Should I swap gears?

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txbullets

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So I am building a 408 stroker dart and the differential I got for my 8.75 rear has 4.56 gears in it. I have no desire to run them long term as this is mostly a street car. I have already bought 3.73 gears but part of me is tempted to keep the 4.56 gears infor a little while just to toy around with since they are already in there.

Car details:
72 dart with 408 stroker 10/1 comp
stock x heads rebuilt with new valves and guides
howard big momma rattler cam 288/296
Rpm air gapper and 750dp with tti headers
Relocating springs with Dr diff relocates and 255 tires

Question is would I be wasting my time keeping the 4.56 gears in just for fun. Would I ever get traction? If I took it to the track would I run out of gear? Just some questions I have been pondering.
 
All depends on what your idea of fun is. When I installed my 408 I was blown away at how much torque it has. A buddy of mine has a strong running 440 magnum Challenger with 3.55 gears which used to leave my car when I had a 360 in mine. Fast forward to my car with the 408 installed with the same 3.55 gears. First problem was traction. A set of drag radials helped a lot but I still have to take it easy out of the hole. Even coming out of the gate at 1/2 pedal I can easily walk right away from Bill's Challenger now. With stock heads your going to probably make peak power in the low to mid 5k range so 4.56's would be nothing but tire incinerator's and top speed will probably be limited to about 100 mph.

Also keep in mind that the piston speed of a 4" stroke SB is considerably higher than that of a 340 or 360 so 4.56's with a 4" arm is akin to about 5.57's with a 340. In other words it's a lot of unneeded wear and tear on the engine
 
I was thinking 3.73 or 3.55 would be perfect for my future 420+" stroker. I guess you can look at it from you driving style, all stoplight to stoplight 3.91 or 4.11 any highway or longer drives 3.73 to 3.23.
 
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