5.2L 5 Speed Axle Gears
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Thanks for the replies. This truck will have an easy life as a commuter for now, and the ball joints were replaced about 15,000 miles ago when the lift was put on, hopefully they last for a while. I want to be able to take this truck on short few hundred miles road trips as well climbing over the mountain range. Other than the gearing feeling off, it's a pretty nice driving truck.
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https://purperformance.com/p-29669-rpm-calculator.html
I can tell you unless you're creating your own atmosphere with forced induction, that's absolutely not too much rpm for a 5.2 at altitude
I ran 37's and 5.38 with a Ford 351 and E4OD (similar OD, I think .71?). No problems (shrug). I don't have much desire to go over 70 with 37" rubber anyway. Drove CO to SD once, didn't seem absurd. Regular trips from southern CO to Denver and Fort Collins. YMMV
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From: Oceanside, CA
Hello everyone, new to the forum here but I've been around these old 2nd gen's for years. I'm going to give my best opinion on gearing since I've had this debate many times. Feel free to disagree but I'm going to say dodge knew exactly what they were doing with the ratios in the stock trucks. Mine is a 5 speed 2wd SCSB, in which I regularly carry 300-900 lbs in the bed, or tow my old jeep around. I have a bone stock truck (aside from an OEM rebuild to the engine 20k miles ago). Everyone always complains about not having more gearing, or why the axles are 3.22 (maybe 3.23 can't recall) but I'm here to say that the axles (as well as the super mild cam) are the results of millions of dollars of research to balance power, fuel efficiency, longevity, and mass appeal. The crazy part is we have all the gearing we could possibly want, its right there in 4th, 3rd, & 2nd gear. If you have a stock axle and wanted to know what it would feel like to swap in some 4.56 gears, just downshift from 5th to 4th!!!! its almost the exact same difference between the 4.56 and the 3.22. The problem is people for some reason insist on wanting to tow up a mountain in 5th gear with 35's. and complain that the rear axle is garbage when your answer is right there in 4th or 3rd gear.
Think about it this way, if you gear up to anything past 4.10 you can kiss goodbye any enjoyable highway experience, loaded or not, forget fuel efficiency, and forget long road trips. The only time it helps is when you're towing. Aside from that its a PITA. However if you keep the stock gearing, you can retain all the functionality of a normally geared truck, and when you do happen to tow or carry heavy. Just use lower gears. There's nothing wrong with going up a grade in 3rd gear at 55mph @3000 rpm for several minutes at a time.
Which brings me to my next point, the 5.2 is not a diesel. Let it rev out to actually feel the power it was meant to deliver. Don't bog it down at 2200 rpm. It works all day at 3-3.5k. Thats the peak torque, and coupled with a 3rd gear ratio. It'll tow a 5000 lb trailer up a 6% grade at 55 mph on 245/75 tires. I'm stationed south of LA in oceanside, and I've driven I-5 out to Bakersfield through the mountains many times loaded with a trailer. The truck has ample power. We just need to pick the right gear instead of depending on the axle ratio.
And when you are unloaded, there's nothing better than hitting 5th gear at 70-75mph, seeing the rpm right around 1900, and seeing the 19 mpg at the pump. (Mind you my engine is pretty much new, and I have the lightest version of our truck). Point being the transmission is meant to give you all the ratios you need, for a variety of situations, not the axle. Use your gears, and your rpms. Higher rpms helps your EGT's run cooler as diesel guys know, and drives your water pump faster, allows you to be lighter on the pedal (due to the increased gear ratio you'd be using) all of which are better for your engine.
As far as tires, 35's are for people who don't intend to work their trucks. (No offense) In their case I understand regearing as a means to retain stock functionality. I run 245/75r16 because I need all the torque I can get for towing and carrying heavy. Also reduces suspension wear as others noted. I might move up to 235/85r16 and 3.55 gears, but that is as high as I'll ever go.
