School me on replacing gears...

[Chrispbrown36]

The tires that are on there are 31x10.5-15's and are brand new so they should be around for a while. I don't have any plans to lift it or go too big on the tires (mostly due to price), so I will probably stay with the size I have. As far as pulling goes, the biggest thing (other than my rear end) I tow is a 16 ft jon boat, so I don't need a ton of power. I would like some more umph taking off though. Honestly at this point I am not sure at this point if it is the gears or the engine that are doggy. The motor seems to be the only thing that wasn't really well maintained on the truck and I am just beginning to pick through the oil leaks to see what is going on under the hood.

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Copy that.....

With the tire and transmission combo you have, if it were my truck I would gear it 3.73.

Just a rough guesstimate, I would say at 60mph in OD your engine would be around 2000 RPM give or take a little bit..

I had an '01 Silverado Z-71 with the less common for a half-ton 4.10 gears. That truck was turning right around 1900 RPM at 60 MPH. I LOVED that truck for those gears! The truck that replaced it is an '06 version of the same exact truck with the exception of the aluminum block 5.3. It has "normal" gears in it and it just doesn't have it where the old one did.... 1500 RPM at 60 MPH...

My vote is 3.73.

And don't forget to verify your front axle ratio at some point too... Besides, wouldn't hurt to get fresh gear oil up front anyway.

[Chrispbrown36]

I already changed the lube in the front axle but that was before I was checking ratios so I am not sure what is up front....I thought the front and back had to match.....is that not true? I still need to drain the transfer case and refill it eventually so while I am under there I might go ahead and open up the front diff again and check the gear out.

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Yes, the ratios must match.

What I was saying is that I have seen K-10's with mismatched ratios between front and rear and that it is quite interesting when someone tries to use 4wd not knowing the axle ratios don't match. It's a good way to do some damage to the driveline of the truck.

The reason these goofs got away with a half-arsed re-gear of a 4x4 was that they would not use 4x4.

Then they would sell the truck to a hapless buyer (in one case, my brother) and when said buyer tries to use 4x4 the first time the darned thing about went off the road.

When he figured out what the problem was, he had one axle re-geared to match them up and be able to use 4x4. There were a few broken teeth on the front ring gear.. And that was only attempting to use 4x4 for a brief couple of minutes before realizing something was seriously wrong.

Moral of the story here: Make sure 4x4 functions properly before buying a truck. But if for whatever reason you do not confirm proper 4x4 function before buying, pull the covers on both axles and check gear ratios.

If you have already used 4x4 with no issues, your gears match. If they did not match it would be incredibly obvious to you that something is amiss.

[Chrispbrown36]

All is well....4wd got us home during our last snow storm. The wife STILL won't say she appreciates the 4wd! She looks at my baby as if it is big, old and ugly.....she just can't see the beauty! ha ha

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

All is well....4wd got us home during our last snow storm. The wife STILL won't say she appreciates the 4wd! She looks at my baby as if it is big, old and ugly.....she just can't see the beauty! ha ha

On one hand that is INCREDIBLY unfortunate!!

But on the other, at least you don't have to compete with her for driver's seat time!! LOL!

My wife is OK with my truck. She's not head over heels for it like I am, but she doesn't dislike it either.

Only things she doesn't like is A: climbing up into it. 4" lift with 35" tires are a bit of a hop with no step bars of any kind. And B: She has only driven it twice, she has a hard time getting the clutch pedal to the floor...

Other than that, she likes cruising around in it...with me driving. And that's fine by me.

[Chrispbrown36]

Amazingly enough my 12 yr. old daughter absolutely loves the truck....she is gonna be a true hillbilly girl. She loves big trucks! I have told her that the exhaust is going to have to be changed because it's a bit rough and her response was, "I like it like that....it's loud!" ha ha

[RIDE-RED 350r]

That's called "raisin' em up right" buddy!