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Rear differential upgrades? |
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mrbpatsfan
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Joined: 05-April-2023 Location: HOME Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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Topic: Rear differential upgrades?Posted: 01-August-2025 at 2:36PM |
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Hello fellow enthusiasts. My 68 Torino GT came with a FE 390, C6 transmission, and an open differential with a 2:73 GR. The GR is way too conservative. I’m thinking limited slip with 3:25 through 3:73 for around town with 15” tires. Any why nots based on performance? Thanks in advance.
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Jaybee
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Joined: 28-July-2024 Location: Chesapeake, VA Status: Offline Points: 51 |
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Posted: 08-August-2025 at 2:00PM |
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A 3.55 is usually a pretty good compromise between RPM on the highway and good getaway torque on 15" car tires, as opposed to tall sidewall truck tires. With those, sometimes you need to go steeper.
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72 RS 351
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Joined: 04-September-2014 Location: Knoxville TN Status: Offline Points: 3443 |
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Posted: 08-August-2025 at 2:50PM |
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The 390 has plenty of torque to work with taller gearing than a smaller engine. I had 3.25 gears in my first car with a C4 and 351C-4V. That was not too much gear for me at all, I think I'd try the 3.50 gear unless you need lots of highway driving time. I have 373's in my 1998 Explorer, and in 3rd gear(1:1) it runs 3000rpm at around 60mph. Your car will take shorter tires such as 26-27" I'd guess, so the same gearing should push yours over 3000rpm @60mph.
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Don
73 Ranchero "Sport 72 front end", floor shift/console, planning EFI 7000 rpm 351 stroker 73 Ranchero GT 351C-4V &4R70W for sale later. 92 Lincoln Mark VII SE GTC, OBDII 347/4R70W |
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72FordGTS
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GTS.org Admin Joined: 06-September-2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 6780 |
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Posted: 08-August-2025 at 6:40PM |
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I agree with the others. The 3.25 is a nice all around gear, 3.50 better for someone who doesn't do a lot of highway driving but wants lots of acceleration.
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Vince
1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car GTS.org Admin |
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Rockatansky
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Joined: 30-July-2010 Location: On The Road Status: Offline Points: 6398 |
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Posted: 09-August-2025 at 3:59AM |
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what performance level are you feeling? you don't mention highway at all but comments all reflect the inevitability of at least some highway time happening. your 390 should not be a slouch in the TQ dept with a 3.78" stroke, that attribute can be used to run a slightly lower numerical gear than say a 289 with a (can't get off it's ass) 2.87" stroke. have you had a play with a gear ratio calculator? or run the car up to speed in D2 and see if 60 mph at that engine rpm is a no-go. do you have a tach? if no maybe get a cheap POS and wire it in temporary just for finding your rpm tolerance threshold? How Fast Do You Want To Go? ![]() |
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72 GT Ute
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peter.jenerette
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Posted: 23-August-2025 at 2:29PM |
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I went from 2.73 open to 3.50 traction lok, and it immediately put a grin on my face, but then I hit some highway that rev'd it a bit more than I liked, so, I ended up swapping in a 4R70W to get OD which gave me the best of both worlds.
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Pete Jenerette
1972 Gran Torino (H-Code - 4R70W) 2022 F250 XLT 7.3 2003 Thunderbird |
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MARTY
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Joined: 06-October-2025 Location: COOKSTOWN,NJ Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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Posted: 17-October-2025 at 6:07AM |
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Good afternoon. Just got a 68 gt with the 428 but need to change the rears to something usable.350 or 325 How do I determine whether the axle is 28 or 31 spline. Everything on my build sheet leads me to 31 but I would like to make sure. Thank you
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M FLEMMING
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californiajohnny
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Joined: 05-October-2013 Location: winlock, wa Status: Offline Points: 14723 |
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Posted: 20-October-2025 at 9:12AM |
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4 bolts... pull an axle out and count the spines .... |
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JOHN
74 GRAN TORINO S&H CLONE 74 VETTE CUSTOM 90 S10 BLAZER 4X4 LIFTED 77 CELICA CUSTOM 75 V8 MONZA SUPERCHARGED 79 COURIER VERT. SLAMMED 75 VEGA V6 5 SPD 70 CHEV C10 P/U 68 MUSTANG FB CONVERSION |
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aquartlow
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Posted: 20-October-2025 at 10:58AM |
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Totally agree with CJ, the most accurate way for a person to know the "actual" axle spline count....unless of course you can't count and/or remember
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www.supermotors.net/22468
Yeah, It's a Hybrid...It burns gas and tires. No matter how good she looks, somebody, somewhere, is tired of her sh*t. Beauty is skin deep, ugliness goes clear to the bone. |
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