Anyone have experience with their products? Looking to add an overdrive gear to my Dodge with 4.10 gears for a little better fuel economy.
I've seen a few used on other people's proejcts. The company has been around for a long time and is known to make good products. The issue is cost - if you are looking at it to improve mileage then you need to put up a lot of miles to pay for it. If the goal is to reduce the amount of work your engine is doing and cost / fuel savings are secondary then they are great.
I know a lot of the Hot Rod Drag Week cars run Gear Venders stuff. Have you mathed out the trans ratios to see if you could just do a gear swap?
Never had the chance to use their stuff but known some folks who have and have never heard a bad thing about them.
Excellent units, but not much of an overdrive and absurdly expensive. If you already have an overdrive trans though, the extra should be perfect.
What year is your Dodge? What motor and trans? What size tires? What do you tow? Sometimes adding a GV isn't the best due to drivability and extra stress on the transmission.
I actually just downsized to an 07 5.9 with only 102k miles. Its a 68rfe trans. Im not quite sure what gears are in it. I want to say 3.73 but thats not in stone. The tires are oversized to say the least. Im headed to a track day this weekend so Im going to wait and see how the mileage/range is. It actually stays under 2k revs at 70 so Im not sure Im gonna get better than that.
You have a 5.9L with the 68RFE? That's a custom job for sure. I wouldn't get a gear vendors since you already have a double overdrive trans.
Okay that makes sense. I would still be hesitant to run the GV. Here is why: 1st gear w/GV 1:1 = normal transmission ratio 1st gear w/GV OD = unable to use because time between shifts is too short 2nd gear w/GV 1:1 = normal transmission ratio 2nd gear w/GV OD = usable extra gear between 2nd & 3rd 3rd gear w/GV 1:1 = normal transmission ratio 3rd gear w/GV OD = this becomes almost identical to 4th gear in the trans, but will be stronger for towing heavy 4th gear w/GV 1:1 = normal transmission ratio 4th gear w/GV OD = double overdrive gear, almost unusable though because it is so numerically low (think unloaded highway cruising at 80+ mph) So basically at the most you are getting an additional gear ratio between 2nd and 3rd and a stronger OD to tow in. I considered this for my 06 5.9L with the same trans and decided to just go with a built 48RE and up the power. The 48RE can be made very strong and has a larger overdrive already so you might think about where you realistically want to land with tire size and gear ratio. I am running 35's right now on the stock 3.73 gears and its nice for highway cruising (but I drive slow). I get about 18.5mpg empty. If I were towing a bunch I would consider swapping to 4.10's. If you are on 37's then 4.30 gears are recommended for towing.
Thank you very much for that explanation. Im having a buddy check the truck via vin to confirm. If anything changes, I will report back to get your opinion!
