 225 six cylinder.. too much??

my 61 Dodge Seneca has a 225 slant six and 3 speed. I believe it has a 3.54 rear gear.

I need a brake drum which will be 100 bucks from Kanter if they have one in stock. it also has a leaky differential (stock Mopar 8 3/4), it's got the old tapered axle with a keyway and a big nut on the end... this rear also has no provisions for a parking brake since the brake is on the trans. brake shoes are OK for now but not available at the local parts store.

so there is a couple good reasons to ****can the whole thing. I have another 8 3/4 rear from a later car with normal axles, parking brakes and no obvious leaks. it is about 1" wider.

problem is it has a 2.96 gear. I'm thinking it won't be able to get out of it's own way with that gear. it's a pretty big car.

anybody running this kind of gear with a stock six???

 

I would say it is to much. Although the torque might be able to get it going. What is the first gear on your ******?

 

I'm not near my manual. don't know the first gear ratio.

 

Yeah, I'm pulling a 2.93 in my 54 Chevy 210, about 3600 lbs. It's a 235. When it had the stock PG motor with hyd lifters it would only run to 3200 RPM, SO the high rear really helped it. I have a 4 speed Saginaw in it with a 3.50 first. This works out really well. I tried a wide ratio Muncie (2.54) and it wasn't really happy starting off.

Anyway, it's a perfect highway gear. 2500 rpms to cruise on the interstates. 3000 to p*** everyone

You'll never need to replace parking brake shoes if all you do is PARK with it.

Frank

 

If your location is still SF area I would say you will not be happy with the 2.96 gear regardless of the trans gear.

Underpowered with tall gear in your terrain within 200 miles would be maddening.

 

can you just swap out third members? fix the leak of course

 

I run a 2.76 in my 65 Dart with /6 and a automatic and it does pretty good.

 

If you are planning on driving that IN San Francisco, that 2.96 gearing with that Six probably will get you by, but don't plan on going real fast up the hills. Sixes came with relatively steep gears for a reason. A highway gear like that in that car will work for you in Fresno, but not so much in Frisco.

 

My 37 chevy p/u has 2.79 gears with a 235 and T-5 and does good but I think its a bit lighter then your dodge.

 

yes i think they inter change on the houseing but take a axle out of each rear end and count the splines and measure the size of the axel spline

 

Also look into a change in tire size, a smaller dia. tire will lower the car a little and lower the over all gear ratio.

 

My '64 Pontiac Tempest came straight out of the factory with the standard 215-inch straight six (same exact engine as a Chevy 230 but with a 1/8" smaller bore) a 2-speed Super-Turbine 300 auto trans (1.76:1 low gear) and a 2.56 rear end gear. The original tire size was 6.50-14, the equivalent of a 195/75-14 radial which is pretty short being 25.5" tall.





Acceleration was pretty much what you'd expect for a 3500 pound car with only 140 HP, and I doubt it had that much power. Ran 20 seconds-flat in the 1/4 mile and almost broke the 70 MPH mark, never shifting it out of low gear until it went across the finish line.

Torquey little six-bangers can pull a pretty tall gear with an auto trans, a manual trans wouldn't work well geared quite that high.

 

Those slant 6s get little respect. I don't think your going to notice much difference to tell you the truth. I'd throw it in there. If you really don't like the way it works, a 3:23 open center section 8 3/4 pig should still be available in your area. I suspect the axle shaft size and spline count would be different between your current center section and the more modern one, but I'd sure give an axle a try before buying a different center section. Gene

 

I bet that ratio would not do so well running against the santa anna winds on the I10 loaded!

 

well I finally did it and swapped the whole thing. funny thing, the reason I did the swap is the price of the drums for the original rear, and as it turns out I can't get drums for the later rear locally either.... well that and I wanted to put a normal parking brake in it (original is on the back of the trans).

cruised it around town last night and it is like starting off in second gear. I bet I could go 50 in first (3 speed). got back home and could smell a burned clutch. so this aint gonna work.

gonna pop the old center section out and see if they will interchange. fix the pinion seal while I'm in there.

darn old cars.... it's always something.

 

so you'll still need the brake drum? I may have one leftover, let me look and see. If I do, cost of shipping.

 

thanks for the offer but the drums on the later rear are useable. just need to swap some gears now.