In The Market: How To Positively I.D. Rear Gear?

[Tractionless]

I'm having difficulty with VIN decoders providing conflicting info. I'm using these 3 and have yet to find a 3.92 rear equipped truck.

https://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/dodge/index.html

https://researchmaniacs.com/VIN-Numb...ker/Dodge.html

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/vindecoder.php

Is there a way to tell on the rear end itself which gear set is present? I'm having a helluva time finding any units within 200 miles of South Florida with 3.92's. Are they that rare of an option? From what I'm reading I'll need the 3.92 rear and opting for 4X4 as well as I'm puling a 9500 lb. trailer (very aero efficient) with surge brakes on all 3 axles.

Additionally is one transmission (6 sp. vs. 8 sp.) an advantage over the other? I noted a lot of opinions on the rear for towing heavy loads but not much mention of which trans. is most beneficial.

Thanks for any insight you can lend.
Keith

 

[Tractionless]

1500 Series by the way. Forum wouldn't let me edit my post.

 

[JPT]

When I was buying my ram. I build a spreadsheet, and used the dodge.com VIN lookup you linked.

I went to each dealerships site, then put each VIN, dealer and dealer name in the spreadsheet. Then I looked each up 1 by 1 and checked off the options I wanted (i.e. navigation, 3.92, 4wd, 32 gallon tank,...).

I then went down to the one dealer that had the truck I wanted and bought it that day.

There was only 1 in 3 dealers around me (2 are some of the highest volume in the country) that had 3.92.

 

[huntergreen]

8 vs 6 speed. The 8 speed 3:21 surpasses the 6 speed with 3.92 due to the gearing of the 8 speed. That being said, I have 3.92 only because it came with truck. If it would have had 3:21, I still would have bought it. Imho, they are both reliable transmission.

I always go by the build sheet to verify what the truck has, in your case, the gear ratio.

 

[stimpy433]

I know on the Challengers if you crawled underneath there was a tag on the diff that had the gear ratio on it. Not sure if this is true on the 1500's???

 

[MarshRam]

My 2014 1500 has a sticker on the bottom of the rear axle (drivers side) that shows the gear ratio. But, the build sheet should have it.

 

[McBroom]

I know on the Challengers if you crawled underneath there was a tag on the diff that had the gear ratio on it. Not sure if this is true on the 1500's???

Same is true on all vehicles. They must have a gear tag showing what ratio it has. Most gear heads who change the gears out plan to keep the truck


I Love My 2018 RAM 2500HD 4x4 6.4L. USMC (ret)

 

[88ROOK]

just goto the dealer of your choice , tell them all the options u want. they will find the truck for you. if they want to make a sale they just trade one of their trucks to dealer that has what you want....pretty simple. my dealer went 2 states over to get my truck. their bottom lines are all the same. if you build a truck on the website they make 1400-1500 bucks just to pull it in house

 

[Sparky853]

8 vs 6 speed. The 8 speed 3:21 surpasses the 6 speed with 3.92 due to the gearing of the 8 speed. That being said, I have 3.92 only because it came with truck. If it would have had 3:21, I still would have bought it. Imho, they are both reliable transmission.

I always go by the build sheet to verify what the truck has, in your case, the gear ratio.

Actually, according to the tow charts, there's a huge difference between the 8 spd 3.21 and the 6 spd with the 3.92. The 8 spd may get better gas mileage, but will tow approximately 2300lbs less (2017 CC 1500 5.7L 4x4)

Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[cbsmith]

If your towing a tri-axle 9500lb trailer you probably should by shopping for a 2500, regardless of how aero dynamic the trailer is. Since you are in the searching and buying process now is the time, rather than being disappointed with a 1500 after you buy it.

 

[huntergreen]

Actually, according to the tow charts, there's a huge difference between the 8 spd 3.21 and the 6 spd with the 3.92. The 8 spd may get better gas mileage, but will tow approximately 2300lbs less (2017 CC 1500 5.7L 4x4)

Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

Earlier models with the six speed trans, 2011 MY for example, towed about 2000 pounds less than newer models with 8 speed.

 

[Grandpa Rick]

What cbsmith said,,,2500 all the way.