You'll be fine at 2500 rpm and you are actually putting more work on the engine which can easily take it and less on the transmission which will have a harder time of it. You'll also find you'll be able to accelerate for getting on ramps, passing and pulling hills is easier on everything when starting so at over 2200 rpm than down around say 1600 rpm.

In a "money is no object" scenario, re-gearing to 4.56s and a larger tranny cooler and/or larger pan (giving more fluid capacity) and a tranny temp gauge would be ideal...

 

Now Thats Funny Right There!!!!!!

 

I went talk to 4 Wheel Parts today about possibly regearing to either 4:11 or 4:56 on my 2006 Hemi Ram with the main goal of improving towing efficiency in the mountains here in Colorado. My truck is the Hemi, 4x4, 3:73, and running stock size 265/70/17s. My boat goes around 4000 pounds and I am looking at campers that will probably be in the 5000-6000 range loaded.

The guy told me if I went with a regear my interstate driving mileage would tank pretty badly. And that to offset that I would need to go with a larger tire which would offset the towing gains. I drive interstate to work daily.

He recommended looking at a programmer/tuner with a tow tune and cold air intake. Way less expensive and I could get some of the efficiencies with better shift points.

 

I have a 2006 Ram 2500 2wd with a 3.73 Hemi. I just came back from a round trip from central Il to mission Texas pulling a fifth wheel camper. Total weight of truck and camper was right at 16,000 lbs. I have stock tires and duall magnaflow on it and I got 8 mpg driveing about 60 to 65 all the way which put it at about 2500 rpms. At that rpm it just ran reall sweet. When I had to drop to 55or so mph it seemed to be under a load. When I got to St Louis and started up interstate 55 I ran into a heck of a head wind and had to drop back 55 to stop all the gear hunting and got about 6 mpg. Other then that you can't beat the hemi

 

Couple of things:

1) I've dealt with counter people and managers at four or five 4 Wheel Parts stores and have yet to find one who has a clue about Jeep or trucks. Matter of fact read any Jeep forum posts regarding 4 Wheel Parts - they don't paint too flattering a picture.
Does the guy you talk to even know that you are driving a vehicle with a transmission that has essentially two overdrive gears? RPMs won't go up enough to significantly effect highway mileage. I GAINED two to three MPG in town and maybe lost one - at highway cruising over 75 mph. If a one MPG loss is considered "tanking" then yeah, it tanked. LOL.

2) Unless your truck is a 1500 MegaCab it was not available with 3.73 gears, 3.55 and 3.92 are the only factory options in a 1500 regular cab or Quad cab.

3) I'm curious to know how a CAI with no other modifications (other than a tuner) will help the vehicle tow/haul? It's already been proven on this forum time and again that a CAI gains about 2-3 RWHP unless you combine it with other mods that unrestrict the entire system and can utilize the added airflow.

4) Tuners with "Tow Tunes" offer very little gains over a stock tune and by their own admission do not increase towing capacity over stock limits. Tuners have their advantages and offer good gains, but I don't think anyone with a tuner would say that towing performance is one of them. Changing your shift points will help some but is generally most beneficial at WOT and I don't think you tow very often at WOT.

I can understand not wanting to spend the money on re-gearing, but if you purchase a CAI and tuner soley for towing applications, you are wasting your money.

Talk to people who tow/haul who have re-geared. I'll bet you a solid 95 out of 100 will say it was well worth it and they'd do it again.

And BTW, average price to re-gear should run about $600-700 per axle for gears, install kit and labor - 4 Wheel Parts generally quotes over $1000 per axle. I can also put you on the phone with the manager at 4 Wheel Parts in Orlando (who also is clueless) who tries to put everyone who comes in the door into taller gears. So it really depends on who you talk to at 4 Wheel Parts, you'll never get the same story/solution/recommendation from two different employees.

I hate to bash any vendor, but I've spent a lot of time fixing friends/forum members vehicles that 4 Wheel Parts has screwed up.

BTW - some good reading about 4 Wheel Parts:

http://www.jeepreviews.com/where-to-...parts-reviews/

http://www.automotiveforums.com/t283...egin_soon.html

http://www.ripoffreport.com/director...eel-parts.aspx




The reason for this is that the Hemi makes most of it's power in the mid/upper RPM ranges, if you look at dyno sheets on the Hemi, you'd see that it's torque curve is actually pretty high for a fairly large displacement V8. It has a "sweet spot" where the torque starts to kick in around 2200 rpm. With numerically lower gearing, you have to attain a higher speed before the RPMs get into this "sweet spot" Numerically higher gears get you up into that range at a lower speed (sooner). Pulling a load at much under 2200 RPMs this engine is pretty much a dog and it puts a much more increased strain on the transmission as well. The tranny is constantly searching for the right gear to maintain speed which means more heat is built up, so you get a double whammy on the tranny, more wear and higher operating temp.
You'd see a significant benefit to regearing, even to just 4.1 gears...

 

Thaks for the info and I stand corrected. Looked at the my build sheet and it is 3.55. Not sure where I got 3.73. I will go talk to some of the other local 4x4 shops around here to see what they say.

 

Talk to 4x4 shops, talk to people who have re-geared who specifically did it for towing/hauling and not for over-size tires. Gather as much information as you can and then go from there.

I've seen some decent work come out of 4 Wheel Parts, but I've also seen some REALLY bad work come out of there and they are always among the highest prices. I've also seen the store managers renegotiate quotes down to hundreds off of original quotes, meaning that they are like a car dealer and will gouge the unsuspecting if they think they can...

 

Ive pulled a load 16ft trailer from GA to DC and back and as said, only bad thing is fuel consumption. Some of that has to do with OD off but not much. Most has to do with weight and load.

but overall and as others have said, you will be fine, Afterall, thats why the OD button is there.

I have 456s in mine BTW

 

Kjun I also run 4.56 Truck came with 3.55. And i did it for better towing performance. I pull about 8k 2004 1500 4x4 Hemi. I too gained fuel milage in town and on the highway Flat towing no headwind 10MPG Hills of Oregon 8. That gear ratio with the tires put me at 2300 at 60. Right in the Hemi's sweet spot. Very happy with the re gear. Lots of talk on here about re gearing. These guys is where I got all my info from, before I decided which gear ratio to go with. Weed and Hammer both have alot of knowledge to share. And many others.

 

Hi guys, Google brought me here when searching for towing options for my Ram.

I would like a Cummins, but not in my budget right at the moment.

I have an 03 Quad Hemi 4 X 4 with 3.92 and 20 inch rims. I love the truck, have cared for it like I was going to keep it another 20 Yrs., but Im not satisfied with the towing. Seems 4.56 is the way to go, however I have some questions.

Some guys have mentioned running about 2200 RPM at 60 MPH with 4.56. Im not sure how this is possible with this gearing?? Unless OD is activated???
And, why activate OD when towing??


Presently I am towing about 8000 lbs...travel trailer. I know Im pushing my trucks limits....

I run with OD off,. and quite often Im running in 3rd gear with the torque converter unlocked as per the transmission controller... this is about 3000 RPM at 60 MPH. ( Going down a grade or with a tail wind, the converter will lock up.)

Do you fellows think its a fair guess that by going to 4.56 gear, this will allow the converter to lock up??

My figuring, this would put me back at 3000 RPM with converter lock up at 60 MPH.

All feedback appreciated. thanks