3.92’s or 3.21’s for 2018 Ram 1500?

Alright folks, I know this question has probably been asked way more times than many but I’m looking for help in deciding between the 3.92 and 3.21 gears for my new 2018 1500 that I hope to order here in the next few weeks.

So here’s the deal: If I ever do end up towing anything, it will be on very, very extreme occasions unless if someday in the very distant future I choose to buy either a small pop-up camper or a regular, fairly-small bumper-pull travel trailer or maybe even a little flatbed trailer for the occasional toting around of a mower or maybe a future four-wheeler someday so as you all can see, I probably won’t hardly ever be getting anywhere near the max towing capacity of this truck(unless I decide to get a camper which at this point is very very unlikely) so for towing purposes aside, do I really need the 3.92 gears?

I do primarily high-speed highway driving so is there much difference in fuel economy between the those and the 3.21’s? I’ve read that the 3.92’s make the truck a little more peppier(as one would expect) but is it true that they can cost me upwards of two miles per gallon at highway driving?

I’m interested in the shorter gears and, the money part in the extra 95-dollar upgrade for them isn’t of any object but, do I really need them? Are they really that worth it even with the 8-speed Auto? Wouldn’t the taller gears be better, even with the 8-speed tranny?

Put your salesman caps on and sell me the shorter 3.92 gears...lol.


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Oh, and the truck is 4x4.... Crew Cab, Four-Corner Air-Ride, 5 foot, 7” bed.


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This is easy, get the 3:92s period.

My truck has 3:21s and runs strong and will spin the chit out of the back tires clear through first gear, it pulls my 28' camper with zero problems !

But it would do all that better with 3:92s. and with the 8sp its not going to effect your mileage very much.

Also if you install larger tires the lower gears are better to have.

Here is my truck from a stand still to around 90mph.
Its not a drag truck but I think it runs out great.
I have stock tires and a fiber glass topper and was on good pavement.

With 3:92s it would run out better, some dont care about how fast a truck is but to me this just shows how well it could pull a trailer.

https://youtu.be/QpqlRPVBoBg

That’s pretty impressive but why are you thinking you’d be even happier with the shorter gears when you seem to be fairly impressed with your standard-issue taller ones?

Watching that video and reading you say it pulls your 28-foot travel trailer with ease, you’re doing a good job on selling me the 3.21’s....lol.

What kind of fuel mileage you getting with yours?


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I just got my 2016 and it has 3.21. My current MPG is 14.8, and that's 98% city stop/go driving.

3.92 for sure, even if you’re not towing. You wont mind the 1-2mpg it costs you but will like the extra snap, especially around town or towing. Truck in my sig has 3.92s and routinely makes between 18 and 20mpg running 70-75 on cruise. And those are hand-calculated numbers, not EVIC numbers.

Best,
DG

Well I am not the best guy to go off of for mileage.lol
But my evac is setting on 17.9 thats from driving on the hwy every day about 25 miles one way to work with 12 stop lights I have to deal with.

What i mean is my truck runs good and I am happy with it but it would be better with lower gears. Or atleast it should.

RamInfo said:

3.92 for sure, even if you’re not towing. You wont mind the 1-2mpg it costs you but will like the extra snap, especially around town or towing. Truck in my sig has 3.92s and routinely makes between 18 and 20mpg running 70-75 on cruise.

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So you’re saying you might could be able to squeeze another 1-2 more MPG’s if you had the taller gears at that speed?

You’re right, I probably wouldn’t mind the 1-2 MPG loss too awfully much considering the extra pep that it would yield since I don’t drive much but hey, as long as I’m getting considerably better mileage than my current truck(2008 Ram 1500, 4x4 5-7 V8) which is 12-13 city, 15-16 highway, I’d probably be happy. I’m just more/less trying to look out for long-trip fuel consumption costs. Even with the very, very shoddy mileage I get now, I still don’t fuel up anymore than once a week but long trips get kind of expensive...lol. Even more so when you cruise interstates at 80, 85 mph...lol.

