Gears for towing w/'08 1500 SXT 4x4 w/LSD

[Webtiger02]

Hi;
Just wondering if it's worth going to a 4:56 gear instead of 3:92's? How much towing capacity, if any, do I gain doing the 4:56 over the 3:92's?
I priced the 3.92's installed and the quotes are all over the board 2,000 to 2,600 out the door. Naturally the $2,600 quote is from the dealer where I purchased the truck.
The 3.55's in this truck suck worse than the Dakota I just traded in that had 3.55's and I find I'm running with O/D off A LOT where with the Dakota I dropped out of O/D about 4 times/yr.
Truck details in my sig.

Thanks much!

[JeffB2002]

Hi;
Just wondering if it's worth going to a 4:56 gear instead of 3:92's? How much towing capacity, if any, do I gain doing the 4:56 over the 3:92's?
I priced the 3.92's installed and the quotes are all over the board 2,000 to 2,600 out the door. Naturally the $2,600 quote is from the dealer where I purchased the truck.
The 3.55's in this truck suck worse than the Dakota I just traded in that had 3.55's and I find I'm running with O/D off A LOT where with the Dakota I dropped out of O/D about 4 times/yr.
Truck details in my sig.

Thanks much!
Well....let's start from the beginning.

When you increase the gears size, technically your towing capacity does increase, but gears are only one part of many that go into the equation. The new gears will help you get the load moving and keep it moving with less effort, but you DO NOT want to EVER tow above your towing limits. Next, since you have 3.55's do not go with anything less than 4.10. It will not be worth the money you will spend on the swap for such a little increase in gear size. 4.56 is the recommended gear is you do not drive on the highway a lot over 65mph. You will get varying opinions, but 4.56 is kind of tall for highway travel over 65mph. You will start to lose MPG's. If you do not drive fast on the highway then I would definately go 4.56. You will be very happy with the ability of getting the load moving and your around town MPG's will actually increase. I paid 1600 for my swap. It is very expensive because you have to change both front and rear. The downfall for having a 4x4. Make sure you go to a place, dealer or whever you go, that has a tech that has done gear swaps before. It is VERY important that it is done correctly the first time, unless you want to replace those expensive gears you have. Do a search on here and you will both sides of the fence on what size gears you should go with. Make sure you do your due diligence and make an educated decision. Let me know if you have any questions. Sorry for the book you had to read. :)

[Webtiger02]

Thanks Jeff for the gear primer I'm very aware of finding a highly qualified shop to do this work I do not want to have problems afterwards and I do not want to void the "Limited Lifetime Warranty" on the tranny either
One last question about this, am I correct in assuming that the 4:56 gears will give me 7,100 lbs towing capacity as the 3:92's would? This is what the owners manual/dealership and other information I've been given indicate.
3:55 = 6100 lbs
3:92 = 7100 lbs
The only way I could ever get over 7100 lbs is to trade up from the 4.7 to the HEMI
As for the highway speeds I do 70 to 75 on Interstates but that's pretty rare around Western WA due to traffic, weather and those darn mountains we have here

[JeffB2002]

Thanks Jeff for the gear primer I'm very aware of finding a highly qualified shop to do this work I do not want to have problems afterwards and I do not want to void the "Limited Lifetime Warranty" on the tranny either
One last question about this, am I correct in assuming that the 4:56 gears will give me 7,100 lbs towing capacity as the 3:92's would? This is what the owners manual/dealership and other information I've been given indicate.
3:55 = 6100 lbs
3:92 = 7100 lbs
The only way I could ever get over 7100 lbs is to trade up from the 4.7 to the HEMI
As for the highway speeds I do 70 to 75 on Interstates but that's pretty rare around Western WA due to traffic, weather and those darn mountains we have here
Technically the 4.56's will give you increased towing capacity, but you should always stay within the rated towing capacity for your truck. Like I stated before, gears are only one piece of the puzzle. What are you looking to tow?

[Webtiger02]

19' to 22' TT in the 5000 lb range most of what I've looked at runs 4650 to 5200 dry weight...
I'm well aware of staying within the towing capacity I'm researching to make damn certain I'm under the capacity of this truck.
Again, thanks for all the help and information!

[JeffB2002]

Upgrade the gears and keep to what you are looking at right now and get a WD/Sway control hitch like www.equalizer.com and you will be just fine. I have a 32' TT that is 5660 dry and I tow it with my 4.7 and since I upgraded to the 4.10's I don;t have any problems. Good luck with your purchase.