I just recently picked up my 01 2WD QC with the 5 spd and 5.2. It has a 3:21 rear end. Gears 1 - 4 seem strong, but when I am in 5th it doesnt seem to have much pick up. Even if I am doing like 70 in 5th and I go into a strong wind or up a hill (or worse both) my truck will start to lose speed even if I have the pedal to the floor. Is that normal? I know the glass pack exhaust isnt helping much which I plan to swap out soon. I did the temp check on the cat and that seems ok although I am going to take it to a dealer just to have them test it. As far as I can tell it doesn't have the death flash either. Like I said 1st through 4th is pretty strong. I can light it up off the line and in 2nd too if the pavement is wet, it's just the overdrive gear that I am dissatisfied with. Any suggestions?

 

3.21? Is that a misprint? If its not I'd say theres your problem...

 

No it's not a misprint. Got the build out specs straight from Dodge. I know that isnt a very good set up. That change would be well off into the future. Like I said, just wondering if this would be normal performance for this truck or is there something else I should be looking at.

 

Its interesting about your problem as that I have the same, except mine is a 98 1500 with a 3.9L engine. As soon as I shift into 5th, I can maintain speed and slowly pick up but if there is a strong headwind, forget it. Along with that problem, my temperature gauge also rises! When I shift back down into 4th, the temp goes down. Too add to that, my thermostat is a 195 and it makes my running temp around 215 continuously on the highway. So I am just now trying to figure this out. Any thoughts there? If I figure out anything I will post it here.

 

My 94 1500 with 5.2L does same thing in overdrive has no power run with it of in the mountains and it has lots of power. guess its too high of a gear.

 

My 95 5.2 5 speed does that same thing except with a head wind there really isn't much of a loss. I can climb a hill on the highway with not really much of a problem but it just seems that there isn't much power. I just shift because I try to run a continuious speed and keep away from other drivers. Hopefully it is just to high of a gear. Other than that I don't really have much of a problem. The truck runs great.

 

What size tires do you have?
I agree with Socha, you are probably undergeared. What kind of RPM are you running at at highway speed?
My overdrive is nothing powerful either, but I did notice it improved when I changed my gears.

 

I have 265 75 16 tires on the truck. It came with BFG AT's. I will probably eventually switch to more of a highway all season truck tire, but these still have a decent amount of tread on them so I don't see a need to do that now. At 65 in 5th gear I am not even at 2000 rpm. Based on some of these other posts it looks like the gears are the main problem. I am assuming that a better exhaust, programmer, and maybe a new TB would help some? What should I expect to pay to have some new gears installed?

 

Ya, that is bigger then the stock tire size (usually 245/75/16 on those).
New gears for a 2 wheel drive would run from $400-$600, depending on how much the shop charges for labor.

 

wow i dont have this prob. with my 5.2 i love my motor i dont regret getting my truck at all i love it