So I realized after driving my buddies truck this evening that..... my truck doesn't have the "grade holding abilities" of his. For this test, we were stopped on a back road with his lever pulled to first gear. The truck seems to pull right away when you let off of the brakes. The road was on a slight downhill, but his truck would idle and pull itself on this pretty much flat road to around 8-10 MPH avg. I took my truck on the same strip of road in the same spot, and my tranny doesnt seem to want to have the same experience. With the lever in first gear, mine pulls off a lot slower from idle at a dead stop (just releasing brakes as we had done for his) and seems to not be able to maintain the same speed. Going down the road I avg around 3 MPH or so. Definately less than 5 MPH. This would be the reason why I can't necessarly hold grades anymore as well. I just never noticed it until I drove his I guess. What determines this function, or what do I need to do to increase my "Grade Holding Ability"?

 

What kind of truck does you buddy have?

 

His is 01 2500 with a 46RE tranny (stock) Mine is 01 1500 with a 46RE tranny (has been rebuilt)

 

That is sort of odd considering his truck weighs more.

 

different TC stall speed?

 

I bet he's got lower gears, you've got 3.55's, he's got a 2500, probably with 4.10's. Makes it easier for the engine to get up to speed.

 

He does have 4.10's while I have 3.55's Just seemed a little odd bout the grade thing. I am not concerned about it, but was just wondering if wasn't set right in my rebuild about a year ago. Had I a never drove my buddy's truck, I would have never known. Thanks guys

 

The 1500 has the 46RE, 2500 has the 47RE and the 3500 has the 48RE.

Sounds like your TC are rated differenty (stall).

his 2500 a gaser? idle rpms about the same? rears both the same ratio? tire size?

 

If it's a V8 the 2500 will have a 46RE too.
The gear ratio is the big difference between your two trucks, but brake drag, tire size and axle design are all variables. The full floating design has less drag I believe.

 

the 2500 also has a 5.9 360 in it, while your 1500 has the 5.2 318. While its not much more the 360 does have more hp and tourqe, plus the 4.10 gears also make it pull harder