Quote:
Originally posted by Mark Kw:
Heartbeat Hauler, by sluggish, exactly what do you mean? I'm not one to jack rabbot start off the lights because it wrecks what little organization I have in my tools. I'm usually pretty easy, "driving like an old fart" as my kid puts it.
What I mean is that the acceleration will suffer with the 3.42's. I, like you, am not into the stoplight street fighters, but you will probably end up using more fuel around town while the engine is trying to rev to an RPM that can get the truk moving. Case in point, my wife drives a 04 2500 Sub. It has the 6.0 and 3.73 gears. When accelerating it seems as though you have to wait a second or two before it starts moving. That's because the torque is made at high RPMs and with 3.73s it takes a bit for the RPMs to climb. So in your case by going to the 3.42's it will take longer for your truck to reach the RPMs where it makes torque to get you going. Keep in mind this is not some catastrophic event, it's just disappointing. I can't imagine what is going to happen when you try to pull your camper... :eek: Dropping gear ratios sounds like it would just give you lower rpms when pulling, but actually it changes the performance of the whole truck. I would still consider changing to an Overdrive transmission, i.e. 4L80 or 4L80E. You get a lower first gear and a .75 Overdrive in 4th. One last thing, if you do put the 3.42's in and your truck can't pull in drive it will shift down until it finds a gear that puts the engine in the torque range to pull the load. This means you will have 3.42's, but you might be in first gear = high RPMs and low fuel mileage. (I think someone mentioned this already).