I can say that this should have been the first mod done to my truck. I finally have good acceleration and hill climbing power. To suit my need, the stock 3.55 gears do not put enough power to the pavement with tires larger than the stock 245’s. My 265’s measure 30.5” installed height and the 4.10’s seem to be a great match with this size tire. If I ever put 33” or larger tires on, I’d consider changing gears to 4.56’s. I used to have the problem that when I would drive up a slight grade I would have to downshift to keep from losing speed. Now that problem is gone and there is enough power left to pass without flooring the pedal.

The shift points come a little sooner now. I’m into fourth gear at 35 mph under normal/light acceleration and the TC locks up a couple of seconds later. This works great since most of my driving is between 40 and 50 mph.

The drawback to this upgrade is the slight whine I can hear. This could be due to an improper pinion depth or maybe that Richmond has a reputation for having a whine(true or not, I don’t know). The noise isn’t bad. It’s not much louder than the tires and exhaust at low speeds and it's gone at highway speed. Much like all other noises it goes away when I turn up the radio.

 

congratulations. me and everyone else is envious !!
how much was your cost for parts and labor ?
where did you get your parts ?
who did your install ?

 

The whine that you hear could be from not shimming the differential right, and did you adjust the backlash accordingly?

Good write up none the less and it has persuaded me to get some bigger rear end gearing.

 

Alot of people seem to be running the Yukon brand of gears so I'll be interested in knowing how these compare to those. Let me know price of parts and labor because I think this will be my next mod before my headers.

 

This is on the books for me for October 8th. I have the 2wd and this is the first time I've ever felt "lucky" to have a 2wd as the cost will be halved. Ordered the Yukons 4.11s and master nstall kit from PORC and it should be arrivingearly next week. I also run the 265x75x16s with the current gear setting of 3.55 andit feels like a big rig accelerating sometimes.

bri,

Did your speedo change with the gear change, and if so what did you do to fix it?

 

My receipts are buried in a mountain of paperwork that needs to be filed but here's an estimate: labor was around $600, front gear $190, rear gear $270, install kits $110ea., new carrier and fluids cost around $150, installed by Driveline Service. I ordered from performaceparts.com.

I won't go into the fiasco that surrounded this purchase, butI willtake suggestions from certain people here in Vegas with a grain of salt; dogs like to chew through all the boxes and lick the gears; sales reps and mechanicsdon't always know what they say they do; if FedEx says they will hold a package for pickup, expect it to be delivered on time and left at your front door.

After my first fill up since the install, I calculated 14mpg. That's the best ever for mixed driving. I've been trying to keep my foot out of the accelerator for this next tank, but it's been hard to do with this new power.

All in all it's a great upgrade and I'm having much more fun driving the truck now.
I don't think my speedo was affected. I need to pass one of those police radar signs to tell you for sure.

 

i use yukon R&P in all diffs i rebuild at home on the side
no noise

richmond DOES have a reputation for noise for some reason

 

It's not a cheap upgrade but it is deffinately one of the most noticable ones for performance, drivability and towing. Those 3.55's the trucks come with suck. I would deffinately get the whine checked. I went to 4.56 and have no whine.

Here's a link to calculate the MPH with gear and tire size. Half way down the page. http://www.drivetrainspecialists.com/faq.html

 

3.55 suck
X2

 

does anyone have a link to what size gears dodge trucks came with?... or can anyone tell me for a 1996 dodge ram 1500 2wd truck has?