3:55, 3:33, 3:45 How does everyone like their gears

[BLWNV10]

Hi,
One of my next mods is a rear gear change. I have located 3:45 and 3:55 gears but have not been able to find 3:33's. 3:55 seems a little low, but not too bad, and 3:45 is a little help. 3:33 seems like a great choice. How do you guys like the gear you are running, and where can I find 3:33 gears. Unitrax will not have them for a few months.

My car is an 01 cream puff RT/10 with a Roe SC on it. I have Belenger Headers, Corsa 3" exhaust, Roe 3" Hi Flow Cats, and going to add Roller Rockers and Water Injection soon with a 6.5psi pulley.

Alan

 

[00prowler]

I like my 3.55s with my set up. I have a Roe S/C with a 10 pound pulley, with water/**** injection. The car pulls in 5th gear hard enough to scare me. You definitly have to learn first and second taking off. Sean Roe has them in his S/Ced Viper as well...00PROWLER...

 

[JUCD VPR]

00prowler ,
Do you hook up on the street? What tires are you runnin?

 

[V 10 MAFIA]

Ive had 3.73 and switched to 3:55. 3:55 feels perfect in a slightly modified car with intake and exhaust.

 

[BigCarrot]

I have 3.33's in my supercharged SRT, and I love them. I got mine from Unitrax, but they are a little hard to find.

 

[sbkim]

Can you actually purchase 3.55 (entire assembly) from Mopar?

 

[Inferno]

How big of a job is swapping gears, and how much would parts cost?

 

[TCKTPLZ]

How big of a job is swapping gears, and how much would parts cost?

It is around a 10-12 hour job and costs about $900.00 to install. That, along with the price of the 3.55 gears, which is around $600.00, gives you a grand total of around $1500.00.

 

[BigCarrot]

I think that's a little on the high side. I think I paid around $1k installed.

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

I bought the whole assembly from Unitrax----3:45s in the spring of 04. According to Unitrax, the 3:45 is a race treated gear when they get it from the factory. I had a drain plug installed on mine for future lube changes. Had 3:33s been available from Unitrax when I bought these, I probably would have gone with the 3:33 assembly. You do run out of 3rd and 4th just a little sooner than I'd like.

Overall--very satisfied--especially with 5&6th gear on the highway. I still get between 21-22 MPG in 6th gear at 75-80 MPH. 5th gear becomes quite usable in fairly heavy traffic. Personally, I would not go lower than the 3:45 I now have.

I believe you can purchase the entire assembly from Mopar.

To swap out the whole assembly took 2 hours and cost me $90.

Steve

 

[Inferno]

Wow, 10-12hrs, and 2hrs is a big difference. Is that mechanical ability?

 

[sbkim]

Steve - thanks for the info!

 

[TCKTPLZ]

I think that's a little on the high side. I think I paid around $1k installed.

That's the price quote I was given from DC Performance in L.A. I thought it was a little high myself. Did you get your gears installed through your Viper tech? I think they may be a little cheaper.

 

[GimmeTheSpeed]

3:73's here, $1000 installed.... done by Ted @ Valaya... they're pretty touchy off the line but sweet when punching it in 3rd gear at about 60mph.... whiplash!

 

[Bill B]

Parts rack has the 3.55's for $655.00, at least they did last week when I looked.

Does anybody know what parts rack get's for that carbon clutch?

 

[BLWNV10]

Thanks again guys,
I really want a 3:33 but may have to settle for a 3:45.
With my super charger I am beginning to feel I should stay away from the 3:55.
What is the size of tire you are using with your 3:55?

Having a one inch taller tire 25.9 to 26.9 is a reduction of 50 rpms and a 6mph increase in 4th gear.

Too bad Unitrax won't have the 3:33 until the end of the year.

Thanks,
Alan

 

[unreelviper]

I switched from the stock 3:07's to the 3:55's right after I got my Roe s/c installed and I love them. You can actually have fun with 5th and 6th gear.

 

[JUCD VPR]

OK but with a ROE supercharger can you hook up good on the street with the 3:55 gears? I've heard their alot more fun in 5th and 6th gear but no one said anything about traction??

 

[weed43]

Re: 3:55, 3:33, 3:45 How does everyone like their gears

I have 355 and have tried coming out of the hole in second gear and it really works grate, some time with in the month of June I will be installing the Roe blower 6.5 pulley Water **** and I don't think first gear will be needed. Another club member told me about Trying second gear, but he is running 650 hp at the rear wheels.

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

Re: 3:55, 3:33, 3:45 How does everyone like their gears

355, s best mod i've done. I use 6th like never before. I do have to adjust at the track. Let's say everyone will talk about staying in one gear, and I'm winding out in that gear and shifting around more often.

But I like it.

