2.88 Ring and Pinion

Maliburevue

Gold forum user
CAT Member
Messages
221
2.88 Gears

Duke,

This is a duplicate of my posts elsewhere on the forum. You probably have seen them already.

Tigers came with 10 spline pinion gears. Dana switched over from 10 spline (coarse) pinion gears to 26 spline (fine) pinion gears in the mid 70s. Most trucks and cars have taller tires than Tigers and consequently many of them don't have 2.88s, let alone the course spline pinion gear.

The 10 spline 2.88s are getting harder to find. Best bet is to get them from other Tiger guys who have mistakenly converted to 3.07s or 3.31s thinking the problem with acceleration was the rearend gear, when in reality it's the close ratio transmission with the tall first gear.

Sunbeam Specialties sells the fine spline pinion gear flange, since that is mostly all you can find nowadays.

When I installed my positraction, I kept my 2.88 gears. I did, however, convert my close ratio tranny to a wide ratio setup and installed a 2.90 first gear from David Kee Toploaders instead of the factory 2.78 first gear. Behind my 400+ hp 331 stroker I have a phenomenal hole shot. 4th gear is about 3000 rpm at 70 mph, since I am running smaller 13" tires (21.25" diam). 23" tires would drop my engine speed ~300 rpms on the highway. This ultra wide ratio tranny makes the Tiger much more tractable around town, no more burning up the clutch at every stop, better spread of the gears (since I have such a large torque band), less shifting, lower rpms on the highway and consequently quieter, better gas mileage (as if I really care, come on, it's a Tiger), and the toploader is unbreakable. The whole tranny conversion cost me only about $200. The new wide ratio parts were about $450 and I sold the used close ratio parts on ebay for $250. A heck of a lot cheaper than a 5 speed conversion and I didn't have to cut up the transmission tunnel.

Although I am presently running 2.88 rearend gears, when I get time I am going to install 2.72 rearend gears. Everybody knows the Tiger rearend will handle 2.88, 3.07, 3.23, 3.31, 3,54 and 3.73 gear ratios with the existing differential unit, but most Tiger owners are unaware that it will also accept 2.72 gears, although they were never offered from the factory, since they come with a 26 spline pinion gear. The 2.72 gears are found in Jeep Wagoneers and Ford F150s from the 80s. Compared to the 2.88 rearend gears, the 2.72 rearend gears will reduce my 2.90 first gear to a 2.74, almost the same as the original factory 2.78 first gear, yet will give me a 6% overdrive in 4th. This will drop my engine speed another ~150 rpms on the highway. This setup starts to approach the 5 speed rpm range without the hassle, cost and body modifications involved.

Email me direct and I will send you an Excel speadsheet I generated for calculating speed, rpm, torque band in each gear for close and wide ratio 4 speed and 5 speed transmissions for every rearend gear ratio.

Gary
maliburevue@yahoo.com
 
Last edited:

Cal44

Gold forum user
Messages
428
Yes Gary. Thank you so such for your presentation. Very helpful.

Mike
 

chirodoc

Gold forum user
Messages
281
2.88 rear gear

DUKE ;
DO YOU STILL WANT A 2.88 RING AND PINION? I THINK I HAVE 2 IN THE SHED . ONE CAME OUT OF MY MKI AND THE OTHER IS FROM MY MKIA.
EMAIL ME AT NYBERG.ROGER@YAHOO.COM. AND MAKE ME AN OFFER I CANT REFUSE. IM LOCATED IN DES MOINES IA SO SHIPPING COSTS SHOULDNT BE TOO OUTRAGOUS
 
Last edited:
Top