TON4FUN

Alright heres the deal I placed an order yesterday for a 3500 with the HO and 48RE combo. I placed the order with 4.10 gears and the guys at the dealer went ape cra* on me. They said I would'nt be able to go faster than 70 MPH and my gas mileage would be bad. So I placed the order with out them. I'm not a big gear person if you could'nt tell. I talked to Luke today over IM and he says to always get the auto with the 4.10's. <br><br>I need to know if the 4.10's will hurt top end speed, I don't every plan on going faster than 85 in this truck, and if gas mileage is also sacraficed. I'm more concerned about this truck pulling on a small highway hill with a load on the back and not having the throttle burried. FYI Lukes truck came in today and he offered to sell it to me but its not what I want, color and options. I'll go in and cancel the order tomorrow if I must to make sure I get the right setup. I was hoping that with the HO and 48RE and 3.73 gears it would pull fine. Any insight???? <br><br>

PADZZ

I can go atleast 95...but that's pushing red line. According to the computer, my gas mileage suffers over 80-85. If you spend alot of time at those speeds, I wouldn't get the 4.10's. Otherwise, I'm pleased w/ mine.

TON4FUN

What kind of gas mileage do you get loaded and unloaded at those speeds. Keep in mind I only tow about once a week or twice a month depending on the race season. I don't pull everyday and thats what shy's me away from the 4.10's. I can handle loosing some performance just not like I did with the SO and the 3.73 gears. I bet if I had the 4.10's in my SO I would'nt be having this discussion. I'm looking to the HO to offset what the SO could'nt do with the 3.73's.

dealseeker

TON4FUN, I'm no gearhead either so my opinion is probably worth squat but I'm gonna give it to ya anyway. I've read lots of your posts before and I find it hard to believe that for the towing you do that you need 4.10 gears. Luke's knowledge is obviously way beyond mine, but maybe, and I'm saying this with all due respect, his opinion is tainted by the very heavy trailers that he hauls.

Green Giant

If you are not towing close to max GVWR in the mountains then go with the 3.73 ratio. A diesel operates best at or around peak torque. At high speeds you will have the engine close to max RPM with the 4.10 which is bad for economy as well as the engine itself.<br>Jeff

FireNhole

How much dinero did you get hosed out of by switching from SO to HO? I was contemplating doing the same thing as you, but I only haul about 5-7k when towing my race car. Personally the 4.10 gear swap is not really needed unless you haul over 10k most of the time. The 3.73s will suffice with the auto.It's only a + rpm change of about 300 rpm @ 70mph My truck is a SWB SRW so it is lighter than the LWB DRW. I still may order a new one but not sure which dealer because around here it's hard to find good service..

Jonesey

TON4FUN,
Since we have no feedback on the 48RE &amp; HO, this is quite the dilemma. My vote would be the same as Green Giant's. I think in the long run for every day use, you will be much more satisfied with the 3:73 ratio.

TON4FUN

Thanks guys very good input, I will leave the order as it stands with the 3.73 gears. For Fire, I took a 6K hit but the dealer sold me the truck under invoice and I get $1000.00 back from dodge so it actually is a wash in a sense. My terms are the same and my loan amount went down by 1 dollar per month, hehe. I've made a pretty big deal out of the swap simply because I'm not happy with the SO and the way it tows 7500Lbs and the trucks reactions to small highway grades. My dealer was very helpful in making sure I was happy, even 11,500 miles later. <br><br>This time I got everything I wanted on the truck as well as the sport group with bright silver metallic paint. The thing I'm dreading is having to swap all my stereo equipment and accessories, I hope the truck makes it here before bike week in Daytona other wise the SO is going to make the trip. Thanks again you guys are a big help.

Luke S

With the SO/47re with 4.10's I just got rid of it ran 67mph at 2,000rpm's. :For any serious pulling I like the 4.10's. But I do pull heavier than most so maybe dealseeker is right, I am biased? ??? :

TON4FUN

Serious pulling for me is anything past 10,000 lbs. I think I will be O.K. with the 3.73's

Mopar_Mudder

I can't speak for sure on the 3.73's as I have only had 3.55's and 4.10's to compare. But the new trucks also have a little bit taller tires which sort of evens things out. But thier is more to this then just pulling power. The thing I ran into with the 3.55's pulling is that the tranny was constantly hunt shifting back and forth for gears every time you hit a hill, so you run it with over drive off witch just defeated the purpose of the 3.55 gears. Now pulling with the 4.10's it will hang right in thier in overdrive on a pretty good grade, actually you can't downshift it out of over drive till you get down to 65, which is just about perfect. The 4.10 are much easier on the tranny from a shifting stand point.

KenR

I certainly don't have the answers but part of my thinking when I ordered the 4.10 was, it would be easier on the transmission. Sure I will use more fuel, maybe $200-$300 per year but that is not a killer.<br><br>My current truck has the 3.54 and it is a problem going up that hill. Time will reveal if it is the correct choice for me.

Casey Balvert

I am really getting to old for this sort of stuff but on the way to work the other morning I figured I need to know more about the Batmobile's capabilities. I am on a straight rural road so I open her up. In short order she hits 100 mph and is still going. When she hits the magic number I let off the go pedal. I have 4.10 axle. Mileage wise she only has 2500 miles on it and I am getting over 19 on a trip and it is COLD here. I don't think you will have a problem unless you want to go 120 mph. ;D FWIW<br><br>Casey

KenR

Guess this will put to rest any reports of slower top speed with the 4.10 rear axle. I would think that the automatic would perform close to that.

70 to 75 is as fast as I would ever want to go. I am just too old for more.

Thanks for sharing

robsobx

I'd stick with the 3.73 unless you EVER plan on going with any bigger tire.<br>So now you're going with Silver? That red was mighty sharp! 8)