you can compare your rpm's at a certain speed cruizing with others with same tires and that will tell you.....example i have 35" tires at 70mph I'm at 2100 rpm....(in the sweetspot for power and mpg) with 3.92 gears I would be at 1800 rpms. with 3.55 gears I would be lower and anything lower than 1700rpm the tranny would struggle and shift in and out of overdrive burning it up faster... even at 1800 it will downshift with the slightest load or incline and unless you drive like an old man you will dump a lot of unburned wasted gas down the the engine trying to accelerate faster... thats exactly what I did with my jeep...difference is night and day. Totally changes the feel of the truck.

 

all that may be true.....If you a light on the pedal and drive it like an old man....and there nothing wrong with that....(thats why mpg will vary) Thats also why a 4cyl cobalt has more traction in the snow than a vette but which would be more fun to drive and why?
but its not responsive and as much fun to drive....and lets face it most of us wouldnt be here if we didnt like a more responsive fun to drive ride...

and depends on the backspacing of the aftermarket rims...I have them on mine and because the tires are 12.5 inches wide they stick out a bit. but I just bought a set of 32" tires and rims just for the rims off a 96 ram and found those rims have a different back spacing or they are 10" and stick out more so I may sell them (anyone looking for aluminuim rims and 32" at tires with 80 percent of tread for $500 bucks )

 

im running 285 up front and 305 in rear on my stock 5.2 1997 2wd. no difference.

 

97ramlv, you should check the date on the last post in the thread before adding your two cents.

 

 

I will add something not mentioned yet. 3.55 on 285's will cause excessive transmission heat. Swap gears and all it well or have deep pockets.

 

oh there is plenty of difference both in power and load whether you are seeing it or not can depend on a lot of things like your driving habits the amount or the amount spare power your truck may have due to mods/ Denial can be a powerful influence on perception... its easy to convince yourself if something is or isnt doing what you want depending on haow you choose to percieve it but at the end of the day you changed the gearing for the worse.

The size of your front tires makes no difference unless it was 4wd or front wheel drive.
(And yes I'm aware the OP of the comment I just quoted has likely junked the truck by now due to learning things the hard way as many of the young rookies here insist on doing but the I made my comment for others regardless)