With the leverage of those 38's I would definitely go with the 4.10's (since you would be close to stock gearing). You at least have the advantage of a diesel and an automatic so going any further would dampen your mud prowess. By the way, where in NC are you? I used to call Boone my home and originaly from W-S.

 

I am going to go ahead and get a set of 4.10's coming and send the 3.54's back when they arrive (sorry Summit!).

Its worth it to me to invest the extra $200 when doing the front axle next to get the performance I am looking for.

I feel like 4.10's will be a step in the right direction especialy when I get the money for my 44's.

I guess the fact is I am not the typical diesel owner because I will rarely if ever tow and do little to no long distance driving. Give me a trail or some mud and I am ready to !!!!!

I am about an hour east of W-S. between Greensboro and Chapel Hill. Thanks for the advice!

 

I think 4.10 is a nice gear for alot of reasons. You can pull big tires, tow heavy and use low range to go just about anywhere offroad. Only drawback is you'll never be able to get over 20mpg on the highway. If that is an issue do what I did: Install a Gear Vendors overdrive.

 

I would have stayed with the 3.54s, and put the extra money into a tighter convertor (you need it anyway). But 4.10s with some bigger tires should be livable. You can always resell the 3.54 D60 gears to help offset the cost of the new gears.

And what is wrong with a 2.94 ratio rear (or equivalent)? That would be AWESOME, IMO. I've always felt the 3.54s were a little lower than ideal anyway for light to moderate towing (or in this case, a lift and bigger tires) May put a 3.31 in my rear when I get the cash. I'd put a 3.07 under mine in a heartbeat if i could find one.

Daniel

 

So you gonna come to the Dyno day in Durham later on in Feb??

 

To be honest I have had my hands full with this project and dont know any of the details. Where can I find out?

 

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=130551

 

I'll do my best to be there.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

Every torque converter is a torque multiplier. Ours just happens to do it at a higher RPM than we would like.

 

You are going to like the 4.10s, I run them with my current 38s and all the way up to 40s.

 

The 4.10's will be here on Tuesday. I will let you know how they work out. Thanks again for all the input!

 

EXCELLENT decision on changing out those gears! I was just about going nutz reading those posts and kicking myself for not reading this sooner! In off roading, when u go with a larger tire combination gears are an ABSOLUTE must! The engine works much harder to get 7K pound moving, the tranny takes a whoopin, then converter takes a whoopin, and fuel mileage dies. You will love those 4.10's! I wish I knew where the tire=gearing converter went to. You will recover a lot of lost performance. There is a reason guys put, 4.10's, and 4.56's in when they have 38's and 44's.

I dont care if ur running 2000 Lb. Ft. and 1000HP that engine dont work near as hard to get that thing rolling!

 

GOOD POST COWBOY!! i had a 78 chev 3/4 454 with a turbo 400 trans, it had
3:23 gearing and when i put 38's on it , it was a turd and i started breaking the rear drive shaft everytime i took it out (mostly u-joint falure). one time when the driveshart failed the tube actually twisted and almost spooled for about 6inches. i changed to 4:10's and never had that issue again, and the performance chage was well worth the cash for the new gears.