Pinion Angle/Tailshaft Bushing

AJ/FormS said
Ok good, nothing wrong with that combo now Eh? 12.08 is just the starter gear she needed.

If you ever decide to get out of that box, I highly recommend the 3.09/direct box. The ratios are much tighter, and you could go back to 3.21s or 3.55s.Your current Road ratios are;
>12.08-6.53-3.91-2.85 with splits of;.54-.60-.73
The above recommended 3.09/D box with your 3.91s has ratios of
>12.08-7.51-5.47-3.91, with splits of .62-.73-.71 Notice the much tighter splits. Your 268 will like those splits much better. The Rs will not fall nearly as far on the shifts. Notice you get an extra gear, where you need it. But IMO 12.08 is way more starter than you need. Because you have an extra gear, you could drop back down to the 3.21s, but that starter of 9.92 would be a little soft with your compression ratio.3.55s will be just right. The road ratios with 3.55s are
>10.97-6.82-4.97-3.55, and splits are same as above,namely .62-.73-.71
Notice 2nd gear is about the same as you currently have, then you get two more tight ratios. The 10.97starter should be adequate, requiring just a smidge more Rs to get rocketing. Second gear will take you to 70plus mph,the rpm at 65 will be bang-on at 5500;being about just a little over peak, and 65 will be about 2850.
As a comparison here's what it looked like with; the 3.21s and o/d box
>9.92-5.36-3.21-2.34 Remember that second gear? It's about like 3rd gear with the 3.09/D and 3.55s,lol,
So if you go shopping, there's my opinion. I have this box, and have not been able to break it in about 10 years or more.And I love it. My 367 has enough torque that I could easily run 3.21s. But with my GVOD, the Rs would be a tad low at 60mph =1866, and the engine would be back into reversion, with the current cam.
If you go looking...... the 3.09D box and 3.55s will be killer for street.

Good advice. I may be looking to switch to a 3.09/D transmission at some point down the line since I would assume the only thing that might need to change is driveshaft length a tad and the pilot bearing size. For now, I will most likely just refresh what I have down the road a few months.

Like you were saying, I don’t hang out in first gear long and usually into second by about 20 mph to keep revs down. I try to run in 3rd gear up to about 60mph/3000 rpm, then when I go to OD, I ease off the gas and gently put it into 4th. I certainly make it a point to be gentle on that OD gear.

In the interim, I am going to check the balance of the front tires again just for kicks. Checked the relatively new balancer on the front of the engine last night and no wobble, and not loose. It’s a cheapie replacement from Autozone. Drove 30 miles into work this morning with zero change in severity of what I had described and no change of mph or revs as well. All engine vitals good at 185° temp and 58 psi of oil pressure at anything above 1200 rpm, 25 psi at warm idle.