Gear Stripper

How did that 3.09:1 low A833 gear set
hold up in the Green Brick, behind the
stroker 340 you ran in the One lap of
America Valiant? The reason I ask is
because my ’69 Dart Swinger 340 fourspeed
car has a set that I put in years
ago and it has been fine as a daily driver
and four-season, mountain-and-desert,
interstate commuter. It even has a 2.94
tail screw.
Soon however, a 418˝ stroker is going
in the car. The car will also have ’73-up
front suspension and brakes, B-body
brakes out back, and there will be
15×7˝ wheels outfitted with P215/60R15
street tires. So naturally I am concerned
about what level of punishment that
3.09 setup will tolerate in my car, especially
when I travel with all of my camping
gear.

The gearset is basically as strong as
any other 23-spline set, except, obviously,
the lower first gear imparts more
stress on the countershaft gear and
bearings (when in first). We did kill one
center bearing (the small 307 variety),
but it gave us thousands of miles of
warning.
Ripping second and third gears can
shuck off some teeth, especially with a
stroker engine, but, as long as you aren’t
running 9˝ slicks, I doubt you will ever
have an issue. Most of these 3.09 gearsets
are high mileage, which is a negative,
but most were behind slant sixes, so they
were practically idling.