In short, if you're going to work the truck, but still want to daily it. keep the stock ratios and don't be afraid to downshift, rev it out, and bring the tires down below 33" preferably a 31".
If my opinion is un-popular, I understand, we all want to feel like we can make the truck better than the paper pushing corporations who "don't know what they're doing" but you'll come to find millions of dollars of research goes a long way and often times its us that don't know what we're doing. To the OP, enjoy your truck, whatever you chose to go with. I'm not one to think my opinion is better than anyone else's, just trying to lend my humble experience.
Think about it this way, if you gear up to anything past 4.10 you can kiss goodbye any enjoyable highway experience, loaded or not, forget fuel efficiency, and forget long road trips. The only time it helps is when you're towing. Aside from that its a PITA. However if you keep the stock gearing, you can retain all the functionality of a normally geared truck, and when you do happen to tow or carry heavy. Just use lower gears. There's nothing wrong with going up a grade in 3rd gear at 55mph @3000 rpm for several minutes at a time.
Which brings me to my next point, the 5.2 is not a diesel. Let it rev out to actually feel the power it was meant to deliver. Don't bog it down at 2200 rpm. It works all day at 3-3.5k. Thats the peak torque, and coupled with a 3rd gear ratio. It'll tow a 5000 lb trailer up a 6% grade at 55 mph on 245/75 tires. I'm stationed south of LA in oceanside, and I've driven I-5 out to Bakersfield through the mountains many times loaded with a trailer. The truck has ample power. We just need to pick the right gear instead of depending on the axle ratio.
And when you are unloaded, there's nothing better than hitting 5th gear at 70-75mph, seeing the rpm right around 1900, and seeing the 19 mpg at the pump. (Mind you my engine is pretty much new, and I have the lightest version of our truck). Point being the transmission is meant to give you all the ratios you need, for a variety of situations, not the axle. Use your gears, and your rpms. Higher rpms helps your EGT's run cooler as diesel guys know, and drives your water pump faster, allows you to be lighter on the pedal (due to the increased gear ratio you'd be using) all of which are better for your engine.
As far as tires, 35's are for people who don't intend to work their trucks. (No offense) In their case I understand regearing as a means to retain stock functionality. I run 245/75r16 because I need all the torque I can get for towing and carrying heavy. Also reduces suspension wear as others noted. I might move up to 235/85r16 and 3.55 gears, but that is as high as I'll ever go.
In short, if you're going to work the truck, but still want to daily it. keep the stock ratios and don't be afraid to downshift, rev it out, and bring the tires down below 33" preferably a 31".
If my opinion is un-popular, I understand, we all want to feel like we can make the truck better than the paper pushing corporations who "don't know what they're doing" but you'll come to find millions of dollars of research goes a long way and often times its us that don't know what we're doing. To the OP, enjoy your truck, whatever you chose to go with. I'm not one to think my opinion is better than anyone else's, just trying to lend my humble experience.
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Clayton MI
Hello everyone, new to the forum here but I've been around these old 2nd gen's for years. I'm going to give my best opinion on gearing since I've had this debate many times. Feel free to disagree but I'm going to say dodge knew exactly what they were doing with the ratios in the stock trucks. Mine is a 5 speed 2wd SCSB, in which I regularly carry 300-900 lbs in the bed, or tow my old jeep around. I have a bone stock truck (aside from an OEM rebuild to the engine 20k miles ago). Everyone always complains about not having more gearing, or why the axles are 3.22 (maybe 3.23 can't recall) but I'm here to say that the axles (as well as the super mild cam) are the results of millions of dollars of research to balance power, fuel efficiency, longevity, and mass appeal. The crazy part is we have all the gearing we could possibly want, its right there in 4th, 3rd, & 2nd gear. If you have a stock axle and wanted to know what it would feel like to swap in some 4.56 gears, just downshift from 5th to 4th!!!! its almost the exact same difference between the 4.56 and the 3.22. The problem is people for some reason insist on wanting to tow up a mountain in 5th gear with 35's. and complain that the rear axle is garbage when your answer is right there in 4th or 3rd gear.
