Tranny Confusion

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Yoox_II

Senior Member
Joined
May 26, 2013
Posts
300
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26
Ram Year
1984
Engine
5.7L Hemi
I have the three speed auto in my D150. Pretty sure the guy who had it before me messed with the rear end gearing a bit because the gears are very short and rev low... once I hit 110 km/h on the highway I am revving very high though, because there is no fourth gear.

Lately though, I have been using the "1" and "2" gears to accelerate faster. I shift them later than the auto would if I had it in drive. This is what I'm trying to figure out....
Before I started using the 1 and 2 instead of drive, what I thought was revving "high" may not he very high at all. Now that I use the 1 and 2 gears, I allow it to rev higher than what I previously thought of as "high". I installed a cheap tach a couple weeks ago and when I allow it to rev at what I now think is "high", it is around 2200 RPM. What I used to think was high was only revving at about 2000 rpm... so I'm wondering, how high can I allow it to rev while going through the gears? I don't want to risk blowing it obviously, but it would be nice to know what the limit is for the gears. The only reason I have to think that it's revving high is comparing it to what the automatic tranny shifts at, which sounds very Low. For all I know, I could be missing out on a lot more high rpm power, just because I don't know where I'm revving at in terms of the limit. I am wondering, maybe this is why I'm always one of the slowest off the line at a green light, unless I use the 1 and 2 gears and shift myself rather than the auto doing it.
 

crazzywolfie

Senior Member
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Apr 6, 2013
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Location
under the truck
Ram Year
81 93
Engine
5.2
you don't want to go over 4000rpm. my engine will only turn 3400rpm when i am doing about 140km/h but you truck is most likely geared differently so it may run a bit higher if you were to go that speed. sounds like you most likely need to adjust the kick down linkage that runs to the trans. could also be missing a return spring on the carb. it pulls the kick down linkage forward but usually gets lost when people swap carbs.
 
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