4.10 gears

[Drillteamleader]

How much louder are your gears than stock? Also plan on ising bmr pro series bushings.

[alice]

Depends strictly on how accurate the gears are set up. Worse case, even if set up perfect and still have a bit of whine, remove spare tire and use Dynamat to completely sound deaden the trunk well. Helps a whole lot. As far as bushing go, I tried them and they transmit more noise than you can imagine, had to take them out and stay with stock bushing.

[ZEN357]

I guess it's a trade of then, noise vs. performance. The Dynamat thing is a great idea though. I am running 3.73's in mine but it's a convertible so I hear all kind of road noise any way.

[acammer]

They definitely add noise. If they are setup right it really isn't too bad. Setup wrong and you'll think you've got a roots blower running full boost in the trunk. Bushings are like noise amplifiers - if you don't have a noise they won't add noise. If you've got a little noise, you'll have a little more noise after bushings. If you've got a noisy diff to begin with, bushings will make it crazy noisy. I have the trifecta of diff to cabin noise transfer in my setup, an LPW cover (which tightens right to the ring gear caps), BMR pro diff bushings, and then solid aluminum Pegasus rear cradle bushings. So, I get some noise in the car. It's part of the price that's paid to have the rear end firmly in place and as strong as possible.

[zlathim]

Originally Posted by acammer

They definitely add noise. If they are setup right it really isn't too bad. Setup wrong and you'll think you've got a roots blower running full boost in the trunk. Bushings are like noise amplifiers - if you don't have a noise they won't add noise. If you've got a little noise, you'll have a little more noise after bushings. If you've got a noisy diff to begin with, bushings will make it crazy noisy. I have the trifecta of diff to cabin noise transfer in my setup, an LPW cover (which tightens right to the ring gear caps), BMR pro diff bushings, and then solid aluminum Pegasus rear cradle bushings. So, I get some noise in the car. It's part of the price that's paid to have the rear end firmly in place and as strong as possible.

I have a similar trifecta, only I have poly cradle bushings and not solid. When I first installed the bushings, I could hear my stock differential in the cabin where I couldn't before. When I had the 4.10s installed, the noise and harmonics increased quite a bit. I think I just got a noisy gear-set because I trust the guys that set them up. The noise is worst at 60-70 mph. It actually isn't bad at all at 80 mph. Go figure.

I used 85-140W oil in the diff when I changed the oil after break in and also put a bunch of dynamat in the trunk like acammer mentioned. I have some more that I am going to put under the rear seat when I'm feeling motivated. The thicker oil and dynamat did help out, but I can still hear the gears. I think it has a lot to do with the LPW cover.

[alice]

I have 4.88 gears in my TT V-6 Camaro. Dynamat in the wheel wheel and trunk area. Hardly any noise at all but the gears are set up perfectly. That's the key. Most people don't want to take the necessary time to do a perfect set up and that is mostly why gear sets make excessive noise. However, some gear manufacturers lack the quality that assures low noise levels, so that makes a difference, too. You get what you pay for. I've had my 4.88 gear set up for 4 years with no issues.

About 2 years ago, i decided to install the poly bushings in the cradle and differential and the next day I took the damn things out and threw them in the trash. The noise was terrible. Amazing how the stock bushings reduce noise transmission. My ride is a daily driver and I love it!!!

[bkevind]

Originally Posted by alice

I have 4.88 gears in my TT V-6 Camaro. Dynamat in the wheel wheel and trunk area. Hardly any noise at all but the gears are set up perfectly. That's the key. Most people don't want to take the necessary time to do a perfect set up and that is mostly why gear sets make excessive noise. However, some gear manufacturers lack the quality that assures low noise levels, so that makes a difference, too. You get what you pay for. I've had my 4.88 gear set up for 4 years with no issues.

About 2 years ago, i decided to install the poly bushings in the cradle and differential and the next day I took the damn things out and threw them in the trash. The noise was terrible. Amazing how the stock bushings reduce noise transmission. My ride is a daily driver and I love it!!!

Thank you for the info...I probably should have paid attention to posts like this before I put in solid cradle, poly diff and the lpw cover...haha

[bkevind]

Originally Posted by acammer

... If you've got a noisy diff to begin with, bushings will make it crazy noisy. I have the trifecta of diff to cabin noise transfer in my setup, an LPW cover (which tightens right to the ring gear caps), BMR pro diff bushings, and then solid aluminum Pegasus rear cradle bushings. So, I get some noise in the car. It's part of the price that's paid to have the rear end firmly in place and as strong as possible.

I'm in the same boat now. Didn't really cross my mind when I was getting the work done, though I knew there might be some noise, but as you say, the trifecta makes for a lot of noise.

Ah well. The plan for this car is to be mostly stripped track prep, keeping it street legal just so I don't always have to trailer it. Maybe a bit sooner than I expected haha.

[JooktheSnooke]

so for someone who drives it alot, should i just do gears and no bushings to get the best of performance and noise? will there be alot of wheel hop with bigger gears if i dont upgrade the bushings?

