I've also been running a mini spool since I put my car together. Even with the stock axles, I haven't had any troubles yet. Stay out of bad weather and only put your foot in it when you're pointed straight. It can get away from you in a hurry.
Thanks for all of the replies and the suggestions!! One more question......would a spool or mini spool be better? And do y'all think that the 3.80 or 4.11 will let me hook better? I don't really care about the highway cruising. I don't do much anymore.......and even when I do it's just for short distances. Thanks again!!! Preston
Let me clarify this a little...I was on a narrow backroad in a industrial area in front of the Machine shop where a good friend worked, He was with me and wanted to leave a nice LOOOONG set of tire marks infront of the shop . I obliged and lit `em up good ...after about 200 ft. we had picked up a good deal of speed and still had the tires smoking.The cars left tire drifted onto the slick ,painted yellow line in the center of the road and due to my current speed when it cut sideways it happened so fast I didn`t have time to correct before the front tire went up on the curb. It was poor judgement on my part to let the speed creep up on me that much with the rear tires still smoking. Luckily No one was hurt,and the car wasn`t hurt at all.(could have been though.) I don`t blame the spool,the car, the narrow road,or the slick paint stripe on the road. It was driver error.:16suspect Lesson learned. The SAME thing could have happened with any posi-trac type differential (Both tires spinning and too much speed, Narrow road,slick spot.) Now to answer your question Preston... I use my car the same way you do. If its calling for rain ,I drive the truck. I did drive the car in the rain on the way to a cruise in and was a little surprised that it wasn`t as bad as some say as far as getting "loose" on a wet road. Maybe because I was being cautious BECAUSE i run a spool! In my opinion a spool will suit you fine For what you use the car for. If it were your daily driver I would say no to the spool.
I don't think that they make a "spool" for the 8" rear, only a "mini-spool". I think they make both for the 9". Most of us have the 8" stock. Mini spool from Auburn cost me $40 or $60. One of the best-for-the-buck power adders have have bolted on, other than my GT40Ps and headers (cheaper than heads and headers, though ). I was forced to drive mine on wet roads coming home, after it rained in front of me. I had no problems either...just used a little caution. I even "tested" it a little by giving incrementally more throttle during accelleration and turns, and had to put a pretty good bit into it to get it to start cutting loose, but it will cut loose if you are not careful.
It seems like a lot of y'all run gears even steeper than 4.11. How does it hook on the street? Better than 4.11? I want all the traction that I can get........so is this something I should look into? Thanks!! Preston Oh- I'm gonna go ahead and order the mini spool in a day or so! Y'all talked me into it! Preston
If you do ANY highway driving, I STRONGLY suggest nothing more than 3.80. If you are just cruising the boulevard at less than 45mph, plus the track, go higher. But you will regret it when you try to run 55 for any period of time. I have gone to 3.80, then have been increasing rear tire size to get back "some" of my highway cruise. Need a new set of rims...one with tall highway tires, one with shorter slicks for the track. Otherwise, love my spool!
I've been running 4.00's, light cars like Mav's/Comets don't need alot of gear, unless it's tubbed with a really big tire.....
I tried a 4.62 in my car-it sucked anything over 50 mph was well over 3300 rpm/w 245/60/14's out back.And it ran exactly the same on the motor and slower on the bottle(couldn't even look at the button in first gear).I ran 3.55's w/mini spool,drove it everywhere and raced on et streets on the wknds and after 6 years of abuse on stock parts I finally bent an axle tube & axle.But when it was raced it was stalling it up (3500 converter)and leaving on the bottle just about every time.BTW,with 3.55's you can cruise at 60 mph all day at about 2700-3000 rpm depending on your stall and tire size.
Yep...I have heard the argument between 3.80 and 3.55 being the limit on highway-ability. Lots of guys were telling me to stick with the .55s when I was doing my swap, and a couple said I could live with the .80s. I thought I would go a little deeper with the .80s. I would like some .55s for the highway, but really, I like the quicker response of the .80s and will live with driving 55 on the freeways. Pisses everyone else off, but they know that if I punch the pedal, I WILL pass them right up, so they pass quietly and peacefully, and usually with a thumbs up
IMO, if you want the most performance benefit, how tolerable a ratio will be for highway driving should be the least of your concerns. It is far more important to select a ratio that will give you the most out of the motor's power curve.
You can have your cake and eat it, too. It's called an AOD or a 5-speed. It is real hard to a have both a 1/4 mile car and a highway car at the same time. 12-bolt GM guys have the best gear choice in a 3.73.
My dad's 95 Mustang has 3.73's in it with a 5 speed and it works great. I'm not going to put a 4.11 or lower in my car because my engine works best with it on the dragstrip when the car is on the street most of the time. Thats the bottom line. That was my point Mr. Fred. Then again if your building a car to run on the street most of the time, the engine should be built to work the best with a street friendly gear I would think.
