Looking to beef up my truck to get a higher tow rating. It's a 2001 1500 Ram 4x4 quad cab 5.9 w/ tow package 110k miles. Mostly tow a 26' camper and on flat land its ok but I usually camp in the mountains and climbing up some of those hills scare me i'm just worried i'm over working the truck, so i'm looking at a few things I can do to fix this. One of the huge things that's hurting me I know is I have about 7" of lift and 37" tires on it, but this I am not willing to get rid of.

The truck is very well maintained, runs smooth, have some basic bolt ons Intake/headers/exhaust. I just ordered the plenum gasket repair kit just to be ahead of the game, and also a superchips tuner so I think power wise i'll be ok. Now i'm worried about blowing out drivetrain components, especially with the 37"s. I know I could swap out to 4.56 gears but thats a little to pricey for me right now.
A friend of mine keeps tring to sell me his 98 2500 5.9 witch is in rough shape for pretty cheap, could I swap the axles from that truck on mine without much modification. Is the 2500 tranny any different than mine, would it be worth it to swap that as well. The 2500 has a tow rating of about 1000#'s more than the 1500 with the same motor, is that just from the 8 lug axles?

 

Same transmissions, 46RE

 

You really need to re gear running 37's anyway, let alone towing anything. I'd vote 4.88s for your set up. 2500 has heavier axles, as well as heavier suspension and bigger better breaks. Transfer case is more heavy duty but transmission is the same as the 1500.

 

This. If you still have the 3.55 gears, (or even 4,10's) this is where you major issue is coming in. You are seriously overworking the engine trans, to turn those huge tires, even when empty..... add a trailer, and gear to the equation, and I am not surprised at all that you are having trouble.

4.88's will help, and I think that is the best you can get for the 9.25 rear diff... otherwise, I would suggest going even deeper, since you tow with it..... not an option with those axles though.

Changing over to the 3/4 ton axles would expand your options, give you better brakes, and things would last longer with the big tires (steering parts mostly.) On the 1500's, the largest tire size I would recommend would be 35's, simply due to the weight of the truck.

 

towing a big camper with 37's and 3.55 gears will not make you a --- happy camper. lol.

you either need lower gears or smalller tires or a smaller camper or a bigger truck.

a 2500 model with a 5.9 V8 uses the same engine/transmission as your 1500. it has different axles, with 8 lug dana 60 in front and rear. check it's gear ratio, if could be anything - 3.55, 3.72, 3.92, 4.10.

yes you can swap them, but get everything including drive shafts, front and rear springs, steering linkage, rear leaf spring hangers and shackles (2.5 vs 3 inch), wheels, tires. but - if its 3.55 gear, its still going to suck. and the only thing you accomplished is heavier parts.

 

Either get rid of the 37's, or regear as stated.

 

I have 3.55s in my Ram 2500, I was going to swap to 4.10s but with the 3.55s I can tow at 65 mph with the OD off. Calulate the rpm / mph you want to tow at, tire size you run and buy gears accordingly.

 

OK well sounds like the problem is mainly in the tires/gears, and the 2500 axle swap may not be worth all the trouble. So if I were to tow with a set of factory size tires I should be ok? Would look pretty funny with the lift but if its just for towing I may be ok with that. I'd like to do the gears but I guess I need to first find a good mechanic that can do it. I do all of my own work, from engine swaps to paint jobs but I hear these gear swaps are pretty tricky to get right.