And those are hand-calculated numbers, not EVIC numbers.

Best,
DG

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I still haven’t found definitive info on it but I think in order for the EVIC numbers to be accurate is that they have to be reset after each fill-up or you’re just showing a cumulative average on every mile you’ve driven since resetting.


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corneileous said:

I still haven’t found definitive info on it but I think in order for the EVIC numbers to be accurate is that they have to be reset after each fill-up or you’re just showing a cumulative average on every mile you’ve driven since resetting.

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Then you get really great numbers for the first few miles

69GWC said:

Well I am not the best guy to go off of for mileage.lol

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Most of the time I’m not either. lol. If I had to drive it a hundred miles a day, I would but that’s not the case. Even if I go somewhere for the weekend, I usually don’t put anymore than a hundred, hundred-fifty miles on the truck a week.

But my evac is setting on 17.9 thats from driving on the hwy every day about 25 miles one way to work with 12 stop lights I have to deal with.

What i mean is my truck runs good and I am happy with it but it would be better with lower gears. Or atleast it should.

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That’s not bad at all but yes it would probably be better with the shorter gears but what I’m wondering, should it be necessary, tho? To me, anyways?




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If you think you will put like 35s on it for sure get 392s if not then yeah 321s would work just fine really.

shadowhawk said:

Then you get really great numbers for the first few miles

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Because that’s more of an, “each tank by tank” average...[emoji41]

That’s why, in my opinion, back in the old days before we had the fancy little read-out displays showing current and average fuel mileage, we had to figure out mileage the old-fashioned way by resetting the trip odometer when you filled up and when it came time to fuel up again, you took the miles you drove on that tank of gas and divided it by the gallons you put in to fill it, to get your mileage for that particular tank.


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69GWC said:

If you think you will put like 35s on it for sure get 392s if not then yeah 321s would work just fine really.

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Egh, I don’t really foresee that, though. For one, I’ve never been able to afford a lift/bigger tires but in all honesty even though I’ve never really been able to foot the bill for it, I’ve never really wanted to on a gasser. Just never wanted to make my mileage worse, or change the way the truck rides/handles by lifting it. I’ve always thought it was a very cool look, and I love looking at some of the creations other people have created but I’m afraid it’s never been for me, at least on a daily driver, long tripper.

But just for grins and giggles though, if I were to put 35’s on, would I need to lift it to fit that size?


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Just a front level and a correct offset on the wheels.

Thats what I am doing, 35s with the truck leveled.

Gears is your choice based on how you drive.....I have the older 6 spd and the 3.92s...and I can still easily bust 20 mpg on the highway.

In town maybe not so much better or worse, but I do have a lot of stop & go around my area....like my 2.4 mile trek to work has 14 potential stops..and I do like to hear the engine bossin' the wheels around from time to time.

69GWC said:

Just a front level and a correct offset on the wheels.

Thats what I am doing, 35s with the truck leveled.

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Wonder how one would level with the air-ride?


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People change the length of the arms that control the ride height, think they sell new longer ones, not sure though

69GWC said:

People change the length of the arms that control tge ride height, think they sell mee longer ones, not sure though

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Hmm, I was just curious. I’ve never really had any kind of desire to level anything I’ve had simply because of having to go from, “Helper springs could be nice right now” on an un-leveled truck to uh, “Gee, I really need helper springs because now it’s REALLY squatting.” on a leveled truck.


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I'm happy with my 3.21's, I don't plan to tow anything over 4000lbs, but the 3.92's is a DRAMATIC difference. It can tow TWO times the weight, and move out MUCH faster than 3.21's!

You have to buy what you will need. Me personally, I don't need any more power than a small V6 and 3.21's AND it's a 4X2 lol.

I do love how I can install shorter gears for not THAT much $$$ and have almost double the towing capacity.