I have a 72 short bed with a warmed up 440/727. It is my daily driver, 30 miles to work mostly hilly and curvy. Right now I have to keep in it fairly hard in the hills. It has 2.76 gears, I am thinking 3.23 or 3.55 would be alot better. Opinions please...
Thanks,
Doc

 

A lot would depend on the tire height you choose. I had a 73 club cab with a 361 big block and loved it. I ran 31x10.50x15s and one of the best changes I ever made was going from the 3.23s to 3.55s and posi-trac. With the power and torque you are making you want to be sure not to go too low and hurt your fuel mileage. Either would be a significant improvement.

 

http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

I love this website. Enter your trans, tire size, and gears, and it will show you all kinds of stuff. There are two columns to compare two separate setups. The very last chart shows you your rpm at a given speed. With 2.76s, and 30 inch tires, your truck is turning 1800 rpm at 55! With 3.55s, you'd be turning about 2300. With 3.23s, you'd be pulling 2100.

Check the website out. Its up to you how much rubber and gasoline you want to burn.