Just spoke with the guy at Ron's.. He was very helpful..

The 3.73 gears that i have will work in my truck.. The install kit will not however. So i need a few misc parts and shims.. I am kind of tossing around the idea of going with the 3.73s, you know, since i already paid for them.
But i am not sure there will even be a notable difference..

Will 3.73 even be noted above the 3.23 that is in there currently..

My problem with the higher gears is that i regularly drive 75 and 80 on the intersates so the 4.10 would SUCK gas.. I think the 3.90 would be a good gear but would it be worth spending the money to go up that extra .17:1 over the 3.73???

I really want something that i can still DD (even in the snow and ice) so i am afraid to do too much to it in this dept?

SUGGESTIONS?? COMPLAINTS??

By the way, i come from a long line of tightasses so spending money is kind of against my religion if i can keep from it..

Thanks guys, you are all more than helpful

 

I have 3.73's and i love them!!

 

I think i am going to stick with the 3.73 gearing that i already own.. That will allow my buddy at the GM dealer to reflash me to get the speedo to operate correctly.. And keep driveablility while allowing slightly better pulling and acceleration.. I am going to need and correct me if i am wrong..
A new inner pinion bearing, crush sleeve and shim pack.. Correct?
Everything else is factory low miles so why should i change it? What are the odds that the backlash and preload will be even close to the same as the factory setup? Anyone know?
Is a Dif cover with the support deals worth anything as far as support?
Anyone run Royal Purple gear lube in their axle that has any issues? Should i add limited slip additive?

Thanks again, great help

 

4:56

 

+1. I like mine.. 16mpg with a 370 in an ec aint too bad

 

Rons Machining Service on ebay

they will have it, cheap also..

 

A friends suburban of mine as 3.73s and at 90mph his revs are around 3200rpm.. how would 3.42s fair? he's not looking for performance.. just a drop in revs for long distances

 

Hell if you already have the 3.73's, I'd just stick them in there. It will be a huge upgrade over the stock 3.23's. My 07 4.8 came stock with the 3.73's and its fine and I'm with 265-70-17's. I usually run about 17.5 mpg running 75% highway/25% city.

If you plan on putting a bigger tire on there or you plan on modding the truck for max performance you may want to run 3.90s or up, but you should be fine.

 

Jeeze, cruising at 90.. Uh, I doubt the 3.42's will do much for mileage at that speed in a burb. It's not going to wear out noticibly faster or anything, so the only thing he would be getting is a noise reduction

 

tell him to drive the speed limit, his rpms will drop. does he see a autobahn around here