hello,

I have a '89 22re 2wd, she's never let me down, but I want to regear her. Acceleration is poor. I dont want to spend too much money, so dropping her off at the shop is a no go. I assume swapping 3rd's is very straight forward, and this is the route to take.
now, being that she has 7.5" axles, what choices do I have? am I stuck to finding 7.5 3rds rear with the gearing I want? can I swap in 7.5 3rds fronts in to my rear? what ratio would you recommend? and finally where is the best/cheap place to look? thanks.

you can't swap out front and rear diffs because your rear is an 8". only 85 and older toys came with matching front and rear 8" 3rd's that are interchangeable.

oops!!! i didn't see the "2wd" part <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />! sorry <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />!

My suggestion would be to replace the entire rear axle with one from a salvage yard. If you aren't in a hurry, you can probably find a good deal on one with the ratio you want. I'm guessing that an entire axle assembly isn't going to be that much more than a third, and will save you the trouble of switching it out yourself.

As far as the ratio, you've got to tell us a little more (tire size, auto trans or manual, existing gearing). The lower the gear ratio, the better acceleration you'll get. But you could end up running 60 mph at 4,000 rpm if you go too low.

Agreed on swapping the entire axle.

You can swap in an 8" and probably get the gearing you want, and be stronger to boot. Not only that, but there is better aftermarket for 8" 3rds and many more replacement parts in the clasified too.

What gear are you looking for?