that 'burb also has another advantage- that first and second gears in the tranny are lower.. there is a big step between two and three in those things, where as the Dodge is pretty evenly spaced between them all...

If I understand it correctly (and lord knows I likely don't as I play hell to wrap my brain around transmissions).. the 46RE has seven possible gear ratios, (nine if you include TC lock-up) and all of them are pretty close to one another. You're in one ratio/gear while in second, then you shift to another one in third- when you downshift under pressure, when it goes back to second, the ratio is different than second is in the upshift- slightly in the Dodge, more than slightly in the Chevy..

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around how it does this- it has something to do with the planetary gear set and sun gear.. I haven't rationalized it in my noggin' yet, but it is still so.. the chevy makes good use of low, and good use of high.. the dodge makes good use of the middle..

I wonder what gear ratio a comparable chevy has for diff gears.

3.73 was pretty common, along with the 4.10s.

Then it pretty much leads back to the gears in the tranny like drew said I guess. Which I kind of already knew. Just making conversation and having a few beers today.

yeah im pretty sure our burb is 3.73

whats stock in these trucks? and whats a good number to get for every day use?

3:55's, which is the problem. Depending on what tires you have and want to use,4:10's are perfect unless you go way bigger than stock tire size.

well thats the thing. i'll prolly keep stock size for now, but might fit into some 18's down the road.

and is it just the ring and pinion i'd need? any brand better then others?

Randy's , http://www.ringpinion.com/ . The wheel size doesn't matter, it's the rubber size.