3.31 gears at 40,000 lbs gross.
Just to give a bit of a feel for how different gear ratios would behave while towing I locked out 10 then 10th and 9th then added them back again while travelling on a straight stretch of road w...
Forum Discussion
ShinerBock wrote:
Is this the fault of the owner for not being knowledgeable enough to know when to lock out gears? The manufacturer for being forced to make the truck this way to meet EPA and CAFE regulations? Or the EPA and NHTSA for forcing auto manufacturers to make trucks that are less reliable for their purpose?
I'd say that answers this:
dodge guy wrote:
Ok let’s make this simple once and for all, if gearing does not matter, then the engineers at any manuf. would not have different ratios for towing higher weights. But to tow an XXXX lb trailer you need the next lower gear, and so on. It can’t be made any simpler than that. If you don’t understand that then all you are doing is arguing just to argue!
OEMs have to cater to the masses, so no, they can't expect owners to lock out OD and over-ride computer shift points. Thus they lower the tow rating on taller geared trucks. As enthusiasts, we're often surprised how many people don't know what a tach is in the "general driving public".
The counterpoint being raised is given an enthusiast driver who cares about his truck (not a fleet driver), towing heavy with a 3.31 puts very little additional stress on components other than the driveshaft / u-joints.
This is made possible by modern 8/10 spds with tight gear ratios that easily overlaps differences in 3.31 vs 4.30. I showed it takes TWO gears to bridge the gap, so technically the 10 speed can emulate a 3.8x gear ratio as well. Note, I would've never said this in the old 48RE / 4R100 days. Back then, a proper rear end was crucial as gears were so few.
