Ok I have 98 dodge ram 1500 crew cab 4x4 with a 318, granny tranny, and a 3.55 inside both 9.25s. The problem is I just put a 5" suspension lift and a 4" body lift then put a set of 36" swampers radials on but with my motor and ratio this will be a problem. I do do a lot of road driving with it since its my dd right now but I still want to make this truck into a real monster because hopefully one day it wont be my dd. So I need to know path to take? I have just a few questions.

1. Should I get detroit lockers and keep my 9.25 in the back (dana 44 in front) or upgrade my axles to dana 60 with 4.88 or 5.13 with limited slip or put lockers in the upgraded axle too?

2. Which path would give me better torque, horsepower, acceleration, and best overall offroad performance? Which would still allow me to drive on the highway with a decent top speed?

3. What gear ratio do you recommend if not the locker route?

4. How hard is it to turn with lockers? Do you recommend Detroit lockers?

5. If I got really low gears but upgraded to a 500+ hp engine with a supercharger would that increase my top speed even with really low gears like 7.17? Or would it not matter?

6. What ratio do the guys at monster jam have because I would love to know how they go 70+ mph with 60"+ tires. Even with a 1200+ hp merlin engine it all amazes me.
Thanks for the help

 

1. Personally, I would do the upgrade to the dana 60. I have looked into some different lockers and had a hard time finding them for the 9.25.

2.What size of tires do you plan on having? (http://omix-ada-intl.com/gear-ratio-vs-tire-size.asp)

3.If you do a lot of trail, I would recommend 4.56, otherwise i would do 4.10.

4.As for experience with Detroit Lockers, I have none. A locker is designed to make all wheels turn at the same revolutions. When turning, each wheel follows a different path so turning will not be impossible but would you would feel more resistance.

5.Lower gearing=Faster acceleration: Higher gearing=Higher top speed.

6.Don't know to much about monster jam and how their truck are setup, cant help you there.

 

With 36" tires, the minimum I would do would be 4.56. That will keep you close to the stock engine speed/mph as with the 3.55's, and stock tires.

D60's would be better than the 44/9.25 for tires over 35"..... I would be real tempted to do 4.88 with the 36" tires. Engine RPM will be slightly higher than stock for any given road speed, but, it will put less strain on the trans.... which was a weak link in the dodge trucks in any event.

If you have an automatic, make sure to delete the check valve in the line up by the radiator. Install an aftermarket cooler, and maybe even consider an external filter.

If you have the NV3500 manual.... start looking for an NV4500 to replace it with, as it won't like the big tires much.

 

As HeyYou said I would replace the axles with Dana 60's minimum or go to 60 front and 70 rear. Also as he recommended you will want 4.56 or lower gears.
Part of figuring out which locker you're going to want depends on where you live. A Detroit locker is a great locker and works well in 90% of operation. The one weakness is during snow and ice conditions. Because it is an auto locker your axle shafts are connected together. What this does is send 100% power to each wheel and if you live somewhere that has snow driving can be a little fun. Now I am not saying you can't run auto lockers but you need to understand what will happen if you have one in your rear axle. If the road is sloped to one side the rear of the truck will sometimes try to slip to the low side. People do drive with them you just have to relearn to drive.
The problems with an auto locker are worse on a short wheelbased rig like a Jeep. I drove my Suzuki Samurai for 3 years with LcokRite lockers in both axles. And I lived somewhere that had snow and ice all winter. On a long wheelbased rig like your truck it isn't as bad. And off road a Detroit locker is great. You might want to look at the TruTrak lockers instead for your truck. You can run them front and rear, they are a gear drive locker so they won't ever wear out and lock up better than a limited slip but just not as much as a full auto locker like the Detroit.

Those monster trucks have engines that are made to run up into the 7,000-8,000+ RPM range so they can have lower gears like 6.17 or something close to that is what the 2 1/2 ton and 5 ton axles have in them. But their motors can rev a lot higher than your stock engine.

I know you have already done the work but if I was you I would drop that body lift down to a max 2" and get rid of it if you can. Does anyone make cutout fender flares for your truck? That could give you more room for tires. Also when you did your lift did it come with adjustable control arms? If not you might want to get some so that you can move your front axle forward some to get your axle centered in your wheelwell. That will also increase your clearance for your front tires.

Sorry for being so long winded.

 

Yeah ditch the body lift. How much are you able to fab on your own? If u can do some decent work put a ford 60 up front and a gm 14 bolt in the back. If you can't just use a dodge 60 up front. And what do you mean by granny tranny. Like a np435?

 

I just reread the OPs post again and saw that comment about the granny tranny. I think he means an automatic tranny is my guess.

I am not a big fan of body lifts bigger than 2" and on Jeeps I like a 1" to a 1 1/4".

 

And for lockers get ARB air lockers

 

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...lowed-128.html lets see the truck