price of gear swap 2500 6.4

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ronheater70

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Was curious of the price of a gear swap as I may upgrade to a larger camper and my current rear differential issue still remains.. I was quoted almost 5K from one dealer ( I just called to get a rough estimate)

Parts are 1800 per axle, and about 1100 in labor.. This seem unbelievable and Im thinking he MEANT 1800 per axle WITH labor..I mean really, thats just insane.
 

Deki

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I got quoted 250 per axle for labor by a local shop that only does gears. They told me I can provide my own parts and I've found stuff for about 1200 total for front and rear axles combined.
 
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ronheater70

ronheater70

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Yea, well I got a quote from a shop I trust, to go to 4:10 Yukon gears set front and rear and all new bearings (which Ishouldnt need at only 10K miles but anyway) and it is 3K.. which is much better..
Id like a lower (numerically higher) ratio though, I wish there was something between the 4:10s and 4:56s for the front of these things..
 

CuylerTech

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I swapped to 4:44 axle assembles from a Chassis Cab for $1400 per axle.
 

GsRAM

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Don't waste your time and money just going to a 4.10 gear. There is not enough difference between 3.73 and 4.10. Go straight to a 4.30 or 4.44 mopar gear and be done. Just my .02
 
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ronheater70

ronheater70

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Don't waste your time and money just going to a 4.10 gear. There is not enough difference between 3.73 and 4.10. Go straight to a 4.30 or 4.44 mopar gear and be done. Just my .02
But are those available for the front.. The dealer quoted 1800 bucks in parts per axle, if thats Mopar stuff, Ill have to pass.. Iim currently thinking the 4:56 set..
 

GsRAM

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But are those available for the front.. The dealer quoted 1800 bucks in parts per axle, if thats Mopar stuff, Ill have to pass.. Iim currently thinking the 4:56 set..

the 4.44 molar gears are what some cab/chassis trucks come with, so I'm sure you could get those for the front and rear diffs.


honesty, if I were to ever invest in a gear swap, I'd do the 4.44. I'm sure that would make a big difference over the 3.73s my truck currently has
 

mtofell

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I found a specialty drivetrain shop in my area with a great reputation that would do the whole thing (both axles parts and labor) for around 1700-2000. They said there was some variation depending on what parts were needed once they got in and also which brand or gears I go with.

I also shopped the dealer and was told 4.10 is the only from my 3.73 and it was going to be around $4000 total. I agree that's just ludicrous. I would like to keep all parts of my lifetime warranty intact but not for that much. Also, I want to go much higher than just to 4.10 if do it. I agree just jumping to 4.10 from 3.73 is not worth it. I think 4.56 would be great even with stock tires. Anything bigger than stock and it would be even better.

I keep thinking I'm going to have it done but really only tow a few times a year and just never seem to get around to it.
 

GsRAM

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I hear you. Tbh, I'll probably never change them out. I tow heavy maybe 8 times per year and with the weights I'm towing, the 3.73s are plenty of gear. If my plans change and I keep this truck for the long haul and I buy a large 5th wheel (north of 10k lbs) then I'd invest in the gear change. But short of that, although I'd prefer the 4.10s, the 3.73s work for me. For a 2500 hd truck, even with the 3.73s, it's still stupid quick. To have a truck of this size and weight move like my truck can, well it's a beautiful thing. :)
 

Lynchmob76

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18’ 53 thousand mile 6.4 quad cab 3500 SRW 6spd 3.73 gears short bed, I’m buying a 40-42ft 12-15k 5th wheel, I’m maxed out at about 13k for this setup, I’m not buying a diesel till I start hauling cross country or more consistent longer trips.. I’m probably going to bag it and am wondering should I tune it? Is the only way to re-gear it with a manual swap? Probably stupid question but haven’t found a solid answer yet..I’m sure this rig can pull it and I’m not driving like an ******* doing stupid ****, this isn’t my first time hauling and I’m not climbing the Rockies on the daily… anything else I can do to help without spending 4-20k on upgrades or without buying a whole new truck
 

tron67j

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Didn't know there was a quad cab in your configuration. Your questions all add a lot of cost to initiate and then add complexity and increased likelihood of repairs. If your payload and towing numbers are within range then just drive it as is until you can find your diesel. Save that money you will spend as a down payment.
 

Irishthreeper

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Everyone has an opinion but I would not pull that much weight with a 6.4 and 3.73’s. I pull about 10.5K with a loaded 5W, with my ‘21 2500 6.4 with 4.10’s. Does a great job but I wouldn’t consider 15K pounds, definitely diesel territory.
Although I’d run out of payload first my truck is rated to tow 17K lbs…not a chance! :)
 

Dean2

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I found a specialty drivetrain shop in my area with a great reputation that would do the whole thing (both axles parts and labor) for around 1700-2000. They said there was some variation depending on what parts were needed once they got in and also which brand or gears I go with.

