New Need opinions!!!

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

daytonagp4

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Posts
4
Reaction score
0
Ram Year
2004
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I've had my ram over a year now and the mpg is terrible but it's the best pulling truck i've owned...besides that i'm going to be selling my other baby and need your help. I should get around 10-13k for my other truck and im going to be putting some money in the ram. I want to lift it and do some exterior mods. What would you do with 3k to my truck? Thanks!!!! here is of pic of them both
DSCN0580.jpg
DSCN0581.jpgDSCN0588.jpg
 

The Assassin

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Posts
7,725
Reaction score
58
Location
B-more careful, Murderland
Ram Year
2006
Engine
4.7
Welcome! All depends on what you want! You mentioned you were going to lift it...suspension, body lift, leveling kit? You could also upgrade your lights. Check out our vendor Retro Shop on here. If you lift it, will you be getting new wheels and tires?
 
OP
OP
D

daytonagp4

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Posts
4
Reaction score
0
Ram Year
2004
Engine
Hemi 5.7
yes suspension lift and yes new rims and tires...i think i could get most of that for around 3k
 

quietpeen

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Posts
25,443
Reaction score
3,908
Ram Year
2021 TRX
Engine
Hellcat
welcome to rf....with prices of tires these days depending on what you get and size you could be looking at over 2k just for wheels and tires. I think most suspension lifts are over 1k...then there is installation cost. It sucks but i don't know if you can get all that for 3k
 
OP
OP
D

daytonagp4

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Posts
4
Reaction score
0
Ram Year
2004
Engine
Hemi 5.7
well the few places i looked at (protruck, 4wheel parts) they install for free if you buy the kit from them. If not i will install myself....i have all the tools to do it so not worried about that. I think i wanna do a 6" with 35's and I'm hoping to maybe find some deals ie; buy 3 get one free or maybe even some used stuff. I will also be selling the old stuff so that will help offset the cost a little. I can go over 3k i'm just trying not to.
 

quietpeen

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Posts
25,443
Reaction score
3,908
Ram Year
2021 TRX
Engine
Hellcat
what size wheel are you looking for? Obviously 20's are more expensive than 17's, being able to install a lift yourself will help a lot.
 

hemi powered

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2011
Posts
17
Reaction score
0
Location
Taylor, MI
Ram Year
2008
Engine
HEMI
I'd sell the ram and keep the chevy lol. J/k man but that's a nice truck. Level and 35s and some fender flares.
 

discojables

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Posts
441
Reaction score
26
Location
Phx Az
Ram Year
2010
Engine
5.7 hemi
Gears! Bigger tires and lift means more load on the engine. Might as well get some 4.56's or 4.88's and put that load on the rearend. Better mpg's and acceleration!!!

Really? Please explain... I've never messed with the gears.
 

Trupiano

Registered User
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Posts
10,981
Reaction score
726
Location
Hometown : Puyallup,WA Stationed : Little Rock,
Ram Year
2010 Ram 2500 6.7L CTD Crew Cab
Engine
6.7L CTD
Picture an imaginary lever arm between the center of your wheel and the ground.
The engineers of your truck have carefully calculated the torque of your engine, the gear ratios of your transmission, the gear ratios of your transfer case, and the gear ratio of your differentials in relation to vehicle weight and tire size (they care only about the radius - the "lever arm" in our example here). The engineers did all this to give you pleasing acceleration and good off-road performance with a lower crawl ratio.

tsmall.jpg
If you would later put large tires on your vehicle and the radius/lever arm increases your moving force decreases proportional to the increase of the radius/lever arm. This results in sluggish acceleration and a fast crawl speed plus less torque to climb obstacles. If you have a vehicle with a weak engine - larger tires will absolutely kill your performance. And your clutch!​

tlarge.jpg

Solution:

In order to regain decent moving force you will need to modify your drive system. To put in an engine with more torque will only partially solve the problem. The delicate balance between engine rpm, fuel consumption, smooth shifting and good off-road performance is still way off.​

The only way to regain what you lost is by recreating the same (or better) gear ratio/crawl ratio that the engineers had in mind. That is done mainly by installing lower (numerically higher) differential gears.​


So, to adjust for larger tires you will need lower gears (numerically higher).