Think about it this way, if you gear up to anything past 4.10 you can kiss goodbye any enjoyable highway experience, loaded or not, forget fuel efficiency, and forget long road trips. The only time it helps is when you're towing. Aside from that its a PITA. However if you keep the stock gearing, you can retain all the functionality of a normally geared truck, and when you do happen to tow or carry heavy. Just use lower gears. There's nothing wrong with going up a grade in 3rd gear at 55mph @3000 rpm for several minutes at a time.
Which brings me to my next point, the 5.2 is not a diesel. Let it rev out to actually feel the power it was meant to deliver. Don't bog it down at 2200 rpm. It works all day at 3-3.5k. Thats the peak torque, and coupled with a 3rd gear ratio. It'll tow a 5000 lb trailer up a 6% grade at 55 mph on 245/75 tires. I'm stationed south of LA in oceanside, and I've driven I-5 out to Bakersfield through the mountains many times loaded with a trailer. The truck has ample power. We just need to pick the right gear instead of depending on the axle ratio.
And when you are unloaded, there's nothing better than hitting 5th gear at 70-75mph, seeing the rpm right around 1900, and seeing the 19 mpg at the pump. (Mind you my engine is pretty much new, and I have the lightest version of our truck). Point being the transmission is meant to give you all the ratios you need, for a variety of situations, not the axle. Use your gears, and your rpms. Higher rpms helps your EGT's run cooler as diesel guys know, and drives your water pump faster, allows you to be lighter on the pedal (due to the increased gear ratio you'd be using) all of which are better for your engine.
As far as tires, 35's are for people who don't intend to work their trucks. (No offense) In their case I understand regearing as a means to retain stock functionality. I run 245/75r16 because I need all the torque I can get for towing and carrying heavy. Also reduces suspension wear as others noted. I might move up to 235/85r16 and 3.55 gears, but that is as high as I'll ever go.
In short, if you're going to work the truck, but still want to daily it. keep the stock ratios and don't be afraid to downshift, rev it out, and bring the tires down below 33" preferably a 31".
If my opinion is un-popular, I understand, we all want to feel like we can make the truck better than the paper pushing corporations who "don't know what they're doing" but you'll come to find millions of dollars of research goes a long way and often times its us that don't know what we're doing. To the OP, enjoy your truck, whatever you chose to go with. I'm not one to think my opinion is better than anyone else's, just trying to lend my humble experience.
Think about it this way, if you gear up to anything past 4.10 you can kiss goodbye any enjoyable highway experience, loaded or not, forget fuel efficiency, and forget long road trips. The only time it helps is when you're towing. Aside from that its a PITA. However if you keep the stock gearing, you can retain all the functionality of a normally geared truck, and when you do happen to tow or carry heavy. Just use lower gears. There's nothing wrong with going up a grade in 3rd gear at 55mph @3000 rpm for several minutes at a time.
Which brings me to my next point, the 5.2 is not a diesel. Let it rev out to actually feel the power it was meant to deliver. Don't bog it down at 2200 rpm. It works all day at 3-3.5k. Thats the peak torque, and coupled with a 3rd gear ratio. It'll tow a 5000 lb trailer up a 6% grade at 55 mph on 245/75 tires. I'm stationed south of LA in oceanside, and I've driven I-5 out to Bakersfield through the mountains many times loaded with a trailer. The truck has ample power. We just need to pick the right gear instead of depending on the axle ratio.
And when you are unloaded, there's nothing better than hitting 5th gear at 70-75mph, seeing the rpm right around 1900, and seeing the 19 mpg at the pump. (Mind you my engine is pretty much new, and I have the lightest version of our truck). Point being the transmission is meant to give you all the ratios you need, for a variety of situations, not the axle. Use your gears, and your rpms. Higher rpms helps your EGT's run cooler as diesel guys know, and drives your water pump faster, allows you to be lighter on the pedal (due to the increased gear ratio you'd be using) all of which are better for your engine.