[alice]

Another member questioned my crazy choice of gear ratios and rightfully so. Since I was focused on gear noise vs bushing choices, I forgot to add that I have 31" tall pirellis on the rear of my car, which significantly changes the overall, net ratio of the entire drivetrain. With Twin Turbos/FI on a small engine like this, the problem is always low end power so I have always chosen solutions to make a small engine perform like a larger one in this area. To do this, I chose a 4200 stall converter, tall gears, big tires and borg warner EFR turbos. ( for very quick spool) With this combination, well, I have a killer V6 that comes off the line with neck snapping performance and still is able to cruise all day on the freeway. Just so you know, 1st gear takes me to approximately 35 MPH, so it is not wasted as one would think with such tall gears.

This car is unbelievable as to how it performs. I was always a V8 guy but this little V6 will hang in with the big boys and most of the time out perform them, especially from light to light. However, I do admit, the V8s will work on me hard and some overtake me at higher speeds. (Nothing like cubic inches!!) But for a daily driver, I am still amazed at how fast this car is and it is still fun to drive after 7 years!!! Love it. Hope this clarifies some questions that you gear heads may have had concerning my choice of drivetrain setup. I love the 5th gen Camaros!!!

[alice]

I never had any wheel hop with the stock bushings. Of course, I have an automatic and that make a big difference. Power is always applied smoother. The decision you need to make is between noise or no noise. Everything has a tradeoff but for me, I HATE GEAR NOISE! The little performance loss is worth the tremendous reduction in noise. But that is just my opinion. Gears, for sure, will be one of the biggest improvements you can make!!

[bkevind]

Originally Posted by alice

Another member questioned my crazy choice of gear ratios and rightfully so. Since I was focused on gear noise vs bushing choices, I forgot to add that I have 31" tall pirellis on the rear of my car, which significantly changes the overall, net ratio of the entire drivetrain. With Twin Turbos/FI on a small engine like this, the problem is always low end power so I have always chosen solutions to make a small engine perform like a larger one in this area. To do this, I chose a 4200 stall converter, tall gears, big tires and borg warner EFR turbos. ( for very quick spool) With this combination, well, I have a killer V6 that comes off the line with neck snapping performance and still is able to cruise all day on the freeway. Just so you know, 1st gear takes me to approximately 35 MPH, so it is not wasted as one would think with such tall gears.

This car is unbelievable as to how it performs. I was always a V8 guy but this little V6 will hang in with the big boys and most of the time out perform them, especially from light to light. However, I do admit, the V8s will work on me hard and some overtake me at higher speeds. (Nothing like cubic inches!!) But for a daily driver, I am still amazed at how fast this car is and it is still fun to drive after 7 years!!! Love it. Hope this clarifies some questions that you gear heads may have had concerning my choice of drivetrain setup. I love the 5th gen Camaros!!!

no questioning from me! I'm mostly an import/euro trash guy so...yeah a boosted v6 is no joke in my world. Hell a well built turbo 4 still turns me on too, haha. Figure my love of road course, and all things that are good at it - I have almost no bias towards/against any car that can get the job done well, or be easily prepared to do well.

The proof is in the lap time to me.

What stresses me out now, is this big loud V8 Camaro I have...has a whole lot of bark. So if I can't get it to turn some good times it's going to be a pretty disappointing bite. That said, I do know the platform is capable I just have to put it together properly.

[alice]

I know what you mean. I have built muscle cars all my life, I'm 71 yrs old and old school and I know what muscle is. From my experience, as a general rule, you can apply the same things I applied to my V6, to your V8 and still get great and satisfying results. All of my past builds, no matter V6 or V8, would include higher stall converters, higher ratio gear sets as first implemented modifications for my customers. That sets a baseline for anything else one may want to do. The quickest and cheapest ways to seat of the pants improvements. Most other mods are more incremental when compared to these two. So, I might suggest you consider this thinking. Again, everyone has an opinion but this is mine. I have owned some very, very fast street cars in my life. Of course, don't rule out FI of any kind. It's a killer mod but expensive. Hope this helps you in your decision making. Have fun!!!

[zz430camaro]

Originally Posted by alice

I have 4.88 gears in my TT V-6 Camaro. Dynamat in the wheel wheel and trunk area. Hardly any noise at all but the gears are set up perfectly. That's the key. Most people don't want to take the necessary time to do a perfect set up and that is mostly why gear sets make excessive noise. However, some gear manufacturers lack the quality that assures low noise levels, so that makes a difference, too. You get what you pay for. I've had my 4.88 gear set up for 4 years with no issues.

About 2 years ago, i decided to install the poly bushings in the cradle and differential and the next day I took the damn things out and threw them in the trash. The noise was terrible. Amazing how the stock bushings reduce noise transmission. My ride is a daily driver and I love it!!!

How did you replace the factory bushings in the diff and craddle? You did not destroy them getting them out?