On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 13:21:27 -0400, twk >
wrote:

>I'm getting tired of looking for a reasonable 8.8" axle and finding
>$1000 deals on what appear to be unknown crap. For $1400 I can get a
>brand spankin new one.
>
>I'm reading that the 7.5 is good up to 400 hp. Well, that does seem like
>a lot of horse power, something my v6 will never put out.
>
>I'm looking for 3.73 gears and I'm willing to put in an 8.8" axle. I'm
>always being told that I'm likely to break my 7.5" if I put in 3.73
>gears.
>
>So after that blurb, assuming I put in 3.73 gears, my question is, what
>breaks on the 7.5" axle? The gears? The axle shafts? The pumpkin? What
>is the weak link?
>
>I've found nothing on the web on this. All I see is a lot of "I've see a
>ton of 7.5's broken..." and such. Lot's of talk, no examples.
>
>I have a 2009 v6 vert, auto trans, GT exhaust take-offs, cold air
>intake, and an SCT tune. That's probably the end of power train mods for
>me. If I wish real hard I might be getting 240 hp. Will I break mine if
>I stomp on it now and then with 3.73's?
>
>Thanks for reading.


This is just my gut talking...... If you had a manual transmission
and were launching by dumping the clutch at 4000 rpm it would be a
worry, but with the Automatic you aren't going to get that kind of
shock load so I don't think you will see a problem. So assuming it's
been ok now, the only thing I can see the 3.73 possibly causing to
break would be the axle shafts, those are the parts that will be
mostly getting any additional load from the ratio change. But my gut
says nothing will break since you are running an auto. And if you
didn't abuse it, probably nothing would break with a manual.