Do 4.30 gears need 5th gear to make the 1/4 mile?
 

I want to finalize my rear end for drag racing over the winter and want to know if anybody here knows if with my setup and 26" M/T slicks 4.30 gears will get me to the end of the 1/4 mile with out shifting into 5th gear. I suppose 28" Goodyears would help the rpm's?? I want to keep the Victor Jr heads in the high rpm's and have solid internals to rev the stroker to 6,800 maybe? If I leave the line and hook I'd rather have 4.30 than 4.10, but I don't have any experience with either of these ratio's but like always I'm sure someone here does. I have a tremec TKO if that matters,Thanks

With the 4:30's depending on how much you hook and how much power it builds should put you in the 6500-6800 trap you are looking for. The 28" tire will have less sidewall deflection if your car is voilent off the line, and will drop the rpms about 300-400.

In your sig it says S-Trim soon...you will only want a 3:55 gear then.

I run a tremac and 4.30s, right now with 28.5 tall tires I cross at about 5500 in fourth @ 108mph. With a 26 inch tire two years ago I was running 112-113 and crossing at 6000. With a shot of nos on top of that I was looking at the shift light long before the finish line

4.56's and 26" tall slick put me through the traps at about 7100rpm at 121mph. If I were still a stick car, I'd never consider shifting to 5th (on a 5-speed transmission anyways). The 5th gear is very weak and its underdrive becomes a torque de-multiplier.

You'll need to set your sights on what kind of performance you aim to get out of the car and then select your gearing based on that MPH, the desired rpm at the stripe (usually about 400rpm above peak HP), and the size of tire you'll be using. Gearing is everything so do your homework.

I cross the line at 5800 with 4.10's

if your going with a supercharger soon get a set of 3.90's i had 4.10's in my supercharged '93 cobra and I also have a tremec and i had to shift into 5th with the 4.10's now I have 3.73's and they are alot better but i could probably get away with the 3.90's and still stay in 4th through the traps.