4.56 or not?

[evil bastard]

hey all, my 74 has 3.73s in it noww with 35's and it has a hard time movin....i was planning on 4.10s but i was told id"have more fun with 4.56s and you know it" and now im agreeing. i drive 50 highway miles a day, take that into consideration. anyhow, my real question is whether to stuff gears into my 12 bolt and d44 OR, a guy DID have 3/4 running gear with 44.56s in both axles. dont remember the price. would the 14 bolt be too low to the ground?(i keep having visions of 38s in my head) id hate to regear just to have the 1/2 ton axles puke on me.

74 350/350, 203, 4" tuff country springs, 35's, 3.73

 

[Depdog]

Well, I have 4.56 and love them. Had 3.08, but I have an sm465 and an np205. I run 35" tires and at about 3k rpms its 70 mph.

I am glad I did the 4.56 instead of the 4.10 I have a dana 44 in front with lock right and a 12 bolt rear with detroit.

Depdog

I think the 14 bolt hangs down to low myself, If I was going to 38 or 40" tires I would slap in a Dana 60 and 14 bolt though.


<font color=blue>"Lead, Follow, or BECOME the Trail"</font color=blue>

 

[Russell Keys]

Don't go with anything less than 4.56. I made the mistake with using 4.10's, and now anxiously await the funds to gear lower. Hey that's a sad story how many want to donate a buck for gears? Definately go with the 14 bolt though. If it hangs down too much and you get hung up, back up and jump it!

 

[blazer72]

I run 35s and the stock 3.73 arb in front and a new detroit in back, I guess it depends on your motor I have no problem turning mine at any time even when in 5th gear. but then I do have the 3 speed t-case from ORD

 

[DBLAZER]

What Transmission do you have? I have a 700r4 and I run 5.13 with 38 and it has totaly cool pep.
I am bery bery happy.

89K5 payed 3k for the rig, spent almost 7k in the last 6 months on upgrades!!!!

 

[Corey-88K5]

Here is a idea for you. Get a Semi-floatin 14blt. Yayaya, I know its still a C-clip design, but you will gain ground clearance over that fat pig of a full floater, and I doubt that you will break a axle. Those things are HUGE! If you are really worried about it, put disc brakes on, I doubt that a axle shaft would slip past the caliper! Thats my plan anyway. Just pull the broken part out, and dont sideload it. You should limp it home.

Corey
88K5

<font color=red>Girls Like Guys In Bow Ties
http://www.geocities.com/corey_perez

 

[AZK5]

If your thinking about 38" tires don't mess with the Dana 44 front axle. It would be cheaper to start with the 1 ton axles. I wouldn't run less than 4.56 with 35's. The problem with the semi floater is the limited gearing, 4.56 is the best you can get. Also there isn't a Detroit available for this axle. If you are going to run 38's you will want at least 5.13 gears. I'm going to use Dana 60 front and rear and hope I can get some money out of my Detroited and 4.88 geared Dana44, 12 bolt axles.
CB

 

[6.2Blazer]

Both the 10-bolt and 12-bolt have gears down to around 5.13 available. The 9.5" 14 bolt goes down to 4.88 gears.
The stock 1/2 ton axles can survive 38's is not used hard, if you use them hard they will break. I knew a guy who ran 39" Swampers with a 12 bolt/dana 44 combo for years without problems, but it was mostly a weekend boulevard cruiser and only saw some light mud.
My advice would be if you are really serious about 38's and would like to run the truck hard, look at upgrading to larger axles.
If you want to stay with the stock axles and just re-gear them, 4.10's would work well with 35's if you are concerned at all about mileage and cruising at 70 mph (since you mentioned the 50 mile round trip every day). The 4.56 gears give good acceleration and power, but without having an overdrive equipped transmission they cause the engine to rather kind of high on the freeway.