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Gear swap

Marcus2000monster
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SilverMoose

SilverMoose

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8 hours ago, Marcus2000monster said:

Meh I wanna stay below 1k$ but that’s not gonna happen except To buy taller tires... :whistle:

Depending on the condition of your axles, it would cost probably 1k per axle IF you did it yourself.  When I first got my truck I looked into it and my mechanic quoted 2k per axle.  Gears alone are 600-700 each.  On the mileage side, I just got my best this fill up.  19.4 mpg around town.  Probably 16.5-17 highway.  Slightly oversized tires and 4:10 (see sig below).

 

L8tr

D

 

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AH64ID

AH64ID

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38 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Why I've never jumped in the over sized tire game. 

 

They do have a place and a purpose, but if they are just for looks then I'm not interested. 

 

I like the 255/80R17 for the added axle clearance in deep snow. It's amazing what just a little bit will do to help. 

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Mopar1973Man

Mopar1973Man

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14 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

They do have a place and a purpose, but if they are just for looks then I'm not interested.

 

Absolutely. Like out here the ranchers commonly devote one truck for wide tires so they can float across muddy fields for feeding cattle. 

 

Like how I see tires. If I was to step off into the snow with normal boots on I would sink to the bottom. If I put on snow shoes I can walk on top. So that being said wider tires will allow a vehicle to float on top of a surface be it mud or snow. Narrow tires will sink in and bite the road way better. Since I know my front axle weight is 4,440 pounds typically that is 2,220 pound on each tire. So if I've got narrow tires on there is more weight per square inch pressing down to the road way. Where a wider tire will have less pounds per square inch pressing down allowing the vehicle to float on a surface better. 

 

So yes I understand the purpose and reason of wider tires. But 90% of the truck on the highway I look at every day never see a muddy field or even leave the pavement. Nothing more than "Pavement Princess". Like where I live most of the truck with wide tire that roll into town are got mud and slop to the driver window. But these are true work trucks.

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Marcus2000monster

Marcus2000monster

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5 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

You can run 35-inch tires with 4.10 easy. I've got a local gent that insisted on keeping his 37-inch tires so he swap out front and rear axles 3.55 gears for 4.10 and now has good power once again for that large of a tire. Cost him about $4,000 to be swapped out locally. 

Not worth the price. Will 35s keep mpg the same or lower it? 

I’m not terribly worried about rpms as much as mpg and noise. I’m all good w Th running 60mph for mpg but I need to be able to quiet the darn truck lol. It’s mainly engine noise. Exhaust has a very slight drone nothing crazy loud. Anyone ever tried to quiet down there motors? 

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Dieselfuture

Dieselfuture

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On 3/19/2018 at 7:19 PM, AH64ID said:

Best way to quiet down a 2nd gen is to get a 3rd gen :wink:

 

The VP trucks are the noisiest Cummins ever put in a Dodge. 

Ha ha funny, but in all reality I think in distant or maybe not so distant future I'll get 4th gen and skip the 3rd all together, kinda what I did with pager/blackberry era. The only 3rd gen that I may consider is an 07 g56. Not sure why or when but just thinking out loud. 

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Scottfunk

Scottfunk

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On 3/18/2018 at 12:58 PM, AH64ID said:

It will take tens of thousands of miles, or more, to offset the cost for just a mpg gain even if you do the work yourself. If you were to go from 14 to 16 mpg the CPM would be reduced by less the 0.03/mile at 3.00/gal. If you did the gear swap for $1000 it would take 33K miles to cover the cost. In my research for swapping from 3.73 to 4.10, for towing purposes, it would cost closer to $3K to do the swap and that would take 100K miles to recoup the cost. Going from 16 to 18 mpg would would be a 0.02/mile savings and thus take 150% longer to pay off. 

 

I think a 2mpg gain is unrealistically high... basically it's not going to save you any money unless you plan to put 250K more miles on the truck. 

 

If you've never setup gears before, which I gather you haven't, I wouldn't do it yourself. 

 

Go with a taller and skinnier tire on your next set, it will reduce rpms without a large increase in rolling resistance/weight. 

 

A 255/85R16 would be a 5% reduction in rpms over a 265/75R16, which is just over 1/2 of the change you would get with a gear swap. 

I dunno about that. I regeared my whole truck for under$200. I haven't gone for new bearings yet but when I junk yarded the rear gear I took all the bearings too, and the front gears I bought off eBay came with bearings. I picked forthe best ones, greased em up and let her rip. Now for a front driveshaft and I have to learn how to operate this cad thingy and I'll be ready for winter. Me thinks winter will be a rough one this year.

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Scottfunk

Scottfunk

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Yeah I know. But a lot of folks also don't know it can be done that way. From what I've seen unless an axle has been completely neglected there's no reason the r&p can't be reused. I found separating the bearings from the pinion and the carrier to be the most frustrating part of the job. This weekend I made a homemade separator otherwise I would've been unable to complete the job. I guess what I'm saying is some research and a little outside the box thinking can save a big pile of cash.

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