Hey guys. My dad and I are about to order 4.88 gears for his truck (1998 ram 1500) and I was just wondering if we need standard or reverse gears and if we need any other parts. My truck has 4.56 but it came with them when I bought it so I'm not too sure. We are ordering 4.88 gears for Chrysler 9.25, 4.88 gears for Dana 44, Detroit Locker TruTrac for Dana 44 30 spline (Won't need new carrier this way,) and installation kits. Hope to have everything installed next week.

What's the difference between standard and reverse gears anyway?

 

You need standard gears.

Reverse cut gears are for high pinion dana 44s (and 60s) which came in fords.

 

Okay thanks. Anything else I need?

 

Okay so now we are about to continue working on his truck and I have been doing some research and I've read that I need reverse gears for the front? Can anyone else offer any advice? I would hate to order all of the parts then realise during the installstion that some parts dont fit. Thanks.

 

no, you need standard cut/standard rotation gears.
also for the front - since the gear ratio is over 3.72 numerically, you will need EITHER thick cut gears or a different carrier from the stock version used by the 3.55

do this - go to randy's ring and pinion or other good sites with application lookup and it will tell you what to get. reverse cut is for high-pinion. our dodge is low pinion.

 

Thanks. im acrually buying a locker for the front so it will work as a carrier for 3.73 and up. I have that part figured out lol. I'm on Randy's ring and pinion right now. Very helpful. Also, another thing.. I was reading another thread on the forum and the guy got a ring and pinion with 10 ring gear bolt and had to wait to receive a 12 ring bear bolt. Randy's ring and pinion says 10 ring gear bolt. So which one do I need? A lot of things to know when purchasing ring and pinion.

 

Count the holes on your carrier.... Or, call and ask the folks you are buying it from how many holes.

 

Do a 1 ton swap instead!

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...a-60-swap.html

 

I'm not really buying a carrier. I'm buying a Detroit locker for the front and to my knowledge a locker replaces the carrier. But why does the number of holes matter? Did they vary in our trucks? Never heard about this before but I'm not very knowledge on differential internals.

I've done a little bit more research and I think I'm set to buy them. My last questions is do I need special gear oil or an additive? Ive read that for the frst 500 miles you are supposed to have a certain gear oil or is this wrong? The ring and pinion and installation kits don't say anything about it.

 

Oh I have definately thought about it but its sadly out of my price range. If I were to run any bigger than what I run now (35) and/or offroad a little harder I would definately consider it more.