Howdy...I think the original question was: "will I have enough power to
pull a 3.55 gear with my old 6 cyl?"
The oletrucks came with steep gears because they were meant to
work...so, if you don't load your truck down much, you will find that
the acceleration is ok with 3.55 gears. I doubt you'd win too many drag
races, but that shouldn't be a problem.
We had the original 235 and 3.90 gears in my orange 59 back in the late
70s, until I got the big block put in. I thought it performed alright
with the 6, I could spin the tires by dropping the clutch! Since I was
in high school, this type of driving was "normal" :) It would top
out at 75 mph on the freeway, but since the speed limit was 55 at the
time, cruising at the speed limit was not a problem. Now that we can go
65-75 legally, the 3.55 ratio makes much more sense if you plan on
spending any time on the highway. This 59 now has 3.54 gears behind a
396, and it performs just fine. It would probably go down the road ok
with 1/3 the power, too (ie. stock 6 cyl for power)
I did have 3.73 gears in my 66 Suburban (454 engine) for several years,
but I kept the speed on the highway to 65 mph. When I switched to 3.07
gears, I could run 75 and be content that the engine wasn't spinning too
fast.
Sorry for the rambling...
Jim
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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