I also shopped the dealer and was told 4.10 is the only from my 3.73 and it was going to be around $4000 total. I agree that's just ludicrous. I would like to keep all parts of my lifetime warranty intact but not for that much. Also, I want to go much higher than just to 4.10 if do it. I agree just jumping to 4.10 from 3.73 is not worth it. I think 4.56 would be great even with stock tires. Anything bigger than stock and it would be even better.

I keep thinking I'm going to have it done but really only tow a few times a year and just never seem to get around to it.
Gears are WAY over considered in our modern trucks. We aren't running 3 or 4 speed gear boxes anymore. Occaissional towing, put it in tow haul mode and manually upshift with the gear limiter. The ONLY time you can tell you have 4:56 in it is from a dead start in 1st gear. Once you are moving even a little, RPM will more than offset the gear difference. 3:73 to 4:56 you add about 600 rpm with 33" tires at 70 mph. You can get exactly the same effect by pulling the transmission down 1 or 2 gears, but doing it that way yopu still have the option to run lower RPM empty or on flat ground. Gas mileage does not go up when you add RPM at cruise.
 

mtofell

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The ONLY time you can tell you have 4:56 in it is from a dead start in 1st gear.
Says the guy with the glorious 8spd tranny :) :)

The 1-2 ratio gap on the 6spd is a mile and makes towing heavy up any but the mildest of grades a total PITA. There's a dead zone around 30-45 where you can either wind out first or let the truck grab second, be unable to hold it, then slam back down into first. Rinse/repeat.

Ram got cheap and borrowed the gear ratios for the 66rfe (Hemi) from the 68rfe (Cummins) and it sucks. The diesels love the low RPMs but the gassers don't. Swapping from the 3.73 to a 4.56 (reportedly) makes a world of difference. I say reportedly since I never got around to doing it but can tell you hauling my 11K 5th wheel is less than ideal.
 

Dean2

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Says the guy with the glorious 8spd tranny :) :)

The 1-2 ratio gap on the 6spd is a mile and makes towing heavy up any but the mildest of grades a total PITA. There's a dead zone around 30-45 where you can either wind out first or let the truck grab second, be unable to hold it, then slam back down into first. Rinse/repeat.

Ram got cheap and borrowed the gear ratios for the 66rfe (Hemi) from the 68rfe (Cummins) and it sucks. The diesels love the low RPMs but the gassers don't. Swapping from the 3.73 to a 4.56 (reportedly) makes a world of difference. I say reportedly since I never got around to doing it but can tell you hauling my 11K 5th wheel is less than ideal.
Kind of surprised to hear that but I have never pulled heavy with a 6.4 and the 6 speed so I completely believe you.

My 1996 2500 with the V10 only has a 4 speed and 3:73 gears. I have towed up to 20,000 pounds with it, no problem. Now to be fair, the V10 makes max torque WAY below what my current 6.4 does, it puts out 400 FtLBs at 1000 RPM, 440 at 1750 and 450 at 2400. In fact it acts more like a Diesel than a gas motor. In 1996, it towed better than the Cummins of that year and was far quicker than the Cummins. The diesels were so slow the front of the truck had trouble staying ahead of the rear of the truck. Probably the best towing gas job I have ever run.
Dodge introduced the 8.0L Magnum V10 to the Ram 2500/3500 engine lineup for the 1994 model year. At the time, the engine produced far more torque than any competitors gasoline engine. Additionally, originally producing 300 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, the V10 offered performance superior to that of the 5.9L Cummins turbodiesel. However, the V10 could not match the Cummins' fuel economy potential nor did its torque curve peak nearly as early. For the 2001 model year, the 5.9L Cummins passed the V10 in torque ratings while the V10 continued to offer significantly higher horsepower. The engine was ultimately retired following the 2003 model year for reasons that included the engine's relatively poor fuel economy.

8.0L Magnum V10 vs 5.9L Cummins​



Model Year
8.0L Magnum V10 HP/TQ
5.9L Cummins HP/TQ*
1994
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
160 hp/400 lb-ft​
1995
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
160 hp/400 lb-ft​
1996
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
180 hp/420 lb-ft​
1997
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
180 hp/420 lb-ft​
1998
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
215 hp/420 lb-ft​
1999
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
215 hp/420 lb-ft​
2000
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
215 hp/420 lb-ft​
2001
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
235 hp/460 lb-ft​
2002
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
235 hp/460 lb-ft​
2003
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
235 hp/460 lb-ft​
 
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mtofell

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Kind of surprised to hear that but I have never pulled heavy with a 6.4 and the 6 speed so I completely believe you.

My 1996 2500 with the V10 only has a 4 speed and 3:73 gears. I have towed up to 20,000 pounds with it, no problem. Now to be fair, the V10 makes max torque WAY below what my current 6.4 does, it puts out 400 FtLBs at 1000 RPM, 440 at 1750 and 450 at 2400. In fact it acts more like a Diesel than a gas motor. In 1996, it towed better than the Cummins of that year and was far quicker than the Cummins. The diesels were so slow the front of the truck had trouble staying ahead of the rear of the truck. Probably the best towing gas job I have ever run.

