Quote Originally Posted by 7thdaypope View Post
This is a great post from some real folks driving real trucks for real miles.

I am interested to know from those of you who have 3:42's under your rig if you have issues with lack of power especially while towing.

The gearing is great for mileage as we can clearly see from the posts, but can you pull a trailer up a hill without leaning forward in your seat?!

I'm deciding how to get the RPM's down under 2,000 on the highway, whether to change the gearing, or go to taller tires, or a combination of both.

Give me your input, what you have done, what you have seen or heard.

My 1982 Suburban non turbocharged 6.2 has a 3:08 rear end and I tow a 26 ft airstream weighing close to 6k lbs. I'm using 30x9.50 15" tires. I tow in direct drive (3rd gear) and at 60 mph, the engine turns over at around 1900 rpms. It'll pull the smaller hills in direct drive but on steeper hills such as a 5% grade, once the speed goes under 45 mph, I shift to 2nd gear and then the engine puts out good power. I can pull as fast as 60 mph (3500 rpm) in 2nd gear if needed. I did some calculations and 3.08 gears with 15 in tires in direct drive is similar to 3.73's and 16 in tires in overdrive. Also, most transmission are the most efficient and can withstand the most torque while in direct drive.