You would be correct sir, the Dana Spicer 60D went bye-bye along with the highly coveted Dana Spicer 70D axles after the 2002 "war" between Dahmler and Dana. Starting with the '03s the AAM (also known as Corporate) 10.5" and 11.5" axles have been used...

 

well put. I would go with the 4:56 gears. That is my best mod to date. I just don't think it is worth the investment to only go from 3:73 to 4:10.

 

Your rear end ratio choices for 1500 pickup are 3.55 or 3.92 The choices on 2500/3500 pickups are now 3.42, 3.73,4.10. The Chassis Cabs have different ratioa as well. Keep in mind that rear end ratio affects rear end torque to rear wheels and gets load moving. The horsepower keeps it moving. As an example, selection of 3.92 will have a better response off the line but you will give up 1-2 mile per gallon. When towing heavy loads and you find it hunting for gears, you need to place in tow/haul mode. This changes shift points on transmission and takes out of overdrive and makes for more efficient towing. You may also use the autostick mode on trnasmission to control top end gear in downhill mode to reduce brake wear i.e mountains

 

ya my service truck (98 durango ) has been out for 4 months now lol due to a electrica problem with it that makes it idle rough and die all the time ..so ive had to use my 04 ram to run around which sucks cause its suppose to stay on the driveway...but i just had my gears installed monday of this week....and towed a 1500 lb trailer with 2500 lbs of appliances on it and man the difference with gears from 3:92 's to 4:56's is a heck of alot better! whats funny i never used my 5th gear and i used all the time now lol

 

I was a little concerned when i bought my truck that it had the standard 3.73 ratio. Some of the other 2500's I looked at had the optional 4.10's. When I drove them unloaded, I couldn't really feel any difference. I pull a 25' enclosed trailer that goes nearly 9K loaded. So far I have no complaint about towing ability. It does work hard enough to lose some speed on hills and on a long steep grade I occasionally get the engine up around 4500 rpm toward the top. Lifetime powertrain warranty, baby!
You just use the throttle to keep it in the gear that works best. Push down and it'll downshift, let off and it upshifts. Pretty simple.
Oh, use the tow/haul mode if yours is so equipped. It tailors the shift points to work much better while towing.

 

The 09 hemi 2500 really only have a modest increase in h/p and torque, with tunners and the after market go fast goodies you can make up the h/p of a new hemi.

I have the the 373 ltd slip in my reg cab and I have no issues with the towing Lbs of your truck, but a reg cab is is less lbs, .

If your considering a rear gear ratio change, Forgo the 410 and go to a 456, with a 373, 410 or 456 your not getting good mpg towing eithier way you go, but a 456 should give you more power with the same mileage as the 373.

Also, step up to a true dual ex set up, it wakes up the hemi big time.

 

IMO, this is the time to trade up if you can afford it (with Employee Pricing Plus). The new Ram 3500 is built from the ground up to tow (the CTD is rated at 350 HP, 650 ft lbs of torque).

 

Unfortunately the '03 Dodge Ram did not come with a tow/haul mode, just an O/D off mode. I have a feeling that if it did have the tow/haul mode, it probably would be able to do fine with the 3.73. Changing the shift points would help out considerably. Without the tow/haul mode, it just searches for gears when trying to go up any kind of hill.

On another note, I did look around at some used/new trucks when trying to figure out what might be the best thing to do. What I did consider odd is that on 1 new truck I looked at, I noticed that it didn't have the sticker in the glove box showing the gear ratio information. I know that all of the used trucks I looked at and my '03 truck has that information so it's easy to see at a glance what gears it has on. Does anyone know if that information is still put on the new trucks or was this any oversight by the dealer and/or manufacturer?

 

As far as I know, they should still be using the sticker, but I know they still put the tag on the rear axle, so you can always check there...