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canadaler
12-10-2004, 03:21 PM
***EDIT*** You know, I think I should have gone through other posts first, think I've already found my answer to this from some other discussions. Probably is not worth changing and some have actually changed from 3:55 to 3:92 and prefer it, with little change in hwy mileage and improvement around town....left the original post here anyways if you've got time to kill.

I went to an auction yard today and checked out a few vehicles that I'm interested in. One is a 1991 Dodge 350 "maxi" passenger van. I couldn't tell from the sticker under the hood, or looking at the engine, but I gotta assume it's a 360 in it. The rear axle ratio (from tag in the door) says it's a 3:90/9.25" unit and there is a push-button for O/D on the dash. (Hood sticker also calls up a 4 speed auto.)

Per my first post, I'm looking for something to rack up highway miles with and am afraid that this axle ratio may be a little high for that. How difficult (or possible) would it be to find and retro-fit this rear end with a lower ratio set of gears?

...or am I "out to lunch" on this one and shouldn't even bother thinking about changing them to get better milage?

Dodgevanman
12-10-2004, 06:23 PM
You're best off to keep the the 3.90 gears in that big van...it's going to need them. With the 360 and those gears, it will have plenty of power. Having the OD transmission is a plus too since it will reduce the RPM's the engine turns at highway speeds. Switching to the a higher gear ratio will produce a trivial (if any) increase in fuel mileage. If your considering a B350 Maxi-Van fuel mileage cannot be an issue :-)

I'm considering changing my gears to a 3.90 so I can get a little more oomph out of the 318 in my 94 B250 conversion van.