26" Tire too small for 3.42's?
10-20-2016, 02:05 AM
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26" Tire too small for 3.42's?
So I had been toying with the idea of picking up some 17 inch wheels for my Sierra and gearing the truck down(effectively, I know not literally) by running some smaller tires. Now, I had been contemplating a 30" or a 28" tire but then...
I'm at test and tune on sunday, and this stock looking Ram is running 13.7, 13.8 pretty damn consistently. I could tell he had track wheels/tires on but not much else. After I saw him cut his second 13.7 I went to find out how much he was spraying LOL.
Turns out it was a pretty stock truck! Some kind of ram air intake, a cat back and a tune. What had him running so fast was 275/40/17 tires in the rear! I think he said that got his gearing approx to like a 4.56 rear end.
So now that my idea is validated I'd like to proceed with MY truck. So I have a 13 GMC Sierra extended cab 4x4 with the 5.3 and 6 speed tranny, 3.42 gears.
I want to do a 2/4 drop and then I'm pretty sure 17's or 18's for wheels. Right now I'm running 275/65/18's and they are badass AT tires but I want something I can bolt on for street/strip duty.
I want to go thru the traps at the top of third or maybe even into 4th if it's still pulling hard.
Basically I'd like to have a smaller set of tires to drive to the track and make a few passes and be quicker than my big *** everyday tires...
I'm at test and tune on sunday, and this stock looking Ram is running 13.7, 13.8 pretty damn consistently. I could tell he had track wheels/tires on but not much else. After I saw him cut his second 13.7 I went to find out how much he was spraying LOL.
Turns out it was a pretty stock truck! Some kind of ram air intake, a cat back and a tune. What had him running so fast was 275/40/17 tires in the rear! I think he said that got his gearing approx to like a 4.56 rear end.
So now that my idea is validated I'd like to proceed with MY truck. So I have a 13 GMC Sierra extended cab 4x4 with the 5.3 and 6 speed tranny, 3.42 gears.
I want to do a 2/4 drop and then I'm pretty sure 17's or 18's for wheels. Right now I'm running 275/65/18's and they are badass AT tires but I want something I can bolt on for street/strip duty.
I want to go thru the traps at the top of third or maybe even into 4th if it's still pulling hard.
Basically I'd like to have a smaller set of tires to drive to the track and make a few passes and be quicker than my big *** everyday tires...
10-20-2016, 02:48 AM
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OK I did some more digging... a 275/40/18 tire would be closer to 27" and give me an effective gear ratio of 4.05:1 That sounds about perfect... There is a set of 15 titan wheels on CL for 350 too...
10-22-2016, 07:48 PM
#3
I used to run a 26 inch drag radial on a 5.0 mustang with a 3:73 ratio gear set and a tremec 5 speed manual. And I felt like that combination was just right. The car made around 300 to the wheel and could still hook first on the street. I think your 3:42s would be perfectly fine with 26s, especially with an auto.
10-22-2016, 08:05 PM
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I used to run a 26 inch drag radial on a 5.0 mustang with a 3:73 ratio gear set and a tremec 5 speed manual. And I felt like that combination was just right. The car made around 300 to the wheel and could still hook first on the street. I think your 3:42s would be perfectly fine with 26s, especially with an auto.