ok! so i was browsing my innermost thinking the other day... have an '85 F350 crew cab drw, seems there's a transplanted 7.3 in it with a C6 tranny, now my issue is that the rear end gearing is LOW!,( top speed on the freeway? 60mph ) came up with this wild idea, how about change the rear gears to a substantially higher ratio? and use a transfer case for the low end pulling torque?
yes it's only a 2 wheel drive, but using the t-case for gear reduction would give me the towing capacity in low range, while giving me highway driving in high range...
so do I need to put the beer bottle down and walk away or what???

 

Your absolute-wound to the limiter-can't go anymore-speed is 60 mph? Even with a c6 and 4:10's that wouldn't be right; unless someone swapped in 5:something plus gears! I'd leave it for the summer and go lay waste to the competition at the county fair truck pulls!

 

well i'm sure i can go a bit faster, but the sight of pistons popping up thru the hood would cause me to have never ending nightmares!.....lol

 

You can put some 3.55's in it, or even 3.08's if you can find some for it.


And you'll need a 4x4 tranny to run the transfer case, or run a divorced transfer case witch would probably be the better option.



I've taught of doing the same on my motorhome, since it's got alot of trouble driving up on wood planks sometimes when I gotta put more than 2 to get it level when parking somewhere.

 

And god knows there aint two inches the same height in canadaa

 

how bout an aftermarket OD assembly? Found one local here i can get for prolly $45. Or even an overdrive tranny swap. But i see where youre going, killing two birds with one stone. 2wd no OD... id go 3.55 My dads 88 is c6 3.55 with 235/85s i think he cruises 75 around 3100, and with the slip converter you still get really decent power when slow movin too.

 

firstly,you must look at the main problem.as much as we all loved these back in the day,they are an expensive transmission to own.not to buy or maintain,just drive,due to fuel prices.making the C6 the most expensive transmission you can have behind an idi engine today.
not only is it just direct drive 1:1 in 3rd (top/final gear) but there is no clutch to directly connect the engine to the transmission.this is simply not acceptable at these fuel prices.
your primary focus should be on the E40D auto or Zf5 manual swap (an old manual 4 sp with a GV would be ok if you can score a deal cheaper than either of the two - unlikely.)
anything short of swapping the old C6 for an updated trans will fail in fuel economy gains comparatively.
of course swapping out a $100-200 rear axle in a 2wd truck w/ 4.10's for a 3.55 axle if you don't need the added towing capacity, is a quick and cheaper place to start with.
aftermarket 3.08's for the sterling have been discontinued for years.swapping to these high gears actually hurt city/rural economy in these heavy trucks anyway.you would turn it into a primary hwy rig if you ever found the gears (not a bad thing at all,if that's where you primarily drive though of course.)

don't delay.they typically go for over a grand.

 

been waiting for a day im not busy and it isnt raining. Buut.. could i sell it for "over a grand" as the thing is worthless to me. This one in perticular is on a 86-f250 6.9 / C6 2wd, same vehicle i grabbed the older banks kit from. Whoever had it put some money into it and took care of it. Which of course makes me wonder why its there at all. Paint is gone but truck is straight, has old-timer written all over it, so maybe thats why.
haha sorry

 

the only thing i use it for is to pull my 26ft toy hauler, it has an average load of 8850 on the tandem axles....so driving at less then 60mph is ok, but on flat ground, that extra gear would be nice! lol

 

buy that OVerdrive unit, i got a use for it....