As far as tires, 35's are for people who don't intend to work their trucks. (No offense) In their case I understand regearing as a means to retain stock functionality. I run 245/75r16 because I need all the torque I can get for towing and carrying heavy. Also reduces suspension wear as others noted. I might move up to 235/85r16 and 3.55 gears, but that is as high as I'll ever go.
In short, if you're going to work the truck, but still want to daily it. keep the stock ratios and don't be afraid to downshift, rev it out, and bring the tires down below 33" preferably a 31".
If my opinion is un-popular, I understand, we all want to feel like we can make the truck better than the paper pushing corporations who "don't know what they're doing" but you'll come to find millions of dollars of research goes a long way and often times its us that don't know what we're doing. To the OP, enjoy your truck, whatever you chose to go with. I'm not one to think my opinion is better than anyone else's, just trying to lend my humble experience.
is concerned about driveability, emissions, and fuel economy. (not to mention outlasting the warranty....) So, engines put out less power than they could, gears are a compromise between fuel economy, and load hauling, be it in the bed, or on a trailer.... Etc. What you do to your truck depends on LOT on what you plan to do with it.... If you off-road, at all.... you want more power/torque, better ground clearance, etc. The manufacturer is a 'one size fits all' school of thought. (though they do offer options) Strangely enough, we don't all use our trucks exactly the same. So, folks mod their trucks to suit their own particular wants/needs. I am just here to help folks get the most out of what they want from their truck..... So, as far as gearing goes, matching gearing to the tire size is just a good plan. Regardless of what you do with your truck. In this case, the factory HAS done the work, so, keeping engine RPM in the same neighborhood as stock, when running larger tires, is the goal. Also, most folks have automatic
transmissions in their trucks. For the 1500 guys, that means they tow in 3rd gear anyway. (if they tow in O/D, they get to rebuild their trans fairly regularly.
) ((and yes, I do believe that a manual trans is better when towing.... except when starting out, uphill. 
)) So, gears it is.I do agree that larger tires DO make towing more exciting.
Though I have pulled 10-12K pounds behind my truck, on 33's. It actually handled it rather well, the low gearing certainly helps get the load going... but, if you are going any appreciable distance, not the best combo..... When I pulled a small trailer, with a tractor on it, (probably under 1600 pounds, total.) The truck didn't even notice it was there. I left the trans in O/D, and never had a problem.... (47RE in mine though....) My gas mileage didn't even suffer that much. But, I took back roads, speed limit 55..... No freeway at all.
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I genuinely appreciate the real world info and discussion, thanks guys. Good points. I agree on the expectations of needing to rev the small blocks to make it's best power in a fullsize truck in the higher gears, as well as the design intention of being a 1/2 ton pickup.
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Joined: Mar 2024
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From: Oceanside, CA
Happy to discuss,
Despite my long rant on how these trucks were designed with "ideal" gears, I will say the one thing that leaves much to be desired in our transmissions are tighter gaps between the gears. You really notice the gaps (and loss of torque upon upshifting) when towing anything above 4k. Though I realize the trucks are a product of their time no truck was going to have a 6 speed back then.
For some real world example, towing 5k lb trailer up a 6% grade I have two options, 3rd gear at 3k @55mph or 2nd gear at 2.5-3k @ about 25-30 mph. And the first option requires me to be at full throttle so if anyone cuts me off I'm forced to slow down and downshift with no possibility of regaining the speed. Really wish I had a second and half gear. Something that would put me at 3k rpm at about 40-45mph. The truck would have enough power to be relaxed on the throttle and I wouldn't have to get in the trucker lane where everyone is going 25 mph. But as you can probably assume from my previous post, I'm unwilling to regear, as it would cost me my daily drivability which is 80% of my time.
