Tow Vehicle for 22,000 Pounds Plus

transamz9 wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

transamz9 wrote:
If you are planning on drag racing get the 4.10 if not the 3.73 will be more than enough gear an better all around gear.

If pulling a 23,000# 5er 4.10's are nice to get rolling, and hills.

Like I said before, I pull with 3.42's and yes there is a difference but I have never had an issue " getting going ". I have actually had my traction control kick in a couple times on damp roads taking off at lights that are on hills. Be leave me, 900 lbft of torque has no problem getting 23000 moving or keeping it moving.

What does your 5th wheel weigh? You're apparently talking about 23,000 lb GCW since you're towing with a SRW truck. The OP is probably going to be in the 32,000 lb GCW range once he's loaded with everything.

If it were me and (like the OP) I were going to tow a 22,000 lb 5th wheel, I think I might listen to those of us who are pulling the late model DRVs and other 5th wheels in the OP's weight range. But, that's just my opinion....

Can you do it with 3.42s? Yes - Cummins12v98 did, but notice when he changed trucks, he went to 4.10s. I've towed with 3.54s in a 2nd generation Ram - biggest mistake I ever made! That's why I ran 4.10s in the 2002 Ram as well as in the 2011.

With the 4.10s and the double overdrive 68RFE or Aisin (both have almost identical 6th gear ratios), 65 MPH in 6th gear is ~1750 RPM, so 6th gear is useful for towing, downshifting on grades is minimized, driveline stresses are lessened for a given wheel torque, you have the advantage of 6 versus 5 useful gears for towing and a lower overall 1st gear ratio which eases torque and heat loading on the torque converter, etc.

Rusty