Ring and pinion

[SATBLS]

Does anyone know a good place I can a ring and pinion set for my TB? It has the I6 with 3.42 ratio from the factory, and like a lot of others here have noted, I feel that it could use a little more low end power. Not sure if I want the 3.73 or 4.10 yet, but I'd like to find a good place to purchase it once I make that decision. Thanks in advance. :)

[MoJoe]

Does anyone know a good place I can a ring and pinion set for my TB? It has the I6 with 3.42 ratio from the factory, and like a lot of others here have noted, I feel that it could use a little more low end power. Not sure if I want the 3.73 or 4.10 yet, but I'd like to find a good place to purchase it once I make that decision. Thanks in advance. :)


I am looking at doing a 4.10 swap. I would contact these people and work with them http://www.ringpinion.com/ . I have not researched yet what is needed or prices. I know for a typical front and rear swap on a 4wd is about $1200 with gears around here.

[SATBLS]

Thanks, I'll give them a try.

[tbmdsd]

I already have the 3.73 in mine from the factory

[SATBLS]

I would have opted for lower gearing from the factory also. Unfortunately, I was limited with time because I bought my TB last month to take advantage of the employee pricing. Not knowing that the sale would be extended through July, I had to take delivery within about a week of the date I placed the order. I had specific options and a certain color in mind, as well as the gear ratio. When my local dealership ran a search of a 200 mile radius, the only TB they could turn up matching my specifications had everything except the 3.73s or 4.10s that I would have wanted. Since it wasn't a deal breaker for me, I went ahead and ordered it. I do have the locking diff, however. Now I just need to get one of the 'good' ring and pinion ratios.

[Dave]

I would just advise driving one first before you swap gears. Better acceleration is great, increased noise lower gas mileage are not. Again that is just my advice.

[MoJoe]

If I swap, it would be to 3.73's. Should keep me around where I am at with 31's. :)

[SATBLS]

I would just advise driving one first before you swap gears. Better acceleration is great, increased noise lower gas mileage are not. Again that is just my advice.

That is good advice. I am truly a low-end guy though. I have changed gearing on many vehicles I've owned, my current BMW included. What I always do is calculate the RPM difference and figure out where my new cruising RPM will be at about 80mph with the shorter gearing. Then I go on the highway and cruise one gear below the top (3rd in the case of the TB) at whatever speed yields the new cruising RPM to determine if I'm okay with the noise/vibration. I make sure to do this for at least 20 or 30 miles to be absolutely certain. Usually the answer for me is yes.

The gas mileage is a concern, of course, especially these days. I don't expect these prices to continue being this high for too long, however. Additionally, I've noticed only a modest drop in mileage with prior gear swaps, generally 1-2 mpg. Naturally, highway mileage will decrease, but city mileage actually gets a bit better in some cases due to the fact that the engine does not have to work as hard to rev and bring the vehicle up to speed. If someone does a decent mix of city and highway driving (which I do) the gas mileage reduction may not be that bad. For example.. my 330Ci came stock with a 3.07 diff ratio, and it averaged 21.4 mpg over the first two years I had it. I swapped to a 3.46 differential a year ago, and the average only dropped to 20.5 mpg. Let me tell you, I am more than willing to take that minor hit for the major performance gain I received. :D

And obviously, I'm not looking for the TB to perform like the BMW, I just feel that it needs some help getting the RPMs up into the range where it makes its power. The I6 is quite strong, but it really doesn't have too much below aboout 3K RPM. Additionally, I do plan on towing with it down the road, and I wouldn't have to worry as much about how much weight I'm pulling (and the I6's inherent lack of low end torque) with a little more gear. :m2:

[iDontKnow]

GM part numbers. I got them from gmpartsdirect.com, but I'd verify these with a dealer first though before ordering.

Rear ring and pinion gear sets:
113" wheelbase, 3.42: 12471432
113" wheelbase, 3.73: 12471433
113" wheelbase, 4.10: 12471434

129" wheelbase, 3.42: 12479205
129" wheelbase, 3.73: 12479283
129" wheelbase, 4.10: 12479200

Front ring and pinion gear sets:
3.42: 26009578
3.73: 26037638
4.10: ?

[autotech]

if you do change the gear ratios in your truck, you can go to the dealer and have a new calibration put into the truck so that your speedo reads correctly. no need to break out the calculator!

[blandmiller]

The TB's don't lack low end torque. The torque curve is very flat for a 6 cylinder engine. I believe what you are referring to as a 'lack of low end torque' is actually the GM torque management programming in the ECU.

I'll let you know how the Wester's tune effects the torque numbers soon.

[iDontKnow]

I was quoted a front and rear set of Yukon Gear (http://www.yukongear.com) ring and pinion gears w/ install kit for the TB from www.completeoffroad.com (http://www.completeoffroad.com).

Quote was roughly $600... actually a little cheaper for the 4.10 ratio. In comparison... just the rear ring and pinion set from gmpartsdirect is over $500.

The Yukon Gear set for the front was their GM 7.2" IFS model, and rear was GM 8.0" 10 bolt model. No claims as if these models are completely correct, it was just what they selected for me when I gave them my quote request.

I've never had experience with completeoffroad.com or Yukon Gear. This is just info on what I've come across in my research. Hope it helps.