tonkadoctor
Full Access Member
I swapped the 4.10 gears out and put in 3.08 gears in just over a week ago and here is what I found.
A little about my driving first. I was an over the road trucker and owner operator for 8 years with over 1 million logged miles of safe driving in the US and Canada, (I'll never tell how many were not logged
). I learned many years ago to short shift and skip shift when possible to save fuel and I still drive this way today shifting at about 1500 rpm.
Around town I run righ at the speed limit and on the highway I generally run about 63 in the granny lane because I hate fighting traffic and swapping lanes all the time to pass cars. Besides I'm retired and ain't in no hurry for anybody.
99.9% of my driving is flat land and empty, my heaviest loads are around 3000 - 4000 lbs roughly once a month and my heaviest tow is about 8000 lbs a couple times a year.
Now for the facts about the swap.
I'm happy with my decision as it fit's what I do well. If I was using this truck for hauling heavy loads, towing heavy trailers all the time or lived in hilly mountainous terrain I probably would'nt go higher than a 3.55 ratio.
A little about my driving first. I was an over the road trucker and owner operator for 8 years with over 1 million logged miles of safe driving in the US and Canada, (I'll never tell how many were not logged
). I learned many years ago to short shift and skip shift when possible to save fuel and I still drive this way today shifting at about 1500 rpm.Around town I run righ at the speed limit and on the highway I generally run about 63 in the granny lane because I hate fighting traffic and swapping lanes all the time to pass cars. Besides I'm retired and ain't in no hurry for anybody.
99.9% of my driving is flat land and empty, my heaviest loads are around 3000 - 4000 lbs roughly once a month and my heaviest tow is about 8000 lbs a couple times a year.
Now for the facts about the swap.
- My fuel milage around town has increased from 15.50 mpg to 18.08 mpg .
- 2.5 mpg increase in fuel milage makes me very happy, way better than expected.
- I now use all 5 gears accelerating instead of 2nd, 4th and 5th.
- about a 500 rpm drop per gear
- 55mph is about 1400 rpm, 65mph around 1700
- Total cost of the swap was $320 which will pay for itself in 108 gallons of fuel saved in less than 2000 miles at $2.94 per gallon
I'm happy with my decision as it fit's what I do well. If I was using this truck for hauling heavy loads, towing heavy trailers all the time or lived in hilly mountainous terrain I probably would'nt go higher than a 3.55 ratio.
When I was a kid we lived in Belgium (Dad was stationed at NATO HQ) and we went to Bastogne a number of times. On a Boy Scout trip I camped in the same farmer's field that the 101st had in December '44. Pretty awesome place to visit!
that they were going to install a lift kit on so they would fit. The guy paid $5800 for 4 - 26" wheels and tires
.....Hell I only paid $5531 for my truck with custom wheels and new tires already on it which included tax, title tags and a $299 doc fee when I rescued it from a Dodge dealership
