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Re: Reduction gear options for a Sierra: pros and cons
Posted: Sat 09 Nov, 2013 10:59 pm
by gwagensteve
Good call.
Steve.
Re: Reduction gear options for a Sierra: pros and cons
Posted: Sun 10 Nov, 2013 11:39 am
by davidsuzuki
Ok, so with 6.5 transfer gears and some reinforcements for the transfer case mounting (such as that EOS cradle) I will have a reliable, trouble free setup??
Steve I've been putting some figures through that gear calculator --
http://www.lepayne.com/gears.html (thanks jono165) and can't work out why I would lose a gear offroad with the 4.1/4.1 setup??
Re: Reduction gear options for a Sierra: pros and cons
Posted: Sun 10 Nov, 2013 12:00 pm
by jonfromhamilton
It's all about the crawling
Re: Reduction gear options for a Sierra: pros and cons
Posted: Sun 10 Nov, 2013 1:30 pm
by mika
i was running 6.5's with stock 3.7 diff ratio and just some reinforcements to the long side transfer arm which included a small bracket to pickup an extra 2 bolts on the transfer case. No issues with very agressive 33x12.5 on beadlocks on 10 odd hard trips. Keeping the genuine stock rubber mounts or something similar that is stretchy helps to reduce shock load to the transfer but unless you are a very abusive driver you should have no trouble on 31's. Heaps of guys run that setup.
Re: Reduction gear options for a Sierra: pros and cons
Posted: Sun 10 Nov, 2013 3:22 pm
by lbzook
I've got 6.5's on 31's and stock diff gears and my transfer case mounts are holing up fine, I did however trash a passenger engine mount within 5 trips though
Re: Reduction gear options for a Sierra: pros and cons
Posted: Sun 10 Nov, 2013 4:52 pm
by gwagensteve
davidsuzuki wrote:Ok, so with 6.5 transfer gears and some reinforcements for the transfer case mounting (such as that EOS cradle) I will have a reliable, trouble free setup??
Steve I've been putting some figures through that gear calculator --
http://www.lepayne.com/gears.html (thanks jono165) and can't work out why I would lose a gear offroad with the 4.1/4.1 setup??
Crawl ratio isn't as low.
Crawl ratio is 1st gear X low range X axle gear
With 4.1/4.1 it's 61:1
With 6.5's alone it's 88:1
60:1 is fine, but it's the tallest crawl ratio that feels good. In my book, there's no point gearing a sierra to achieve a crawl ratio taller than 60:1, unless it's automatic.
with 88:1 you can always slow down enough to feel in control, and 4th low is a really usable gear for muddy hills etc.
Steve.