flashgordon

But do the 4.10 gears let you launch in third? What happens then? Might be worth it to start really slow if you can get a full power-band run?


don't race my truck........not much that much
and i just put a new clutch in it and dont want to slide the clutch that much.

Begle1

Well, you know about all of my experiences driving manual trucks... I don't know what they're capable of... (I'm sure I'd be just as good at stalling it out in third as I would be in first...)

flashgordon

I try to baby my truck,...untill my wife and her ford sport tacker things that she can blow my doors off. I had a give her a lesson w/black smoke

Begle1

So at least you managed to get her sooty while she blew your doors off?

flashgordon

When it was stock she blue the doors off of me and then i did a little tweeking of the pump and she tryed to take me again and i left her behind with tail lights and smoke!

She thought she had me tell the boost came on in 3d and then beteeen the pump mods and my GV she got left way be hind and the dodge jokes went back to the ford where that belong

chuxtruk

Personally, unless I was towing something heavy and often or racing I wouldn't have the 4.10's in my truck. Poor/limited top end performance and forsaken mpg would be the 2 main reasons I'd be looking for a higher gear ratio in that rearend. Last time I looked you could buy a new ring and pinion set in either 3.54 or 3.73 ratios for our trucks for about $300. Of course installation will cost more. But running either of these ratios would imho make it a more road friendly rig not to mention the improved mpg aspect. Those low 4.10 gears have their place....it's just not in the "normally used" truck most of us here are familair with. Chuck

Ace

So in answer to Smokey's original questions: 1) Not necessarily, just depends on if you view limited top speed and lower mpg as "problems." And 2) Why bother, it won't buy you much more than extra shifter rowing.

csramsey640

My step father has one of those Military M1009 Chevy pickup trucks, it has a 3 speed Th400 and 4.56's 55 and its wound tight

jughead

why not gear ones truck so it will tow the max load u are going to pull out of OD? less monkey motion it the trans. therefore less heat build up. then OD can be used for fuel mileage when empty. i dont tow a lot but this is what i have done for years.

wannadiesel

Wrong. Higher RPM means more internal friction and pumping losses.

wannadiesel

Yeah, but the 3.07 gears are hard to find. The 3.54's are a little deep unless you drive 55 all the time you are loaded. Again, 3200 RPM governor spring is the $12 solution.

mhuppertz

Use low range with the hubs unlocked if you need to really pull! 'Course you 2 by guys are out of luck there......

frostie

This is an interesting conversation.
I have 1 first gen with 4.10s. stock it would run about 78 wide open with the getrag. After a governor spring and pump mods it will run 97 MPH. Im talking at 4700 Elevation in Colorado. I run it all day at 80 MPH plus. Did I mention the service bed and weighing 10,500 LBs.
I put an NV5600 6 speed in my 2WD truck about 3 years ago. I love it.
I installed an NV4500 in my 4WD truck last year, I thought with the extra power I would be OK with the 5 speed. I was dissapointed. If you dont haul much weight than 5 speed is OK but if you are pulling 10,000 Plus all the time than go with the 6 speed.
Unfortunately New Venture (NV) I heard closed there doors and they will be getting hard to find.
The 2WD truck with the 6 speed, I took out the 3.54 gears (when I blew them to pieces ) and installed 3.73 gears. I like the combo.
Did I mention I went from western Colorado to northern Idaho last year and back. I ran 75 MPH at 14,000 LBs and pushing a huge cabover camper. No hill could keep me under 75MPH and got 11 MPGs. That may not impress you but I was pleased.
What a great engine.

Begle1

But how much does internal friction, moving inertia and pump inefficiency add up to? I knew that higher RPM would mean more friction, but didn't figure on mentioning it because I figured it would be trivial.

I think that friction is less of a problem then wasting all of the energy it takes to move the 400 pounds of reciprocating mass inside of the engine faster, however.

goodtyms

I'm considering switching to 3.73 or 4.11 gears because i run 33x12.50 tires and live in Washington state with lots of big hills. I'm holding off though to see how the truck pulls a load after I'm done adding perfomance mods (I relaize that I'll never be really done ) becuase even with 3.54s, it does pretty good going up passes pulling a boat with a cabover camper...