3.73 vs 4.88
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New User
Joined: Sep 2007
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3.73 vs 4.88
I'm a newbie to trucks, so let me ask what may be a dumb question. At highway speeds, why is a truck with 4.88 supposed to pull better than one with 3.73? I can surely understand that at low speeds, the 4.88 will get to the max torque range before the 3.73, so if you were trying to pull a tree trunk out of the ground (or trying to start from a dead stop with a heavy 5er), a 4.88 would be better. But once one reaches highway speed, why isn't a 4.88 in, say 5th gear, roughly about the same as a 3.73 in 4th gear, as far as pulling power goes. Doesn't the different transmission gear somewhat cancel out the difference in the axle ratio?
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Joined: Jul 2006
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it is a simple matter of mechanical advantage. It takes less effort to rotate the lower gear (numerically higher). The exception here is when the speed was increased so much that the 4.88 vehicle was beyond the optimum torque range, but it would really have to be way up there to not realize better acceleration.
Load the truck down, or provide some sort of additional resistance and the lower gears (numerically higher) really show thier advantages, even at speed.
Load the truck down, or provide some sort of additional resistance and the lower gears (numerically higher) really show thier advantages, even at speed.
