4.56 or 4.88 rear end gears???

So guys i plan on leveling out my 2004 ram 1500 5.7 hemi thats 2wd, i live in a ****** part in arizona so i plan on getting 35 inch tires but the truck also is my daily driver, what would be the best gears for her? I dont tow at all and when it rains out here my only way home is threw the desert so i need big tires with good clearance. I do plan on getting a lsd differential but what are good brands for diffs and gears?? Also my rear end is a corporate 9.25 ld.

Really depends on how much highway driving you do. 4.56 will be more than enough gear for 35's.

I agree with ATXHEMI. For a daily driver I definitely would stick with 4.56's max for 35's.

4.88 will require some serious grinding on the housing. Even with 35s, you will be really wound up on the freeway. I would stick with the 4.56. Better yet, get a 4wd.

all my driving is highway i rarely dirve short distances, where would be a good place to buy the gears and diff??

Frog id really love a 4wd but money is tight im only 20 and got bills like no other. But when ever i have money for a truck im going with a 2nd 2500 cummins.

RedAZHemi said:

all my driving is highway i rarely dirve short distances, where would be a good place to buy the gears and diff??

Click to expand...

Moes Performance, Matt is a vendor/member here and a great guy to do business with. But be careful you may find yourself in more debt once on his website....lol

Thanks ATX im slowly but steadily working on my truck hoping i someday get it to where i want it to be. Its fine ill know what to put on my Christmas list lol

4.88's would be fun, but a 4.56 would be more practical for an everyday driver. Give me a shout if you have any questions. We have the Detroit trutrac and 4.56 gears in stock and ready to ship.

4.88s would definitely be a mistake for a truck that sees that much highway driving. 4.56s would be the max and even with them you'll be taching pretty high. Moes would be the place to get them, whatever you decide.

I would only buy new gears, most likely from Moe's. With a used set, you mever know if the pattern was set right. They may howl like an exwife looking for alimony. Plus, you could end up like that poor guy in another thread who ended up with only half of the used set he bought.

Thanks for all the help guys.

RubberFrog said:

I would only buy new gears, most likely from Moe's. With a used set, you mever know if the pattern was set right. They may howl like an exwife looking for alimony. Plus, you could end up like that poor guy in another thread who ended up with only half of the used set he bought.

Click to expand...

I do plan on buying new gears frog i may be tight on money but i never buy used parts for my truck lol id spend my whold check on parts if there was no bills though.

4.56s an 35s will be a good match

4:88 any day of the week over a 4:56

Here's my take I've had 2 identical trucks with both gear sets now both with brand new rebuilt motors, same balance and port and polish jobs, same exhaust setup, same tune, same both under powered giant pieces of crap motors it's probably alot more noticeable on a 4.7 over a hemi. Only difference 05 has a egr and 04 doesn't.

This is really going to be over winded but I'd rather get every thing I've personally noticed.

I'm really glad I listened to Nicks advice at airram with his "dont fear the gear" quote. And I have a 4.7 not a hemi so you need to figure out where your powerband comes in that helps with making a choice. Play with some of the online calculators see what your final drive rpm will be.

But overdrive is ratio on the 5-45rfe is 0.67:1 so difference in overdrive between 4:56 or 4:88 is only a couple hundred rpm. Off the line it will make a noticeable difference.

My last dodge 2005 quad cab 2wd 4.7 i ran 4:56 gears and 35" generals grabber red labels best mpg I ever got was 14.5 mpg freeway and it hunted for gears still. Not as bad as stock gears but still would hunt.

My current dodge 2004 quad cab 2wd 4.7 I'm running 4:88's a detroit locker and 35" yokohama geolander at/s I average 16 on a 120 mile round trip commute to Los Angeles everyday and average 350 miles to a tank of gas. averaging 75mph. Best i saw was 17 avg when I went on a 1000 mile road trip from LA thru mammoth lakes Yosemite to Bodie and back to the high desert.

My freeway rpms with 4:88 is 2300 at 70 mph which lands me right in my powerband and I can stay in my over drive gear 90% of the time on the highway. The elevation gain is 2500ish ft at home and 400ish ft at work 60 miles one way so its not a flat commute.

It's all about engine load engine load will determine you mpg lower gear equals less engine load. These trucks are like a giant parachute add a lift bigger tires and it makes it worse. And it doesnt help these trucks are under geared from the factory its sad when a stock silverado with a 4.8 can walk from a stock ram with a 4.7. The factory 3:92 should have been the factory ratio. If you play with the gear ratio calculator 35's and 4:88 is a little lower then a stock ram with 3:92's. 4:56 with 35's is equal to a stock ram with 3:55 gears. Your also safe to going 37s if you ever want to also with 4:88


And to the guy that said you have to grind the axle housing that's not true my installer didn't say anything about having that I know for a fact 4:88 wont fit in the 4wd front diff tho.

Offroad the gears make a difference my truck used to sound like a boat coming up hills now its relatively drama free and has enough bottom end to get loose when i want. Now since you spend time offroad have you thought about a locker or anything? Might as well do it at the same time since your in there

Now what I noticed with the 4:88's is they do faintly hum slightly under throttle compared to my 4:56's everything is within spec and I'm running a crush sleeve eliminator so I know everything has held. Its common larger ring gear will have more harmonics.

And word of advice the detroit locker is loud it clunks it clanks it chirps tires going around corners but it works great offroad is maintence free yada yada a selectable locker would be nice but I got the Detroit for a steal brand new in the box with the receipts. Hopefully this all makes sense and not a jumble of words vomited into this thread but what I'm getting at is I'm 110% happy with 4:88 and glad I decided to try that instead of 4:56 again and I love my truck again haha

Tried flexing on this rock before with a open diff and just one tire fire and buried the rear end. Tried again after the locker and gears and was able to roll right up it. Granted its 2wd so it wont get over rocks like a jeep, I was impressed looks alot bigger in person then the photo I guess.

So I have a 2010 5.7 w/ 35's and a 3.92 rear. Should I consider a shorter final drive?

I just did the Detroit trutrac and 4.56 to my 07 2wd. You won't regret that set up. Launches great. Toes awesome. I fly by f150 sporting the ecoboost while towing a 30 foot camper and they are towing something considerably smaller.

Great thread guys! so i have a 07 1500 ram 2wd with a 7 inch lift riding on 37s i already blew my rear end once sense ive had the truck and had to throw in the same gears just so i can back on the road but i know those tires or big for the stock gears. i do some highway driving never tow and rarely take it off road. i live in south florida so i got the lift for when the roads flood and i cant get home. i live basically at sea level. i was thinking about putting 4.88s on but after reading some of these threads im leaning towars 4.56s. what do you guys think and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

I run 4.56s and Detroit Tru-Trac LSD, and Matt from MoesPerformance got me dialed in. The truck is out of this world fun. I recently jumped up from 35s to 37s. No performance hit there. I tach under 2400 RPM at 80 MPH. The truck has a ****-ton of power. I paired up these gears to ARH LT headers, Hemifever tune and magnaflow cat-back + Vararam and 87 ported TB. This truck is ridiculously torqued. LOTS of fun. I thank Matt for my RAM happiness everytime I go WOT. @Hemi450hp

So I am going to finally regear from 3.21s on 37s on my 2018 1500 5.7 ... I do highway driving but more intown stop and go ...

The place I am taking it already recommended me 4.88s ... I am doing this on the 6th of March and I want your opinons on whether 4.88s are the way to go or should I consider and go with 4.56s ....