I have 4 gearsets for my Dana 44 that i could use. Aside from the slight gear ratio differences, which gearset would be best to use:
41-10 (4.10) These are Dana Viper gears from Mopar
37-9 (4.11) These are aftermarket gears, but I don't know where they're from
45-11 (4.09) These are Dana gears but the pinion has a sleeve welded to it to make the bearing surface larger. That means the pinion shaft itself is smaller.
41-11 (3.73) Dana gears
I am leaning to using the 4.10 Viper gears but was wondering of a 10 tooth pinion was any stronger or weaker than an 11 tooth.
I'm trying to decide which ratio to use as well. I'm considering the 3.73 gearset instead. I have a 26.1" diameter tire with an effective diameter of 25.2" per TireRack (295/30-18). At 75 MPH the 4.10 gears put me at 2052 RPM and the 3.73s put me at 1867 RPM. I have a 2.66 first gear and a 0.5 overdrive 6th gear. Which ratio do you think would be best? I probably won't drive this car a lot on the highway, but I might.
I am disassembling a Dana 44 so I can get it rebuilt so I need to decide on gears.