my '01s problems seem to be due to the ridiculously high gearing. i plan to regear to 4.10 in hopes of correcting the issues and making the truck driveable.
this is the truck
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with this bed on the truck, completely unloaded, i cannot maintain 65 mph on the highway without taking it out of overdrive.
i called randy's ring and pinion and they want $1250 for ring gears, pinion gears, and master bearing kits for the front and rear differential of the truck. before i spend this kind of money on just gears and bearings, is there another source available cheaper? ive checked local salvage and they all only sell complete axles hub to hub, and online salvage sources end up costing as much as randys after paying shipping both ways (returning cores).
See that BIG air block right above the cab, that is probably one of the main reasons it won't run fast.
I would find a bubble to stick on there to get the air around the box easier. Even a simple home made diverter would do wonders.
As for changing the gearing there are a lot of pieces to change, it's not going to be cheap. Have you checked the parts prices at a dealer. Might get a surprise.
the wind resistance from the "billboard" has an effect, but not a large one. prior to putting the bed on the truck it wouldnt break traction on pavement and im referencing when it was just cab and chassis. when i drove to pick up the bed i hauled a 5x10 flatbed trailer (weighing less than 500 pounds) and couldnt drive 65 without taking it out of overdrive then either. with it being this weak empty im scared to see what it will be like after putting 4000 pounds of gear in the bed. i just dont know why dodge would put 3.54 gears in a dually its just stupid stupid stupid.
anyway, i knew the dealership is even more so im hoping someone on here knows of a discount source for gears. thanks, nathan
You'd be surprised at how much effect it has. On my H1, the roof rack will reduce mileage about 1 MPG, and it is only about 5" high. At highway speeds (65) wind resistance is the major factor affecting both performance and economy.
again, while just a cab and chassis the truck wont run 65 mph in overdrive pulling an empty 500# trailer. while i agree the wind resistance is a factor, i do not believe it is the issue here because of how the truck performed before the bed was installed.
again, while just a cab and chassis the truck wont run 65 mph in overdrive pulling an empty 500# trailer. while i agree the wind resistance is a factor, i do not believe it is the issue here because of how the truck performed before the bed was installed.
Nate,
You've got other probs besides gearing if the bare cab/chassis won't run 65 with a light trailer behind.
That engine isn't making full power. You've got bad injectors, need a tune-up, plugged cat, bent exhaust or something.
HOLY SMOKES! Budd, I lost touch with you years ago and tried for the longest time to reconnect. Please drop me an email snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com and let me know how to contact you.
The truck has 73,000 miles and was owned by the county before I bought it. I took it in to the Dodge dealer and they are insisting that the truck is fine.
HOLY SMOKES! Budd, I lost touch with you years ago and tried for the longest time to reconnect. Please drop me an email snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com and let me know how to contact you.
The truck has 73,000 miles and was owned by the county before I bought it. I took it in to the Dodge dealer and they are insisting that the truck is fine.
Nathan
As always, my friend, my email address in the header works. Oddly enough, I've never been hacked, contrary to what's commonly believed by those that have munged addresses.
The dealer says it's ok? Bullfeathers!
So how come an 80 D-150 with a slant six ( my last one) could out-run yours with a 1700 pound load? ( I topped my 80 out at 85 with 1700 pounds railroad crossties aboard)
If they can't answer that, then I wouldn't believe them about much of anything.
Seriously, with a 5.9 (360) engine and 4:11 gears you should be showing about 3200-3400 on the tach at about 65 and if it can't get to that rpm, they may have a governed chip on the engine for fleet use. Get one from a civilian truck in the junk yard and try it. If that doesn't help, then the engine has some probs.
Cheaper than a gear change might be to install a Gear Vendors Overdrive unit. Unfortunately, (if you remember, I'm not a fan of overdrives) this would give you two overdrives, including the one in the transmission, but it might be cheaper.
Quick update:, I've moved back to Canon City CO (in '07), I'm fully disabled now but will turn 65 on our next birthday, and I'm the poverty stricken owner of an 88 XJ (Renix 4.0, BA10/5 5 speed, 4X4 with 3.07 axles) that had been severely abused. We got it to tow behind our '81 Class "C" RV (Dodge
400 chassis, 440-ThermoQuad, 727, 4:10 Dana 70 axle with duals) but then the better-half developed chronic lung disease and we gave up going roaming.
just an odd ball thought, take a look at the intake manifold. you may have a compresser manufold on the engine. what i mean is you may have 6 cylinders for driving and 2 cylinders for making air to fill tires and what not. real handy if your truck came from a tire shop doing roadside repairs.
An interesting idea, do you have any URLs/references to this type of manifold? I've often wondered about doing something like this myself, and know about those little adapters that one could screw into a spark plug hole to give compressed air (which was loaded with explosive fuel, too!)
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