LS1 with 4.11 gears

[jimcaf]

Just got done with my LS1 swap 4L60E ,28 inch tires,its got 3.08s gear right now and getting ready to stick 4.11s in it .. Im in SoCal and drive up a pretty substantial hill to get to my house and plan on putting a hitch on it for the occasional tow. From what I gather out here the gear of choice is 3.73..Do you think I will regret it??,,,,thanks jim

[chuckmc8]

One of my donor trucks was a LQ4 with 4l80 and it had 4:10 gears from the factory (2WD 2002 2500HD)

[trac209]

Personally with a 4le trans I'd go with the 3.73. These trucks are far lighter then the donors ls engines come out of,3.73 should be plenty of gear and make for a better highway cruiser.

[BigRed76]

My '71 that I LS swapped has a 3.73 rear w/ 29" tires and its pretty much perfect for the setup. I'd think 4.11 is too much.

[Andy4639]

I just had the 6.0 LQ4 with 4l80e auto installed back in Jan. The rear end gear is factory 4:10's and I like it. I could go a little less I'm sure but with the weight of these old trucks I'll stay right where I'm at. I don't get the best gas milage but at 17.5MPG I'm ok with it since I didn't buy the truck for gas milage anyway!
The take off is great and it doesn't cruise bad at all only 2200RPM's at 65-70 MPH. If I do anything else it will be to add the new 6 speed automatic later to help on gas.

[special-K]

You'll find 4.10s came in 2500/3500s with taller tires. I would want 3.73s for your lighter truck with shorter tires. I have hauled many serious loads with 3.73s. I never felt I had the wrong ratio

[Custom 68]

I will vote for 3.73 also, I used that for several years and was a great combo. I did swap to a t56 and did swap to the 4.11 at that time because of the double overdrive.
the 4l60 has a very low first gear so with the lower gearing you will find first is a very short gear for you.
doing the quick calculation for the upper end it probably is about a wash. at 70 the 4.11 gears will cruise at 2400, the 3.73 will net you 2200. Not much difference.

[Hart_Rod]

3.73s....