What you can do on the freeway is more about how you are geared. Where you having torque problems on the freeway or with stop and go driving?

If it's in town, you'll probably want a whole different set up. I'm not sure if you're geared the same as my 2 speed is, but I'm at 5.83/8.11. I used the 5.83 for driving around town, probably can't go past 65 (though I was getting pretty redlined when I was going 45!). Now the tire size effects a great deal, I have 37" wide tires, but still 5.83 is considered a whole lot of gear.

I looked into several powertrain options, with tires around 37"s 4.10 or 4.56 is actually a better set up if you have an engine with a little more power. Modern trucks are geared that way with that tire size. The problem is these old engines don't have a whole lot of torque or horsepower, so they use a lot more gearing to make more power to move the truck.

For example:
200lbs torque x 3:1 transmission gear x 5:1 rear gear = 3000lbs (before tires are considered)

400lbs torque x 3:1 transmission gear x 3:1 rear gear = 3600lbs torque to move the truck

Having more power from the engine means you can run a higher gear. A higher gear works the engine less at the same RPMs, so you can go faster (not quicker like 0-60, but faster like top speed)

Finding that ideal rear ratio can be a little bit of work. You need to know your tire size, your transmission and your engine's ideal RPM at 65mph. Ok, you don't need to know the transmission and engine RPM, but if you do you will be more optimized, have better power through your gears and better MPG. It's worth looking into.


I love my Y-block, I really do... but it is a limited engine. It hasn't been made for a very long time and cost more to build bigger power. Usually having one with 300hp is seriously modified, even a very heavy modified one doesn't usually get more than 250hp.

I have looked A LOT into powertrain routes for my truck. My build is quite a bit different but I researched a lot of options and routes.

The biggest question with everything is: What exactly do you want to do with the truck.

The better you know the answer to that, the better it can be built for that. Strictly highway? Tow rig? Cruising around town? Daily driver? Daily driver in the winter [if you get snow]? Concour? Garage queen? Show truck? Work horse? ect...


Then there are personal tastes, like how important is it to have a gas engine? Diesels sound way different and are very different engines, but they have many benefits worth looking into. But that's a whole different ball game, but one a couple of us have done or are doing. But it all really depends on what you want to use it for, diesel is expensive, so if the truck is used once a month to get groceries, it's not really the best route. All depends on what you want out the truck.


And that's a beautiful COE by the way. Is it shorter like the first photo or with the bed on it in the second now?