I'm new to the truck scene, so please forgive my lack of knowledge. I'm looking into getting a 3in lift kit and 33in tires for my 2001 Ram 1500. I had jeep and we did the same setup (3in kit with 33s) and it messed the whole car up. Ended up needing to spend an extra $2000 to fix it and it only could go 75mph. Is this a problem with this car as well, or just a jeep thing? If so what kind of gears would allow me to over 75mph? Appreciate any help.

 

What motor is in your truck? Also, is it 2WD or 4WD? With 33" tires, 4.10 gears would likely be your best bet for rear end gearing.If the truck is 4WD, the front gear ratio needs to match the rear gear ratio.

 

I've run 285/75/16 tires (just under 33") on my 95 ram 4wd, 5.9. 3.55 gears with about 2" of lift for 80k -100k miles now... 265/75/16 tires (31.5") before that for 100k miles... I regularly pull boats and other trailers (probably 4,000 to 5,000 pound max on the highway), routinely drive on the soft sand beaches of north carolina surf fishing and do some "mild" offroading (mud, rocks, flat area and mountains, etc...). Not long ago I pulled a car through the NC mountains without issue. Despite the fact that the truck has about 270k miles on the original engine, and I've only done standard, routine maintenance (plenum hasn't been done, nor a ny engine work beyond water pumps). I rebuilt the transmission around 125k miles, no issues since then - I do have an aux cooler and I swap the fluid out every 50k or so (NO backflush). Note that I always turn the OD off when towing or even when driving in hilly or mountainous areas and the cruise control won't keep it at speed on steep hills, but I'm pretty sure it didn't on smaller tires when it was nearly new either...

imho, you'll probably be fine with 3.55 gears and 33's - especially if you have a 5.9. I can't speak for a 5.2 in the same situation, although I have one in my van and it seems to pull really well.... at least I'd try it and see before going to the expense of swapping gears. Just my experience... :-)