Speed sensor and regearing question

[Nickx86]

looking to regear my 2016 ram 2500 4wd. However at the moment money is only allowing me to do one axle right now and another axle in another 6-7 months, (daycare cost for my kid is expensive) I know the speed sensor are in the wheels but having two different axles ratio short term affect the speed sensors and everything else. Yes I know I can’t use the 4wd with two different axle ratios with destroying something. I’ve done it previous vehicles where I changed one axle and several months later did the second one without any adverse issues.

 

[DILLIGAF]

I took my front driveshaft out when I did my re-gearing since I wasnt able to do both at once.

It dosent affect the speed sensor.

 

[2003F350]

I mean...I would say do it right and wait until you've got the cash to do both at once. It may not save on labor charges BUT your truck will only be in the shop once, it's likely just one tech will work on it, and you don't have to worry about accidentally hurting something.

That's my opinion, take it for what it's worth. As long as you don't engage 4WD, and you flash the computer for the new gears, then no, it shouldn't hurt anything, since I don't think there's a speed sensor for the front axle (there kinda is for the rear axle, but it's primarily so the truck can confirm what gear ratio it has and adjust shift patterns accordingly).

 

[62Blazer]

You should have a wheel speed sensor at each wheel (both front and rear), hence the term "four wheel anti-lock brakes". The good thing is that if the speed sensors are at the wheels they are not affected by the gears.
It's not that big of a deal to regear one axle at a time. Simply shifting the transfer case into 4wd is not going to cause it to explode in a fireball and kill a bus full of nuns. Sure, you should not put it in 4wd and go cruising down a road.....though it's usually pretty obvious after a few feet on hard ground that it is binding up and may not even move, or require a lot of throttle to move. Even you got stuck and briefly put in 4wd to get out of a mudhole it's not going to hurt anything. If the rear tires are stuck and spinning there is so much allowable slip between the front and rear nothing is going to bind up. I see absolutely no reason to pull the front driveshaft.

 

[SouthTexan]

A little off topic, but I wonder which would be better, a re-gear or better torque converter. I know with my 68RFE with 3.42 gears, a better torque converter made a huge improvement. The stock TC was very inefficient at sending power to the rear wheels when it wasn't locked. Not only that, but its torque multiplication was less than the Revmax unit I bought so I was getting less horsepower and torque to the rear wheels.

Re-gearing only multiplies torque, not horsepower so you will still be sending the same horsepower to the wheels while moving if the torque converter isn't locked. Is your issue with not having enough speed(horsepower) when the engine is at higher rpms and the TC isn't locked? If so, the a more efficient(tighter) TC may be a better solution. If the problem is getting off the line, then re-gearing may be what you need.

I wonder if the same thing is happening with the 66RFE's TC. If I recall, @theviking installed a new TC in his 6.4L. Maybe he can give you some input one how much of a difference it made and maybe that is what you are looking for rather than a re-gear.

 

[Nickx86]

A little off topic, but I wonder which would be better, a re-gear or better torque converter. I know with my 68RFE with 3.42 gears, a better torque converter made a huge improvement. The stock TC was very inefficient at sending power to the rear wheels when it wasn't locked. Not only that, but its torque multiplication was less than the Revmax unit I bought so I was getting less horsepower and torque to the rear wheels.

Re-gearing only multiplies torque, not horsepower so you will still be sending the same horsepower to the wheels while moving if the torque converter isn't locked. Is your issue with not having enough speed(horsepower) when the engine is at higher rpms and the TC isn't locked? If so, the a more efficient(tighter) TC may be a better solution. If the problem is getting off the line, then re-gearing may be what you need.

I wonder if the same thing is happening with the 66RFE's TC. If I recall, @theviking installed a new TC in his 6.4L. Maybe he can give you some input one how much of a difference it made and maybe that is what you are looking for rather than a re-gear.

I plan was also to do the torque converter eventually as well but my knowledge of them is limited Tbh. My older truck had the same issue as my current truck, I can not hold speed at 6th gear w TC locked up on moderate hills (NJ, PA, and NY area) w the factory gearing. When i did the two step up on gearing, it helped tremendously by improved my fuel economy and also less stress on the transmission.