I'm fixing to buy an 06 qc 4x2. I was wondering what was the difference in the axle ratio's. Is the 3.92 ratio better, if so how? And do the 20 rims give a better ride or make any difference at all beside paying more for tires later?

 

I've heard some people complain that the ride with 20" rims is rougher than others, compared to 16", 17".....rims. This is due to the reduced side wall height that you get when running the 20" rims and the 275 tires. I personally like my 20", with the lower profile tire the truck tends to handle better - less roll on the tire. The biggest issue with running 20" rims is the current lack of tires to choose from. But if you’re looking at a 4x2 I'm guessing you don't live where is snows and therefore need a AT tire, you shouldn't have any issue fining a nice HP tire to fit the 20's.

As for axle ratio. Dodge adjusted the axle ratio to fit 1) the tire size originally supplied on the truck 2) to address the desired towing capacity. The numerically higher the axle ratio typically the more you can tow, it's also easier to go up to larger tires w/o having such an impact on performance.

If you plan to eventually order custom rims I would go with the 20" from dodge, unless you think you can sell them w/o loosing money. When deciding which axle ratio you want ask yourself how much you intend to tow and what tire size you plan to run. If you plan to run 33" or 35" tires you'll want to go with 3.92 gears, if you plan to run 31" or 32" and don't plan to tow very much you'll probably be fine with 3.55 gears...

Here in MN the winters do a real number on custom rims, unless a person spends a lot of time taking care of them. I also tow a car trailer and Jeep Cherokee for 4-wheeling ~ 6,500 - 7,000 lbs. Based on this I decided I wanted the factory 20" rims and 3.92 gears. I believe if you order 20" rims you'll get 3.92 gears, if you order 17" you get 3.55 by default unless you specify you want 3.92 gears. I also think that the TX series comes with 3.92 gears.

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

Hey thanks for the info. The heaviest thing I will tow on any regular basis will be a bass boat. Even then it is not on a regular basis. I probably won't ever buy custom wheels, but I do use my truck to go hunting in so when I have to buy new tires I will prob go with an AT. It doesn't snow often enough to pay for the 4x4 plus where I go hunting I don't really need it. Again thanks for the info.

 

get the 3.92's! there is NO good reason for the 3.55's at all... They will NOT get you better fuel economey and at best they will make your truck feel like a SLUG... the 3.92's will better serve your 6,000lb+ truck and get you better fuel economey than those 3.55's!

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