Posted by Torvald [172.68.174.211] on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at 23:59:27 :
Greetings all,
Well the Beast (B-3-PW) is finally on the road after a very extensive rebuild, and I�m proceeding with shakedown and testing. The Beast has a 265 rather than the stock 230. One of the last major things to take care of is to replace the 5.83 differential gears with either 4.89s or 4.3s. The objective of the change is to increase gas mileage and road speed without greatly harming its ability to crawl across nearly anything on this planet and haul a two horse trailer. From calculations and research, it seems that I can cruise at 60 mph while keeping to under 3000 RPM with the 4.89s. I�m also fairly certain that the increased low end torque of the 265 will make up for the reduced gear reduction, so I�ll still be able to crawl through the woods to my heart�s content. However I�m fairly certain that I can get even better mileage with the 4.3s, I�m just not sure I�ll have enough power for high speeds (60-65 mph) and enough torque when crawling. I should also mention that after the new gears go in there will be the addition of tuned headers and progressive double carbs to give a little bit more power at high speeds.
So my question is: has anyone out there put 4.3 differential gears behind a 265, and what was the result?
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