3.42 gears for TC
Hello, Just looking for some thoughts on pulling hills with 3.42 gears. I'm going back to a pop-up TC @ 1800 lbs dry weight. The trucks I'm looking at are the Chevy and GMC 3500's SRW 4x4...
Forum Discussion
3 tons wrote:
Huh?? Time now to recognize the ‘new reality’ - Nowadays (21st century…) with the final three gears ‘as overdrives’ how is it that a 4:10 any kind of obstacle!!
3 tons - with a DRW 4:10, 6 speed, two final gears are both overdrives, purrs at 70 mph
There's nothing magical about overdrive. It's just another gear ratio.
With moderate towing or city driving, not much difference. It will pick the gears that match the RPM the truck decides the engine should run at. Very rarely will it get into top gear and it won't really need 1st gear hardly at all.
It's at the far ends of the operational regime where it makes a difference:
- When towing really heavy in mountainous conditions, you might exceed the tow ratings with the 3.42. Then the 4.10 might get you the maximum towing capability for the truck..
- When not towing and cruising at high speed on the freeway, the 4.10 may get the RPM higher than ideal even in top gear. The 3.42 will allow the engine to stay in the optimal RPM range.
Given the tremendous towing capability of modern trucks, the 2nd situation is likely to be beneficial far more often.