As a rule of thumb you can expect to lose about 3.5% of torque/gear ratio for every inch of tire size increase.

For example, if you replace your stock tires of 28" with 35" tires your loss is 7 x 3.5% = 24.5%. If your stock gear ratio in your diffs is 4.9:1 you will have to get lower diff gears that are numerically about 25% higher. 4.9 x 25% = 1.225 - so, your new gears should be 6.125:1.

(The yellow rpm numbers are for fuel efficiency, the black numbers are a good mix of fuel efficiency and performance, and the blue numbers are for performance)​
 
Last edited:

Trupiano

Registered User
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Posts
10,981
Reaction score
726
Location
Hometown : Puyallup,WA Stationed : Little Rock,
Ram Year
2010 Ram 2500 6.7L CTD Crew Cab
Engine
6.7L CTD
^lol Just think of how bicycle gears work, same basic principle. Imagine starting out from a dead stop in 3rd or 4th gear. Hard as hell. You need a lower gear to get rolling easier. Now imagine you put tires 5 inches taller on your bike, you'd need even a lower gear than 1st to get rolling.
 

discojables

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Posts
441
Reaction score
26
Location
Phx Az
Ram Year
2010
Engine
5.7 hemi
Wow Thank you Steven!

Another stoopid question: How do I change to 6.125:1 gear ratio?
 

Trupiano

Registered User
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Posts
10,981
Reaction score
726
Location
Hometown : Puyallup,WA Stationed : Little Rock,
Ram Year
2010 Ram 2500 6.7L CTD Crew Cab
Engine
6.7L CTD
Well the example 6.125 wouldn't suit a truck like yours. It's from an older Mercedes 4wd vehicle. A 6.125 gear ratio would give you tremendous acceleration, but poor highway mileage, and a considerably less top speed.

How big of tires do you havenow (height/diameter), and what size r u looking to go to?
 

discojables

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Posts
441
Reaction score
26
Location
Phx Az
Ram Year
2010
Engine
5.7 hemi
I have 35" tires and I plan on keeping this size.
 

Trupiano

Registered User
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Posts
10,981
Reaction score
726
Location
Hometown : Puyallup,WA Stationed : Little Rock,
Ram Year
2010 Ram 2500 6.7L CTD Crew Cab
Engine
6.7L CTD
If your staying 36" and under, I'd go for 4.56 gears, they'll give you plenty of acceleration and torque, improve your city mpgs, and wont hurt your highway mileage much at all.

If your going 36"-40" tires, look for 4.88's.

Just to info you, I'm keeping my tire size the same, but I want to go 4.56 gears in the future, just for the city mpg's and acceleration.
 

discojables

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Posts
441
Reaction score
26
Location
Phx Az
Ram Year
2010
Engine
5.7 hemi
I do mostly city/hwy driving so this is great advice. Thanks!
 

Trupiano

Registered User
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Posts
10,981
Reaction score
726
Location
Hometown : Puyallup,WA Stationed : Little Rock,
Ram Year
2010 Ram 2500 6.7L CTD Crew Cab
Engine
6.7L CTD
I believe chrysler used different "ZF" axles on the new 4th gen rams though, so I'm not sure if they have aftermarket gearing avalable yet... but I'm not 100% sure on this. Check into it if your interested. And if they aren't out yet, give it 6 months, and they'll prolly be on the market... new technology and all.

No problem man!
 

The Assassin

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Posts
7,725
Reaction score
58
Location
B-more careful, Murderland
Ram Year
2006
Engine
4.7
Damn that was a hell of a gear explanation lol. I agree it's going to be VERY hard to get the lift, install, wheels and tires for 3k. What about doing a leveling kit, new wheels, set of 35's and maybe some lights?
 
Top