2nd Gen Re Gear Shop

Hi Guys. Wondering if there are any recommendations on the gearing I would need to move to and a shop that does good work in N Ga, near Canton/Jasper. I have 33's on a fully built 2nd Gen and want to be able to pull a small 17' Casita camper on the highway. I live in the Mtns, the truck struggles up these Mtn roads without the trailer due to how steep they are. What gearing is common to move to with these setups that allows you to also pull stuff on the freeway to go camping?

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks Ga Boys.

 

I went 4.56 on 32 inch tires. I think you'd be ok with that, but I'm sure a ton of people will just say to get 5.29s. I think that's a bit overkill though, unless all you ever do is tow.

 

Awesome. I don't always tow but the stock gearing on these 33's is not happy. Hasn't been happy for quite some time now too. So really looking for something to go to that is more versatile with around town and able to pull the camper down to Fla.

 

The Travel Trailer isn't something I normally tow, but it was fine traveling over the Cascade Mountains and halfway across Washington state. I was just pulling it for a friend while he towed all our toys. The ATVs are actually about 1000 pounds heavier on that car trailer, and I've towed it from the Seattle area, down to Utah, across to Vegas (that photo) and back up with no issues whatsoever (with the camper on the truck). Gas mileage sucked, but that's to be expected.

 

Nice! Yeah, gas mileage went out the window a long time ago for me. For years I've been camping out of my CVT on the camper shell and we just moved to the Casita for the camping duties recently. This is good insight though, greatly appreciated.

 

It depends on if Auto or Manual trans. For 2nd gens there was only 4.56 and 4.88. Now you can get 4.30, 4.10 and maybe 5.29. I have a manual and 35s, with 4.56. The torque is nice. But at 70mph I'm at 2900-3000 rpms. Past that the mpg really tank. So Interstate is not good. I destroyed one set of 4.56 in the rear. East Coast Gear Supply is who set up the Diffs and covered it under warranty. They are the most common to deal with. I kinds wish I dropped down to 4.30 when that happened. If you are able to swap the rear and front diffs this would be an easy option. Just have to send your cores back after the swap is complete to get some of your money back.

 

Mine is an Auto on 33's. That's exactly what I'm going to do is buy the setup from ECGS and send them back my cores. I'm wondering based on what your saying if the towing of the camper with 4.30 will work. Once a year I drive all highway down to Sebring, Fla for the race and that's a solid 10 to 11 hour ride at 70mph. It's rough. So highway is a requirement also.

 

I drive +1k mi one way a couple times a year. Plus multiple shorter trips. I only tow locally though. I don't even bother going through the Dakotas where the limit is 80 in a lot of areas. I added the S/C first, then changed to 4.56. It felt like adding another S/C. I like the low speed in 4low, but would like the lower RPMs all around. Typically auto guys use a more aggressive ratio.