I'm thinking of making my own custom gear splitter for the truck which would give me this exact benefit basically turning the truck into a 10 speed. And giving a crawling gear below first. While retaining all the benefits of a 3.22 axle and a nice long overdrive like we have. But that's a very ambitious project years down the line.
A 6 speed with tight ratios that matches our low and top gear would be fantastic in our trucks. But as far as I'm aware there's no direct swap without alot of custom work.
Despite my long rant on how these trucks were designed with "ideal" gears, I will say the one thing that leaves much to be desired in our transmissions are tighter gaps between the gears. You really notice the gaps (and loss of torque upon upshifting) when towing anything above 4k. Though I realize the trucks are a product of their time no truck was going to have a 6 speed back then.
For some real world example, towing 5k lb trailer up a 6% grade I have two options, 3rd gear at 3k @55mph or 2nd gear at 2.5-3k @ about 25-30 mph. And the first option requires me to be at full throttle so if anyone cuts me off I'm forced to slow down and downshift with no possibility of regaining the speed. Really wish I had a second and half gear. Something that would put me at 3k rpm at about 40-45mph. The truck would have enough power to be relaxed on the throttle and I wouldn't have to get in the trucker lane where everyone is going 25 mph. But as you can probably assume from my previous post, I'm unwilling to regear, as it would cost me my daily drivability which is 80% of my time.
I'm thinking of making my own custom gear splitter for the truck which would give me this exact benefit basically turning the truck into a 10 speed. And giving a crawling gear below first. While retaining all the benefits of a 3.22 axle and a nice long overdrive like we have. But that's a very ambitious project years down the line.
A 6 speed with tight ratios that matches our low and top gear would be fantastic in our trucks. But as far as I'm aware there's no direct swap without alot of custom work.
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Thanks for the further info Westcoast_Texan, the RPMs Vs gears and towing is interesting. I totally agree on the added number of gears - wish there were an easy splitter or extra overdrive option that could be used to split gears. The only thing out there is a Gear Vendors which I have heard mostly good reviews on, it's expensive though. Advance Adapters used to make the Ranger splitter box, but they stopped making those. Probably less and less of us that like to jam gears ourselves to support a market for those.
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Though I realize the trucks are a product of their time no truck was going to have a 6 speed back then.
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Joined: Mar 2024
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From: Oceanside, CA
MCE Mike, I've heard about those ranger boxes and the gearvendor but unfortunately as far as I'm aware nobody ever made a version for our trucks. Sure would be neat though. I for one would love the idea of a twin stick 1500. 235 hp will go a long way with the right gearing. When I eventually get around to that I'll be sure to post all about that project.
Moparite, I think what MCE Mike meant to say with the gearvendor is not using it as an overdrive (since our trucks already have that covered), but rather to split gears, between the current options like how I talked about to get tighter gaps between the gears. My only problem with the gearvendors is the ridiculous adapter sizes that double your transmission length. Me having a short bed single cab I don't think my driveline angles would like that. And I've also heard the long adapters from gearvendor tend to crack over time (not sure how accurate that claim is)
In any case, I find myself again unsatisfied with anything currently on the market. And forced to get creative. I'm sure you all can relate.
Moparite, I think what MCE Mike meant to say with the gearvendor is not using it as an overdrive (since our trucks already have that covered), but rather to split gears, between the current options like how I talked about to get tighter gaps between the gears. My only problem with the gearvendors is the ridiculous adapter sizes that double your transmission length. Me having a short bed single cab I don't think my driveline angles would like that. And I've also heard the long adapters from gearvendor tend to crack over time (not sure how accurate that claim is)
In any case, I find myself again unsatisfied with anything currently on the market. And forced to get creative. I'm sure you all can relate.
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From: Clayton MI
There is a company that makes trans controllers for the various transmissions on the market, 6, 8, and even 10 speed.... but, they ain't cheap, and neither are the adapters..... couple grand for the controller, and almost a thousand for the adapters..... Ouchie. But, the idea of having an 8 speed, does have a certain appeal to it.