My '76 is the same, the '78 also. The rear was made by Chrysler and the front by Dana. Guess they figured it was close enough.

 

It is close enough. Because of the different size of the gears, they cannot make the same gear ratio, and have teeth that will not self destruct. Just changing the air pressure in the tires can make more difference in the overall ratio.

 

Yes, close enough.

There's some rationale the front should be a point or two taller like that so it 'pulls' slightly by the front and aids handling/tracking.

 

3.54/3.55, 4.09/4.10/4.11, quite common for a slight variation to exist.

Bucky

 

Also, any variance in ratio would only matter when in 4wd.

Bucky

 

If you are not driving in a perfect straight line, your front end is always traveling a longer distance than your rear end.

 

And it still arrives first.

Bucky

 

Example: Dana 44 - 3.54 Front and 9 1/4 with 3.55 in the rear helps compensate for normal driving.

 

Nope, you are not mistaken. Dana makes their ring and pinion as a 46:13 tooth count, whereas Chrysler Corp in their 9 1/4 produces theirs as 39:11. The difference is a ratio of 0.01:1. The pickup does not even notice the difference. I build peoples 9 1/4's who have 3.92 ratio with aftermarket 3.90's all day long with no problems front to back. Technically, when in 4x4 mode the rear pushes faster than the front pulls. But there is not enough of a difference to be able to tell.

 

This is an Old post and was settled over a year ago