Take your 5th wheel with 3.73 gears over Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado and see how it does.

Just Saying

Denny

 

Towed for the first time with my 2017 6.2 with 3.73 gears yesterday, pulled pretty good up in the hills. Boat and Bowfishing equipment only weighs about 4000lbs. The real test is when I tow the travel trailer up to 9-10k feet in elevation. I'm sure I'll make it but I'd probably wish I had a little deeper gearing.

 

overall i've been happy with my 4.30 gears, especially when driving around town because you get some really nice get-up-and-go.

I'm sure it would be expensive to figure out BUT I do still wonder why a three speed transfer case hasn't been done in order to give trucks a choice of a second gear range much in the same way the old two-speed axles acted.

Just imagine...you hit the Tow/Haul button on the shifter and not only does it choose different transmission mapping but it also selects the "Towing" range from the transfer case. Effectively giving you 3.55 and 4.30 or 3.73 and 4.30...

probably never happen though of course but i think it'd be neat. upcoming 10-speed pretty much guarantees that wouldn't happen as well.

GF

 

I've said several times in the past, the 3.73's work. I was impressed how my truck pulled and the towing mpg with the factory 3.73's(tiny 245/75r17's). But having the advantage of being able to drive dads 4.30 truck with the same tires, I knew it pulled even better, but most of all, I could tell a huge difference in the way the truck was able to pull itself around under light throttle around town. It's a better daily driving experience. These trucks are heavy, and the 6.2 is impressive, but it needs all the help it can get off idle to about 2200-2300 rpm.

 

Love my 4.30's and would not want it any other way. Combined with the 6R140 it tows better than my 2000 7.3L ever did. I'd like to see 4.56 as on option tho so I could up size tires and maintain the low end grunt.

 

transmission and transfer cases does not change the overall leverage of the final ring and pinion...

my 84 Buick Electra had a final gear ratio of 2.7..... 70mph was 1,400 rpm.. it was a dog . at any speed, and in any gear. but it did live to 300,000 miles.

 

If I were in the Rockies, I probably wouldn't have a gas truck. But around these parts she gets the job done.

 

We travel all over the US pulling our trailer so 4.30 gears are a no brainer.

Denny

 

Is there anything that wasn't a dog in '84? Emissions hadn't been figured out yet, low compression was used to help with emissions, and everyone thought the higher the gear ratio, the better the mileage. Yet nothing made enough power to really pull those high gears efficiently.

 

Based on what I'm seeing the people who tow heavy regularly, like 10k+ probably need the 4.30. I might only tow that heavy once a year.

 

well the final ratio is its own fixed gearing so I will agree to that BUT the transmission and transfer case do impact the RPM band which the motor operates at and the loading on the motor just as much. That's why wide and close ratio transmissions as well as multi speed transfer cases are developed and produced...

It was just a thought as to why that isn't a route that manufacturers have taken with regard to trucks that tow and could use the second range of gearing. I'm sure it is mostly because Dana and New-Venture transfer case manufacturers don't want to develop it or have tried and it doesn't work in this type of application.

GF

 

True, 307 cu.in. and 140hp at the rear tire.

 

To anyone that has re-geared....did the e-locker get in the way or make life difficult during the install? Also I have been researching the phenomenon of ring gear bolts backing out and there does not seem to be a clear common explanation for this.

 

I tow a 7800lb 5vr with 3:73's and don't have a issue holding the speed limit anywhere out west. If I had any more weight I would be considering 4:30's for sure.

 

The e locker has no effect on the gearing options. I had read that somewhere too, a long time ago, and think I repeated once in here. After thinking long and hard about it, it made no sense. So I called Yukon to ask about it after they released 4.56's and 4.88's. There is also no carrier break for our rear ends.

I've not seen anything about our rear ends being proned to ring gear bolts backing out. I have heard of it happening to various rear ends, including 8.8's. Loctite and proper torque and technique will prevent this.