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Highway cruising
FormTA:
I haven't started looking into it yet but that us the same rpm that may car starts to hum/vibrate. It's not horrible but I wonder what it is. Everything is new on my car including a balanced drive shaft. I'll start by checking the driveline angles. It's just interesting to me that someone else has it at 60mph too.
stros:
--- Quote from: nUcLeArEnVoY on March 29, 2024, 01:13:30 AM ---
--- Quote from: stros on March 28, 2024, 10:01:58 PM ---
Why do you suspect it overheated? The cooling system in my '79 400/4-Speed is completely overhauled and it barely reaches operating temp around town if I'm not using AC. Getting onto the freeway at 55+ MPH is the only time the temp will creep up to the first tick on the temp gauge or past it. I've never been on the highway long enough to see how high it'll go mostly because of a vibration I get at 60+, at least during the daytime but I'm wondering if my car is at risk of doing the same thing as your's.
--- End quote ---
My 400 engine was on its last legs - it had all sorts of issues hence I had to replace it. Your engine may be in better shape.
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5th T/A:
It's funny on how our perception of a normal cruising RPM has changed through the years. When I was about 20, I worked with a guy who had a 1969 Nova SS396. The car was set up for drag racing, but was also his daily driver, he was running a 4.88 rear gear. A friend owned a 66 GTO convertible, also his daily driver. He was running 4.10s and never thought twice about taking it on the expressway, this was before the 55MPH national speed limit. At that time 3.23 or 3.42 were thought as cruising gears. Another friend owned a 70 Judge, it came from the factory with 4.33 gears. He never hesitated to take his car on the expressway. It did have a very aggressive 60 punch in fourth gear without down shifting.
On my 80 TA, I am running the stock 2.41 gears with stock size 225/70/15 tires. With a Turbo 350 transmission at 55MPH, I am turning about 1900-2000 RPM. I mostly avoid local expressways with 65MPH limits where in reality most are driving 70-75 MPH and some way faster. I am not against cruising at 70MPH but with so many distracted drivers and road debris I prefer rural back roads. Truth be known, foot to the floor shifting 1st to 2nd at a 5700 RPM I am hitting second at almost 70MPH. For that reason, I have thought about changing rear gears to maybe a 3.08 or 3.23.
nUcLeArEnVoY:
--- Quote from: FormTA on March 29, 2024, 03:34:09 AM ---I haven't started looking into it yet but that us the same rpm that may car starts to hum/vibrate. It's not horrible but I wonder what it is. Everything is new on my car including a balanced drive shaft. I'll start by checking the driveline angles. It's just interesting to me that someone else has it at 60mph too.
--- End quote ---
Sometimes I wonder if my driveline angle is to blame. I have these performance shock/strut/coil spring shocks in the rears in addition to leafs that raise the rear end of my T/A like an inch or so, but I don't see how that should dramatically influence the driveline angle enough to cause an issue. Have you looked into tire balance?
N PRGRES:
--- Quote from: 5th T/A on March 29, 2024, 01:58:54 PM ---It's funny on how our perception of a normal cruising RPM has changed through the years. When I was about 20, I worked with a guy who had a 1969 Nova SS396. The car was set up for drag racing, but was also his daily driver, he was running a 4.88 rear gear. A friend owned a 66 GTO convertible, also his daily driver. He was running 4.10s and never thought twice about taking it on the expressway, this was before the 55MPH national speed limit. At that time 3.23 or 3.42 were thought as cruising gears. Another friend owned a 70 Judge, it came from the factory with 4.33 gears. He never hesitated to take his car on the expressway. It did have a very aggressive 60 punch in fourth gear without down shifting.
On my 80 TA, I am running the stock 2.41 gears with stock size 225/70/15 tires. With a Turbo 350 transmission at 55MPH, I am turning about 1900-2000 RPM. I mostly avoid local expressways with 65MPH limits where in reality most are driving 70-75 MPH and some way faster. I am not against cruising at 70MPH but with so many distracted drivers and road debris I prefer rural back roads. Truth be known, foot to the floor shifting 1st to 2nd at a 5700 RPM I am hitting second at almost 70MPH. For that reason, I have thought about changing rear gears to maybe a 3.08 or 3.23.
--- End quote ---
You know, statistically, rural roads are much most dangerous than highways 😳
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