8.0L Magnum V10 vs 5.9L Cummins​



Model Year
8.0L Magnum V10 HP/TQ
5.9L Cummins HP/TQ*
1994
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
160 hp/400 lb-ft​
1995
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
160 hp/400 lb-ft​
1996
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
180 hp/420 lb-ft​
1997
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
180 hp/420 lb-ft​
1998
300 hp/450 lb-ft​
215 hp/420 lb-ft​
1999
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
215 hp/420 lb-ft​
2000
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
215 hp/420 lb-ft​
2001
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
235 hp/460 lb-ft​
2002
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
235 hp/460 lb-ft​
2003
310 hp/450 lb-ft​
235 hp/460 lb-ft​
Wow.... those old V10s look like beasts! I gotta think they had a bit of a (fuel) drinking problem though.... lol.

I had one of the very first 6.4 Hemis back in early 2014 and it's overall a nice truck but the tranny design was always a problem for those of us towing heavy. To be fair I am/was using the truck near its design limits for payload and pulling. As a daily driver, carrying and light/moderate towing it's great. It just struggles at the upper ranges of its rating and while towing in the hills. I actually don't really fault it for that. Any tool used near the max is prone to some less than ideal performance. I just lay awake at night and wonder how great the 6.4 Hemi must feel with that 8spd :)
 

Dean2

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I like the new truch and the 8 speed is very smooth. All in however, I still think HD pickups should have gas motors closer to the V10 torque and horsepower curves. They are far better for towing. The new 6.4 does get better gas mileage but after 26 years of tech development it isn't that much better than the V10. Average in the new one for 13000 klms is running 15.4 hand calculated. The V10 has 270,000 klms, runs like brand new, burns no oil between 20,000 km oil changes, and averaged just under13 mpg over its lifetime to date. I would bet that with the 8 speed it would produce gas mileage equal to the 6.4.
 

09SilverRam

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Everyone has an opinion but I would not pull that much weight with a 6.4 and 3.73’s. I pull about 10.5K with a loaded 5W, with my ‘21 2500 6.4 with 4.10’s. Does a great job but I wouldn’t consider 15K pounds, definitely diesel territory.
Although I’d run out of payload first my truck is rated to tow 17K lbs…not a chance! :)
Our current HD truck is a F350 gas 7.3L with a 10 speed and 4.30 rear end. Our normal gooseneck is 11k pounds loaded and I’ve been really impressed with the combo from ford.

We pulled a 16k pound trailer for a friend and it did a great job. Deep gears, an 8 or 10 speed, and a gas engine that brings on the torque early is a combo that lets gas engines do work that was the exclusive realm of diesels not that long ago.
 

62Blazer

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Most trucks, even 2500 and 3500 series, are geared more towards the side of driving down the freeway empty or with light loads. Next time you take a road trip count how many 2500 or 3500 series trucks you see on the road completely empty or with a very small load in the bed or smaller trailer versus something pulling a big trailer. I bet it's at least 10 trucks running at light load for every one with a heavy load. Based on that manufacturers have to choose what they are going to do in regards to gears and will go with how most people use their trucks. The cab chassis trucks which are primarily used for true work and haul heavier loads much more consistently usually get much lower axle gears. You can get 4.44 or 4.89 gears on a Ram 5500, and the factory tires are only 32" tall so not like they have big rig semi tires or something on them. The vast majority of people driving 2500 series trucks don't need, nor do they want, low axle gears to drive back and forth to the mall parking lot and carry home a Starbucks coffee and some bagels......
With that said, if the primary purpose of the truck is to pull a larger trailer then lower axle gears can make it tow a lot nicer. In my opinion lower axle gears are mostly noticed when cruising at speed down the road as they allow you to maintain a higher transmission gear, meaning you actually take advantage of all the gears in the trans. Gears really don't make a huge difference in initial take off because the 1st gear of most modern trans is so low (especially compared to the 1st gear ratio of truck going into the early 2000's). For example my previous 2003 Chevy 2500HD only had a 2.48:1 first gear (that gear range was common across other brands also) with 4.10 axle ratio. My current '16 Ram 2500 has a 3.23:1 first gear along with the same 4.10 axle ratio. That's a pretty big difference in overall 1st gear ratio. The Chevy would have needed a 5.34 axle ratio to equal to overall 1st gear ratio of the Ram. Sure, you can run a lower gear in the trans to compensate for the weight but what is the purpose of having something like an 8 speed trans if you have to run in 5th or 6th gear to maintain speed on the freeway, and then shift down to 3rd or 4th on a grade? Lower axle gears give you the ability to cruise in 7th, or even 8th, gear down the freeway and allows more options for downshifting for grades. Keep in mind that the gear spacing is usually closer together between the higher gears so you don't get into that issue with not being able to pull in a higher gear and downshifting one gear leaves the engine screaming.
 

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