To gear or not to gear. that is the question :)

BIONBlazer

New Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Location
knoxville
hello all.

I have a chevy cab truck that has 1 ton axles and a stock 350 motor with doubler.

I currently have 4.10 gears and 42" tsl's.
Im not really happy with the acceleration and driving of the truck in 4x4 high. seems like it takes alot to get the truck rolling. I dont drive the truck on the road. i also dont do much rock climbling...but enjoy just the trail riding till my skill increases. Me and my friends do windrock tellico and harland black mountains.

I'm pulling the axles soon to install my detroit. I would like to do 5.13 gears at the same time. My best friend tells me to post here for suggestions. he explained that in low low on my doubler i will be in the zone to break things with 5.13 where im relatively safe now. I'd like to stay in the zone where breakage can happen and probably wont than be in the zone where breakage will happen or probably might will.:shaking:
 
depending on who you believe....his theory could be considered wrong.

The lower the R&P the less strain you put on driveshafts, t-case, tranny, etc.

Another theory is that 5.13s are weaker than 5.38s.

All kind of options...build what you want. If you drive on the road at all...i recommend gears. You will notice a huge difference on and off the pavement.

Seth
 
I have the same tires and 4.88 gears in my truck. Feels about right. 5.13's would probably be very good too.
 
thanks guys for the replies. I didnt mean to sound like i wasnt sure what gears to use...im pretty set on 5.13's. i was more concerned about the lower gears breaking things and i was told and was under the impression from some things i read that lower gears will put extreme torque on my other components. I forgot to mention im using chromoly axles with 35 spline outters and superjoints with drive flanges.

I was just trying to decide if i should go ahead and gear while i had the carrier out. My buddy says i should drive the truck more before making that decision. I have only been on one trip since installing the doubler.

thanks for all the input so fast!
 
The gears just move the torque. It increases the strain on everything past the gears- axles, etc, but decreases strain on everything before the gears, like driveshafts and tcase. Your chromoly axles and superjoints will help.
 
Some good tech here, and x2 on expect more strain and possibly more breakage)

So you said you're not happy with your trucks acceleration in 4x4 HIGH, but is that HIGH-HIGH, or LO-HIGH?

I think I'd have to agree with your friend about feeling how different gear combos affect your acceleration and just generally enjoying your rig instead of making a quick change. If after several more trips you still wish you had more final reduction, you can always do it then.
 
hate to resurrect old thread...

But just had to add to this thread my results. After a few deaths in the family I got to take my truck out for the first time in over a year. I ignored the advice of some to be content with what I had. I was installing a detroit in the front anyways and figured then was as good as a time as any to regear. Did the 14 bolt first without much problems and spent probably 6-8 hours doing it. If I must add my 2 cents and layman knowledge...its a good axle to learn on. My front Dana 60 was a whole nother story and took probably 10-12 hours or more before I got an acceptable pattern. Which the pattern still looks nothing like the pattern on my rear. However the gears we used so that probably has alot to do with it.

Ran the gears at windrock this last weekend and must say wouldnt go back to 4.10's for anything. in high /high the truck drives fast enough for any dirt trail or paved access road and Low/low keeps me from having to punch the throttle and rev engine to bounce over obsticles like I had to do with the 4.10's. Acceleration is much better now as well.

Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who has very little experience in this hobby... so take this with a grain of salt. But I do appreciate all the responses I got here.
 
Glad you enjoyed your re-gearing. Become a member and post up some pics of your rig and rides you go on. with the trails you mentioned seems like you are not too far from what a large amount of the guys here like to ride.
 
I'm surprised nobody mention the pinion gear getting much smaller/fewer teeth = much weaker when going with that low a gear set...

So which trails did you ride? It's one of my favorite places to ride!
 
Yeah, now you tell me!
Actually I read that somewhere else before. Its fairly obvious when you see a 4.10 pinion and a 5.13 pinion side by side.
Alot of the guys I wheel with have broke pinions with 5.13s due to various reasons. I only have 160 HP or less. I dont hit things too hard so hopefully the pinion will hold up.
Any suggestions what to do if a 5.13 breaks? I read 5.38's were stronger than 5.13's but how much...im not sure. Also can you even get 5.38's for a 14 bolt?
One of my good buddies had 5.13's for 3 years before his pinion broke. if I can get that out of it I'll be fine replacing it later down the road.
 
BIONBlazer said:
Yeah, now you tell me!
Actually I read that somewhere else before. Its fairly obvious when you see a 4.10 pinion and a 5.13 pinion side by side.
Alot of the guys I wheel with have broke pinions with 5.13s due to various reasons. I only have 160 HP or less. I dont hit things too hard so hopefully the pinion will hold up.
Any suggestions what to do if a 5.13 breaks? I read 5.38's were stronger than 5.13's but how much...im not sure. Also can you even get 5.38's for a 14 bolt?
One of my good buddies had 5.13's for 3 years before his pinion broke. if I can get that out of it I'll be fine replacing it later down the road.
Click to expand...
When you say the pinion broke, do you mean the pinion teeth cracked/stripped or that the splined section of the pinion shaft broke? Also, were the gears running on the coast or drive side?

I seriously doubt you are going to gain major strength going from 5.13's to 5.38's.

Here is the Hi-9 page where they compare their custom cut 9ingears to D60 4.88 and 5.13's. It seems that the loss in strength from 4.88 to 5.13's is negligible... http://www.truehi9.com/gears2.html
 
Back
Top