Went to talk with my mechanic today who has been working with 4x4's and racecars exclusivley for 30 years now and he advised me that even wanting to bump up to 315's that he still does not reccommend a re-gear and to stay with the 3.55's. This is in direct contradiction to what I read on here so I asked why and he says my off road performance will be better with the 3.55's as will be the gas milage. He worrys about spinning the motor tighter with the new gears as well. Instead he recomends a bigger trans pan and a huge aux. cooler.

Whatcha thinkin?

Gordon

 

i agree with your mechanic as far as the trans pan and cooler will help, but i do think that the gears will help...lower gearing means more torque and less speed and since top end speed isn't going to be a problem on our trucks (unless you're pushing maybe 130mph) you could use the more torque for offroading. i believe 4.10's would take you back to around stock.

 

Been there, and done this. Lots of misinfo floating around on here. First thing is your mechanic is an idiot if he's actually saying that. For running a somewhat offroad shop that really instills alot of confidence in me. 35s with 3.55 gears will mean a tranny rebuild (ask me how I know ) When you run that big of a tire at 60mph your rpms will drop to 1500-1600 which is very low. The truck will not have the power to pull along in OD in hills or wind. You are taking the engine out of its powerband, especially the Triton series engines. These are higher reving engines and make a good share of their power and torque at the higher rpms. Also staying with 3.55s will hurt your mileage ALOT more than going to 4.56 ever will. The reason is you're lugging the engine too much and it needs to lock and unlock the TC and that uses alot of fuel. In order to get it back to stock you need 4.56 gears. 4.10s will be like having 3.27 gears with the stock tires. What I find hilarious is that he says your offroad performance will be better. What kind of fawk head that runs an offroad shop would EVER say that. For offroad performance you almost ALWAYS want a lower gear, especially when you're talking 3.55s. Do yourself a favor and don't ask this guy for anymore advice on offroad equipment if he's handing you BS answers like that. Fawking idiots

 

yeah...check out some rigs that are serious offroading (we're talking mud/rock climbing/etc, not racing like prerunners and stuff) and you'll see them running some real granny gears, cause they don't care about speed they want their max power to happen at low speed. i'd say get a new offroad shop.
and sorry, you would definitely want to go with a 4.56 or a 4.30 maybe, but the 4.10's wouldn't be enough.

 

4.30s won't work on a 4x4. So far I've only been able to find them for the 8.8 or 9.75, but have not come across a RR 8.8 IFS axle. I've heard that Currie uses a RR 8.8 gearset for their high pinion 9" axles, but I've been unable to locate any. If you go with the easily available parts you're looking at 4.10 or 4.56 gears. 4.10s is about right with 33s, 4.56 is about right with 35s.

 

What is wrong with my guy? Now im worried. Sure glad ive done everything else myself. Anyone know af a "GOOD" offroad shop in the central Texas area?
Dont know what else to say except thanks guys. Gordon

 

He's entitled to his opinion, but he's wrong-o ! If you ever travel to the Houston area, this is one of the best places in Texas. www.pylebros.com .If I got a BS story like that, I'd never go to that guy's shop for anything.

 

Your guy is a total idiot. I agree with everyone else. 4.56's are the way to go. I get the same MPG now as I did with stock setup. Had 4.56's for a year. I frequent an off-road site that has guys who race/build/live off-roading and everyone of them would tell you not to go higher than 4.30's but you will be happier with 4.56's. powerstorke and I have first hand knowledge with the tranny problems your stock gears with 35's would bring you.

 

Thanks Max! Great website ans very friendly people on the phone. I do belive I found my shop! Gordon

 

Max,

Have you dealt with Pyle Bros before? They have been recommended to me by a couple guys at work also. I live in League City, work in Laporte, but hadn't heard of them yet. It just caught my eye to see their name up here on the message board.

Toddy,

What kind of prices are they quoting you? If I can't be 100% sure I could swap gears out this may be the place I go as well.

Thanks guys -

Mike

 

Emailed them with the specifics last night now that I have nailed down exacley what ratio I want. Should be hearing back soon; and will let you know.
On a side topic, I met a group of people from League City on the Guadalupe last year. Ever come over here tubing?

 

Gordon- You're Welcome !

Mike- Yes, I have dealt with them. They do an outstanding job, come highly recommended by many people, and make most gear swappers look like amateurs.

 

Thanks for letting me know what they come back with. I'll keep an eye on this thread.

Actually, I'll be a first time Guadaluper come August. The fiance and I are meeting some friends over there. I heard the river was flooded enough to be closed, but hopefully by August it'll be in good shape.

Max, thanks for the feedback. If I could just come up with the money...

Mike

 

Canyon Lake is about 6' over normal pool right now so they have the tailrace opened up a bit. River has been running at about 4500cfs for a week now. (tubeable but not reccommended for a first timer) Best flow for tubing, gaulking, and drinking is 4-800 cfs somewhere. Yall should be safe come Aug. barring any Tropical storms or their relatives. Yall should look me up when your here. Always great to meet friendly people you swap info with. If you need any sort of river info or camping info before comming dont hesitste to ask.
Gordon