I'm actually amazed to see some of the younger crowd counting the gears in the 3 speed with OD fashion.

Eloso, that was funny.

 

Total number of forward gears=number of gears. This whole +OD thing is beyond me.

 

i with you...hahns. over drive is what the "4th gear" does...it "over" drives. it is still a gear.

some say that its a higher gear than a 1:1 ratio...BUT

1st and 2nd gear are lower than 1:1

i guess you could call it a 1 speed with a triple underdrive

 

it depends on what shifting pattern the pcm is flashed with.

with my probably original factory stock pcm flash, my 01 used to shift 1-2-3-TC-OD. the tc would lock at about 40 mph and then it would immediately shift to OD while still around 41-42 mph. this really sucked so I left OD off all the time. with OD off, TC would still lock at 40mph.

After installing a hypertech, it had a little more power, but the shift pattern and shift points did not change.

I'm not sure, but I've heard that the latest dodge pcm flash changed the shift pattern from 1-2-3-TC-OD to 1-2-3-OD-TC, but i don't know that for sure.

So, i uninstalled the Hypertech and installed a Superchips 3815. It completely changed the shift pattern. Now it doesn't shift to OD until around 55. MUCH MUCH better. Also, with OD off, TC won't lock. With OD on, TC will lock at about 45-50. MUCH MUCH better. I just leave OD on all the time now, and it takes care of itself with minimal downshifting. Sort of like its supposed to.

 

No, because the actual Dodge transmission has 3 speeds in and an overdrive unit, an "add-on" piece of mechanical wizardry that gives it an overdrive, or 4th, gear.

Yes, its still a gear, but it was added on as another mechanical device to the transmission, its its own separate "device", so to speak. So, yes we have four gears, but the transmission is called a 3-speed with OD. When you get real technical, it is a 3-speed tranny with an added on 4th gear, OD, therefore 3-speed with OD is, technically, more accurate, IMO, although saying you have 4 gears is not inaccurate.

 

^ To mirror what Jason just said, I didn't start this thread in an attempt to find out the true, correct answer. All of them are correct. I just wanted to see what kind of trend is present.