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The 3.73 rear was the most comon in these trucks but I do not think you can just switch out the gears in that rear unless you plan on going the other way and making them steeper like a 4.11 rear or something. Otherwise I believe the pumpkin will not fit the milder gears in it. You would have to get another rear to do it. And then you would probably want to go around a 3.36 or 3.08 otherwise you will sacrifice too much power / torque.
Remember the 283 is a very high reving motor and will tolerate the steeper gears much better. Also if you are running a stock 2-barrel carb you will want to change it out for a small 4 barrel with vacuum secondaries. If you pick the right carb and set it up right it will give you better mpg and more power when you need it. Just don't STOMP on it all the time or it will defeat the purpose. And a 3.73 is actually a good configuration for that truck. I would probably just drop in a 700R4 trans if you want it to purrrr on the HWY in overdrive and give you better mpg. That would be the easiest swap..........Ed.
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