AC

 

[00prowler]

OK but with a ROE supercharger can you hook up good on the street with the 3:55 gears? I've heard their alot more fun in 5th and 6th gear but no one said anything about traction??

Not really, but it is easy to overcome with practice,I have four new Pilots on mine which feel pretty sticky compared to my original factory tires. The difference in third fourth fifth and sixth is more than worth it. I dont track drag my car at all, if I did I would probably go with 3.07s or 3.33s..00PROWLER..

 

[Jeff Lemke]

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I changed to 3.55 and wished I had left it stock. There was something cool about hitting almost 60 in first gear and touching 77 or so in second. The car does FEEL a little different but I not convinced it feels BETTER, only different.

Jeff

 

[MAVERICK]

What are you trying to achieve is the first question? Then we can give an intelligent answer.

 

[Rollin4]

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I changed to 3.55 and wished I had left it stock. There was something cool about hitting almost 60 in first gear and touching 77 or so in second. The car does FEEL a little different but I not convinced it feels BETTER, only different.

Jeff

I've got to agree with Jeff here. I changed to 3.55's and miss my 3.07's.

 

[AG98RT10]

3:73's here, $1000 installed.... done by Ted @ Valaya... they're pretty touchy off the line but sweet when punching it in 3rd gear at about 60mph.... whiplash!

Love my 3.73's! Always tho't they were 3.55s until I did a comprehensive road test and found the RPM/MPH points matched up with 3.73 instead! Thanks to whomever put these in!

Sixth gear is very usable at 60 MPH now...

 

[RedEnuf93]

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I changed to 3.55 and wished I had left it stock. There was something cool about hitting almost 60 in first gear and touching 77 or so in second. The car does FEEL a little different but I not convinced it feels BETTER, only different.

Jeff

I've got to agree with Jeff here. I changed to 3.55's and miss my 3.07's.

One more here.

I installed the 3.55's and the highway acceleration (80-150) was gone. I lost to many of my Viper buddies on highway, even so much that it became a joke...
Biggest dissapointment was the 5th and 6th gear. Yes, you can CRUISE well, but thats it.

I know that this is kind of odd, since my Vette changed to a totally different animal from 3.06 to 3.70!

It FELT good with 1-3 gears, but thats it. 2 months later I installed the stock gears back. I am obviously in minority here...

 

[AG98RT10]

I don't understand that, downshift to 4th (4000 RPM or so at 80), wind it out to 120, shift to 5th, wind it out to 150 - what, you're in prime HP/torque territory all the way... One shift, in the zone all the way?
Well, that's 3.73's, but I can't imagine taller gears would be worse?

 

[Viper X]

Call Unitrax on the gear change, it should be about $1000.00 or a bit more depending upon the additional parts your diff needs.

As for switching, I've been the 3.55 route and it was great fun and quite effective up to about 500 rwhp (headers / K&N's with the SRT). Above that, traction was difficult at best. I went back to the 3.07s with the Quaife (Unitrax too) and Nitto drag radials. 0 - 60 happens now in about 3 seconds, maybe a bit less - 750 rwhp. Scary how well the 3.07s / Quiafe / Nittos work together. In any case, you will need to switch tires if you go with lower (numerically higher) gears.

I was told on this board very early not to change from 3.07s if I was going to add some serious power but didn't listen, so I got to pay for it twice. If I were you Blwnv-10, I'd stick with the 3.07s.

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

I don't know guys....I have no problem with any power after switching to 3:55. Maybe just me, but it's all a matter of when to shift, downshift.

AC

 

[rcdice]

What are you trying to achieve is the first question? Then we can give an intelligent answer.

Ok, here is my very specific situation. Tell me what you guys think.

Car is mostly stock with tubes/filters, 3" cats, 3" B&B catback. Have a set of T&D's in my garage but they won't be installed anytime soon. I may do a head and cam package some day. A year or two away, if ever. I won't be doing forced induction or nitrous on this car.

Car is only driven 1k to 1.5k miles per year and only in good weather. Thus far, only on the street. Car has never been on a track and only would be for the novelty/experience. What I want out of a gear swap is increased pulling power and acceleration from 0-130. Most runs would either be 0-60 (stop light to stop light) or 65-130 (highway bursts). Car will rarely, if ever, see more than 130. I also like to run the car on a road course like stretch of road with a lot of curves and a few straights. Most of this run can be done in 3rd with an occasional downshift to 2nd and an occasional upshift to fourth. I'd like the car to still be comfortable in that situation.

My plan is to swap to 3.45's and swap to heavy duty half shafts at the same time. Once the gears are broken in and I get a feel for them on Pilots, I plan to change the rear tires to something stickier. Probably Kumho's or Pilot Cup's.

So what-do-ya-think? Am I on the right track?