I am about a month into ownership on my 05 with the G-56 and 3.73 gears. I did not know the difference in the 6 speeds when I bought the truck, but that still would not of been enough to stop me from buying this truck.

I do not understand Dodge`s thinking in gearing down the G-56 trans. Why did they do that? I have only pulled a load a couple times so far, once was a little over 10K#, and I never even thought about needing first, but could of used more top end.

I am going back 25 years to my old circle track days, but we would change out gears in the trans to get us in the rpm range we wanted for top gear and not have to keep shifting between corners and straights.

Has any one changed gears in the trans to change your final drive? I would think you could go up a little with all of them, or at least 4th, 5th and 6th. Personally, I would rather give up first, then have 2-6 as they are, and then have another gear on top.

Stupid idea?

 

I drove TBone's truck at our last DTR get together. He has a 2wd 05 Long Bed with the G-56. Nice truck! But man that thing is geared low. Definately a stump puller! Lots of power on tap, but the rpms are way to high for highway speed. Needs a 7th gear with a much taller gear for economy when not pulling, imo.

The only answer I have heard of on here is to put on taller tires. I don't think changing out the rear gears is very practical or maybe not even available for the AAM axles.

 

I believe the reaoninng behind the slightly lower gearing in the G56 was to accomodate heavier towing capacities with better heavy towing milage. I have noticed that I get better milage towing my 5ver with the G56 in my '05 than I did with the NV5600 that was in my '03. I think the reason for this is that the engine doesn't have to fuel up quite as much under heavier loading if the RPM is a little higher (100 - 200 RPM difference). Towing my 5ver with the '03, the best I could get was 11.3, after break-in, and already on my '05 I have been averaging 12.8 with only 10K on my truck. My '03 struggled a bit with my son's farm equipment (16K tow load), where my '05 seems to do much better with it.

Having said that, I will say that the milage running empty is 2 mpg less, but I don't really have enough miles on it to call it "broken-in" yet. Running empty I am averaging 15.5 right now, which is up from when I first took delivery at 14.5 mpg. I'm sure it will improve a little as I tow more loads.

D-C made this change to the truck to accomodate the folks that were towing heavier and wanted more towing capacity in stock form. This, of course, along with emmisions requirements, reduces mpg running empty. Just my observation and 2 cents worth.

 

Exactly! I hear a lot of guys you use these trucks for cruising around and commuting complaining about the G56. Me personally I love it, pulls better with our 48' step-deck, don't have to downshift near as much, shifts better, quiter. But we don't run our trucks unless they are hooked and loaded heavy.

 

I agree whole-heartedly, I like the G56 much better. Mine shifts smoother than the old NV5600 did, and like you I do a lot less shifting when towing heavy. Even running empty I like it better because of the smoother shifting.

 

Not at all. On two or three occasions, I have actually found myself slightly distracted, not paying close attention to my right hand and left foot and shifting out of sixth and going up/right looking for the next gear. I agree that 1st is just about useless, especially with a 2 speed transfer case if I really need a LOW gear. If all the gears were slightly higher, those towing really heavy loads could just drop down to 5th as their cruising gear.
After all, I'll bet many/most of these trucks spend more time not towing than pulling a heavy load.
Just my .02
John

 

I've pushed in the clutch on more than one occasion going for that 7th gear!

 

I am up to about 5268 times reaching for 7th and I tow a huge horse trailer! It was really confusing when I had two trucks. First gear is all about saving your clutch when towing a large load. I am out of first when towing a large trailer before I cross the intersection.

Joe

 

Here is the part I dont get. Max torque is around 1600-1700 RPM. Why is my truck doing 2200 at 68mph or so? I need an explanation for that one!

Joe

 

Shouldn't the 5600 with 4.10s pull better than the G-56?

 

Me three...lol. I just switched from a 2001 7.3L with the ZF 6 speed that had OD to the right and up. I keep reaching for that next gear! I will agree that the G56 is smoother shifting than the Ford, and the clutch pedal is a good deal lighter which is nice in traffic, but I still want that 7th gear!

 

I love my G56 and most of my driving is to and from work with nothing but me in the truck, no load at all.

I look like a dork in front of the wife all the time getting on the interstate and going for 7th gear

 

How much would it cost (if it is even possible) to either add a 7th gear or get a 7 or 9-speed tranny on our trucks?

 

You could add a Gear Vendors or US Gear Overdrive probably for under $3000.

I can cruise at 90mph with 3:55's and 6th gear over.

............Jim

 

That's funny you mention Gear Vendors; I just found their site. I am not 100% sure how it works with a manual vehicle (i.e., what exactly you do to use it shift wise). Also, I assume our 6th gear is 0.73:1? Does the 6th-Over drop it to 0.54:1 ? If so, that is a 25% drop in RPMs or basically 500!!!