Gears are probably the best mod you can do to a heavy *** truck.........lets face it 3.55's should have never put into theses trucks, especially since they have overdrive, 3.92is the gear ratio you wantif your runnin 31 to 32 inch tire which is roughly a 245/75/16 or a 265/75/16

But seriously even the 3500cummins duallys are runnin a 4.10 gear ratio which is ridiculous because the motor is a torque monster, you can pull out in 3rd gear if its a stick

 

3.55 are fine for diesel.

Nothing less than 3.92 should have been put in the gas trucks.

 

So im going to be buying a ram here soo ex cab 4x4 360 i want 35s on its gunna be a every day driver and pulling a car trailer with a 4 door s10 plazer lifted every once and awile what is the best gears for it? i wanna get it close to stock running

 

pause and think for a moment
whether the gear ratio should be in the transmission's first three gears
or in the differential

with some thought
you will understand why toyota brags about their 8 speed automatic
and nissan is proud of the CVT it is successfully selling to Chrysler

a good transmission design
gives you optimum acceleration in the first three gears
and allows optimum fuel economy on any grade of hill in the top three gears
and shifts so quickly and smoothly you hardly notice
as it lasts for 250,000 miles or more

it is also worth knowing that
a 4.56 gearset wastes more power and generates more heat in the lube oil
than a 3.55 or 3.21 gearset

Dodge wants you to climb hills in the 1:1 ratio gear
where efficiency inside the transmission is highest
and adequate ATF is being pumped to the cooling and filtering circuits
...but so many here advocate changing the 0.67 ratio top gear into a hill climbing gear
because they don't like to have the shift while climbing the hill
...whereas a skilled at towing pickup driver will have manually shifted just prior to the hill

in the 5-45 automatic transmission the 0.67 overdrive ratio
is made by running two simple planetary gears
and wastes about 8% of the power from the engine and turns it into heat

 

So what do you suggest Hank? I'd love to go buy a new Toyoto or a new Nissan, or even find a different trans that could do as you suggest. But my reality is that I have a 9 year old truck sitting in my drive with 35" tires because I like the way they look. Diff gear change is the only method I know to gain back the power I need to run them. I'm open to your suggestions though.....

 

the reason why i didnt go with a 4.88 gear is beacuse of the heat that it makes over a long period of driving and towing.... 4.56 and be happy... SILVER , 4.56 .....

 

What's the theory behind a 4:56 ratio being hotter than a 3:55?
I've never heard of such a thing.
Is it because the pinion is smaller? Less tooth contact pattern?
I've heard the gears are weaker on lower ratios due to smaller teeth and less metal material but not hotter.

As far as CVT trannies. They belong ina ski-doo...

 

I've never heard it either, but I can see the logic. More teeth means more contact surfaces, so more friction plus higher pinion speed, thus more heat. If your comparing the heat of a 4.56 versus a 3.55 though, fine. But really, would 4.88 be that much worse then a 4.56 in this regard? I doubt it. Put on an extra capacity pan with cooling fins, and you will have probably overcome the difference anyway.

 

hey its your truck run what you want...

 

Now now, no need to be like that. I'm still very much on the fence about which to run. Hell, i've even debated about just going back to my 3" lift and 33's (an option that is still on the table too).
So I really am asking these questions and debating all these responses because I want to make the right decision.

PA, now that you have 4.56's, please tell me more about how your truck performs compared to before. Go into detail please, that's what I am looking for.