I have about gave up on the 3.38:1 gears. I've talked to a lot of folks and no one has seen them. I've even been told they might only existed on paper. Also, that the 3.9:1 were hihgway gears. Being hihgway gears you can go 60-65 on the highway without over straining the engine. Plus going down hills or mountains the engine will hold you back and you don't have to use as much brakes. When going up hills with the 3.38:1 you would also have to shift to second way before you would with the 3.9:1 gear set. I'm keeping the truck as orginal as possiable, with the 235 & 3 on the tree. I was worried about only being able to do 50-55 on the highway and getting rear ended. Also, the rearend I have has bad gears, so I wanted info (which I got a lot of Thanks) on what the cost differance would be to swap out gears. I still got to find a set of gears and buy the install kit but, there is a large swap meet tomorrow so, you know where I will be. I belive I'm going to stick with the 3:9 gears. One more thing that might help you can use the rear out of a newer truck as long as the distance between the back plates is the same distance; I belive Blazer up to 87 and GM trucks. Cut the leaf spring mounting brackets off your axle or buy new ones and weld them on the newer axel. Well thats all I got on the subject I hoped it helped.
