I think I hate my 4.10 gears, what to do?

Last winter I put on 4.10s gears in anticipation of putting on 33's which I recently did. I just went on my first several hour drive with tires and gears together over holiday. One way with just maybe 500 pounds of tools in back and other way with tools plus maybe a 3500lb trailer. I find my 4.10 hit 2500 rpm at only 80mph, which I feel like is the highest the v6 is comfortable at. When towing thetorque inverter really doesn't stay locked when in 5th even with a moderate trailer. 2500rpm in 4th cones at only 60mph and 70 requires 3000rpms which seems way to high to really be comfortable. The 4.10's seem way worse at highway driving, fuel economy, and towing, despite initially thinking they might be better for at least towing. That being said, I have didn't have 33's with 3.73's.

I spent a lot of money and time putting these gears in and I'm not sure what to do? Is there anything these gears are actual better at besides acceleration?

 

pff. the 1GR could live for 200k+ miles spinning at 4k rpms happy as a clam.

You would probably HATE how sluggish it would be with the 33s on 3.73's

with 33's to be at the same exact RPMS as a stock size tire on 3.73's it would take a 4.00:1 your 4.1's are just a smidge lower ratio (2.5%). So really you are spinning all of 2.5% more rpms at the same ACTUAL speed.....

@ 2000 rpms before per X speed that = all of 50 rpms greater to get the same speed.

Remember because you went bigger tires, and because the speed is calculated AT THE WHEEL and not at the trans, your speedos actual speed has been reduced by 7.3%

 

3.73 with 255/85/16(MTs) doesn't feel sluggish at all compared to 265/75/16(ATs)

 

FWIW I love my 4.10s withs 33s (285/70/17s) Seems to be a great balance between low end power and highway driving abilities. We have a couple 80mph zones here.

4.0 Auto Trans

 

Not sluggish, crawl ratio would be effected .

 

I have considered this for both speed and odometer. we have 75mph limit around me and traffic often moves at 85+. That five mile an hour difference or crossing 2500rpms seems to make the difference, especially towing in 4th (60 vs 65)

Over 2500rpm I just feel like mpg plumits.
It seemed like I was getting terrible millage at 3k compared to when I could manage to keep it in 5th towing.

I mean, I think I just want another gear XD

Edit: does 3000 rpm at 70 maybe at least well suited to a trailer closer to max towing capacity? It definitely seemed overkill for what I was towing (10 foot flat bed, 6x6 Polaris and about 500lb tools)

 

Has anyone towed more with this setup?

 

My truck came with 4.30 stock gears so I was pretty happy when I could go to 33x12.50s without changing anything. But it does get a little annoying when I go 70+ for a long time.

 

Yeah looking at my tire size calc. you are really going about 5 mph faster than your speedo says. So if your doing 80 your really doing closer to 85.
I say the simple fix if you ask me is to downsize your tire/wheel combo... It seems like the price you pay for big ass tires.

 

So.... ummm.

I run 33's (255/85/16) on 4.56's.

(UltraGauge calibrated to show accurate speed)


You lifted it and put bigger, heavier tires on it. Of course the fuel economy got worse.

4.10 gears with 33's actually puts you as close to factory RPM per Speed ratio as you can get without going back to stock gears and tires.

I actually over-geared because my beast has weight on it all the damn time. Topper, steel skids everywhere, sliders, bumpers, winch, roof rack, carseats, kids, 85lb Rottie pup, 33" E-Load ST MAXX (FTMFW) tires, Hi-Lift jack, etc.

I do 75-80MPH on the highway if the weather is good.

 

This is my favorite part right here.

If you were running 3.73 factory gears your transmission actually has to work harder. The 4.10 gears actually reduce the physical workload on the rest of the drive train to some degree. You may run higher RPMs to rotate things, and burn more gas to create that power, but everything else is working less.

You can't look cool without paying for it.

 

2500 at 80 mph sounds pretty good to us 6 spd guys lol.

 

Man. Once I got my 255/85/16 ST Maxx's mounted I felt a huge drop in Powah! Had to ditch the 3.73's. LOL Truck felt so gutless. But I also had other weight on it.

 

Me too! I think I'm around 2,700 at 80. Would love to shed 200 RPM.

 

Now to add something useful to your thread. I’m pretty sure you could find a local member who would trade you.

 

I also have a true track I would like to maintain. I also am not really in a position to change them right now. No garage or second car. I sent a lot of effort on it so I'm not super eager to tear it up again. I just want to know if I made a mistake and it's something I should plan to revert when I have the ability.

 

What he says

 

Been lifted for a while and was ruining regeared on smaller tires I had for a while. Was even worse in terms of high speed but understood I didn't have anticipated tires. Now I have them all the parts intended it still leaves me somehow dissatisfied with results.

 

I hardly fit my 305/65r17's which is best ratio of wide to tall. Already chopped my can mounts too.