Looking to swap gear ratios out again

Hey everybody I'm gonna be swapping out the gear ratios again from my Maverick and was looking for advice. I have had the stock 3.00 gears in it and swapped them out for 4.11's with a t5 in it and it's fun and all but really want something a bit higher up like 3.55 or 3.25's so I can not shift like a dump truck. I'm gonna be also putting in the 351w in soon too so I want something to hold up the power. I will be swapping out the transmission too later to handle the power but that's not till next year. What I was wondering is should I just get the whole 3rd member from the guy on eBay and keep the 8 inch or go with doing the whole swap out to the 8.8 and build on that? Please any advice I'd appreciate it a lot and I do drive this car a lot but also just bought another vehicle (2013 Ford focus) thanks!

 

If you go to an 8.8 or 9" you will have more work to do to make it fit but...Gear ratio selection is much better (More choices) compared to the 8"

 

about 3.73 would be a good middle between 3.55 and 4.11. definitely more street able than 4.11 but still will rev very well. keep in mind that 3.55 and 3.73 are the butter zone for fox body & early SN95 Mustangs. (they have a t5 and 302)

 

With a 3.35 1st gear T-5(stock 5.0 Stang), anything more than 3.50 will make 1st almost useless, once it's rolling, time to shift... With the aftermarket 2..95 1st T-5 you can move on up to 3.70/3.80 without a big problem...

Stock T-5 Stangs never had deeper than 3.08 gear, so the 3.35 1st makes up for what's lacking out back...

 

Would I notice a difference between 3.00 Vs 3.25 gears? Or are they pretty much the same?

 

You will notice, it isn't a huge difference like jumping to 4.11 but it is still a step in the right direction.

 

I would go ahead and switch to the 8.8 or 9 inch. I don't see the 8" holding up very well behind a 351W with a straight gear.

 

And that's exactly what I was thinking too. I mean if the guy on eBay sells that whole third member for closer to 900 dollars. Won't it cost me the same to put a 8.8 into my Maverick?

 

My dad is running a 351 c in his with a t5 and 4:11s and the 8 inch is holding up VERY well. We talked to a former drag racer/ machine shop guy, and he said his 8 inch has held up very well also. I wouldn't swap until you absolutely have to. jmo

 

yeah I've heard that the 8 inch can actually hold up to some big HP numbers..

 

We are guestimating we have about 450 hp, that thing will NOT get traction for anything! We have trac bars, and slicks.

 

And I've seen more than one 8" in pieces that had a warmed up 289 in front of a 4-speed, one good clutch dump and it was over... No probably won't happen with street tires, just don't try it with a good set of stickies and traction bars.... Automatics are far kinder to the drive train than a stick...

 

See that's what I've heard too. I don't mind doing all the work in swapping rear ends I just want to get advice ahead of time from everyone before I look into doing it. Also does anybody have the write up or forum page to do the 8.8 swap? I'm on my phone and it's not showing me any of them.

 

There are no 3.73s. That's a GM ratio.

 

Isn't it 3.80 for 8inch? And 3.73 for 8.8?