New tranny already.. need to regear for 37’s.

[PW18USMC]

I say, save your money for something else. The gearing is not necessary. There have been a few on here I agree with. These trucks are meant to tow more than bigger tires and the difference between the 4.10 and higher gearing is overkill. Like 22hemi13 said he does, shift manually if you're that concerned! Enjoy your new tranny and use that 3k for other upgrades you may have been putting off.

 

[BigLazer4u]

I say, save your money for something else. The gearing is not necessary. There have been a few on here I agree with. These trucks are meant to tow more than bigger tires and the difference between the 4.10 and higher gearing is overkill. Like 22hemi13 said he does, shift manually if you're that concerned! Enjoy your new tranny and use that 3k for other upgrades you may have been putting off.

I agree with this

 

[John Chappell]

crazy jerry: “there is one thing to mention with higher numeric ratio gear sets. as the pinion tooth count goes down, you will end up with less teeth in contact with the ring teeth at any given time, versus a lower ratio higher tooth count pinion.”

I think you just “mansplained” my point.

Simply stated, as the ratio increases, the mating parts become less robust relative to work being done. Period. This is tantamount to moving a fulcrum closer to the load-bearing end of a lever: the short end gets shorter.

 

[etbrown4]

I doubt seriously that it had anything to do with parking on incline or the tires. My 2016 had the same Tranny as the 2018 and it also failed at 59k.

It started with slight slipping like 2 to 3, and 3 to 4. It took 2-3 months, 4 trips to the dealer, and 2 serious error codes before they would do anything.

In the end a new Tranny, and they gave me an extended warranty to 120k. That part is very good, but the hassle with the dealer and the factory service rep were not fun. A considerable part of the game they play is you have to be more determined than they are.

 

[RAMTRPR]

My 1500 came with 3.92's when I went to 37's I went up to 4.56's and it drives better than it was stock. I can spin my 37's a bit even

 

[Regcabguy]

Best thing I have learned is when parking on any incline, put in neutral and engage the parking brake, then let the truck relax and put it in park afterwards. My driveway is a pretty decent incline and i got 206k on another truck with no issues yet.

Yes. It's imperative to do that. Saves the parking pawl and prevents that clunk coming out of park on a truck that doesn't follow that procedure. I was taught that as a kid.

 

[crazy jerry]

crazy jerry: “there is one thing to mention with higher numeric ratio gear sets. as the pinion tooth count goes down, you will end up with less teeth in contact with the ring teeth at any given time, versus a lower ratio higher tooth count pinion.”

I think you just “mansplained” my point.

Simply stated, as the ratio increases, the mating parts become less robust relative to work being done. Period. This is tantamount to moving a fulcrum closer to the load-bearing end of a lever: the short end gets shorter.

i know what your trying to say, your wording is incorrect however, which seems odd if your any kind of gear head. you said area of contact between individual gears decreases which isnt true. thats the reason they reduce the tooth count, to maintain the same tooth profile. not 'lose meat' as you suggested.
they could cut 20 teeth into the pinion, then perhaps they would be losing meat between each tooth as you said, since the teeth would have to be shorter, closer together, narrower etc.
i think what your trying to say is overall you end up with less 'total' contact area between pinion and ring teeth but not 'less' between each tooth.
for example the 4.10 may have 5.3 pinion/ ring teeth meshed at any given time, the 4.88 may only have 4.9.

to your question of how well the ring and pinion would hold up. the only other axle really in comparison to these 11.5 is a dana80, which for many years was the beefiest axle ever put in a single wheel pickup , dodge was the only one to use it. ford thought the d80 was so overkill it was only used in their dual wheel trucks, single wheels used the d70, sterling 10.25/10.5

 

[Groo]

quick point; there is more at play than just the tires leverage on the ground. You have the increased rolling resistance, the higher rotational mass, the aero hit from the lift, sharper driveline angles, etc. that is why most people would go beyond just equalizing for the speedometer error when changing gears after installing larger tires. Yes, towing a 14,000 trailer would have more of an impact, trailer towing is rarely 100% of the time.

I will also point out that it was this particular dealer that decided to push through the warranty claim. If a Stelaris rep took a look at the vehicle, it would be denied (something to remember if buying from 3 states away to save $500). Changing the axle gears would not change that. It wouldn't make it worse either.