2013 & diesel particulate filter?

[RVTRKN]

It takes more torque and stress on the gear, regardless of what the trans does, also You may see a rise in mpg empty but when loaded it'll drop below a 4:10 equipped truck, it'll be like your fighting a head wind.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Prediction, there will be a rash of 3:42 failures in the near future, just like the DMF failures of the G56.

28K and my 28K combined load has not been a problem. I think I paved the way for the 3:42's HA.

 

[Cummins12V98]

It takes more torque and stress on the gear, regardless of what the trans does, also You may see a rise in mpg empty but when loaded it'll drop below a 4:10 equipped truck, it'll be like your fighting a head wind.

My trans temps are less than anyone else's I have heard of in all conditions. My MPG towing is as good or better than everyone else's hand calc, 9. 5 West coast towing 28K combined 3:42 gears. If I have a weak situation it would be starting on a grade, I take it easy and roll into it after I get moving. Not saying 3:42's are the best for my load but they sure work better than I ever expected.

 

[AClayton]

I just got home towing my toyhauler and I will say AGAIN... ... ... NO problems whatsoever towing with 3. 42's at all. I towed at 65mph in 5th gear and left it there! My 6. 7 turned about 2ooo rpm and maintained 11. 4 mpg as read on the lie-o-meter. It did not like 6th at all and even on flat ground felt as if it was struggling to maintain speed. It pulled very well and held its own on all but the toughest grades of Virginia in 5th gear. This truck has 370 hp!..... I'm thinking you other guys may not realize that when you purposely refuse to understand the capability of the new trucks. Although, I will admit that it starts off a bit sluggish but no different than my other truck with 3. 55's and 33" tires. You guys can rave about having 4. 10's but for me, I'm pulling lighter loads the vast majority of the time and the 3. 42's work good enough when faced with pulling my RV once a month. I can easily justify having only 5 forward gears towing heavy vs. buzzing my 6. 7 lightly loaded to 2300rpm and only going 70mph in 6th with 4. 10's. If I was a hotshotter... . sure: 4. 10's would be better! 3. 42's in the new trucks works well!!

 

[RustyJC]

I can easily justify having only 5 forward gears towing heavy vs. buzzing my 6. 7 lightly loaded to 2300rpm and only going 70mph in 6th with 4. 10's.

What??? My 4. 10 equipped truck turns 1880 RPM @ 70 MPH in 6th with the 68RFE. My 2002 with 4. 10s turned 2350 RPM in 6th, but that was with an NV5600 with a totally different 6th gear ratio.



Rusty

 

[SNiebaum]

How many miles till the good fuel mileage kicks in? Lol. But srsly, you guys are saying 20ish at 75 with a new 3500?
I babied mine on the 350 mile trip home and only got 13. Disappointing. Next week I'll be hitched up to 18k for several hundred miles, I'm hoping that loosens things up abit.

Edit: 21. 5 mpg on the Hemi during an 800 mile trip. Can't complain about that.

DRW? rear gears if so?

My 2500 has pulled over 17mpg from the day I drove it off the dealers lot... easily will do 19+ on straight highway runs. Dips to the high 17's when you start adding in city driving.

 

[Powder Extreme]

DRW? rear gears if so?

My 2500 has pulled over 17mpg from the day I drove it off the dealers lot... easily will do 19+ on straight highway runs. Dips to the high 17's when you start adding in city driving.

Drw crew cab. 3. 73 gears

 

[NIsaacs]

Prediction, there will be a rash of 3:42 failures in the near future, just like the DMF failures of the G56.

There is not much difference in 3. 42 v/s 3. 55 v/s 3. 73, i don't see how or why there would be a weakness built into the 3. 42. For a 6spd, 1 overdrive manual transmission, I think it is a fine ratio. For the new 6 spd autos and 2 overdrives, I think it is a poor choice for towing. That may be why Ram forces you to go dually to get the lower gear ratios.



Nick

 

[Powder Extreme]

My 2010 had 3. 42's, I regularly towed grossing 30-33,000. At that weight I would drive 55mph, the truck didn't have the power to hold 65. I would run 5th on the flats, 4th in the hills, and usually be in 2nd or third climbing. I manually shifted it ALL the time, the transmission had no clue what to do, dealer looked at it a few times and couldn't figure out why. We even took a new truck off the lot and hitched it up (5k trailer) and ran the same hill to verify that my transmission was messed up. They agreed but still didn't know why.

Anyway, back to my point, the rear end on my 2010 got so hot towing, it cooked the paint off the cover, and subsequently rusted. When I got rid of it with around 20k miles, the cover looked like it was 50 yrs old.

I'm assuming that is why dodge now has the covers with the cooling fins, and hopefully more oil as well.
The taller the gear ratio, the more strain on the gears and subsequently the more heat they will build. Period. That is a mechanical fact that can't be argued. Things can be done to remove that heat such as aluminum covers, more oil, etc. but with all other things being equal, a 3. 73 will always run cooler than a 3. 42, and a 4. 10 will be cooler yet.

I doubt the 3. 42 will have problems since Dodge evidently learned from the rear ends like what I had in my 2010 and went to a beefier unit with better cooling. I've ran semis with 3. 36 gears (some have 2. 92's) and obviously taller tires than we have that never had a problem. Last truck I drove was 1,250 rpm @ 65 mph.

 

[rscurtis]

I doubt it was the heat that took the paint off your cover- had it been, your oil would have been incinerated. The poor quality paint quickly departed from the low grade steel used to make the cover. I've painted the cover on my signature truck several times for that reason.

 

[TCDiesel]

The gears will have very little effect on axle temps +20-30*, its the bearings that create all the heat, Reasons bearings create to much heat , Bearings over TQ (Keepers) Pinion ,sides, Poor Quality, Bad bearings. Side bearings will tolerate under TQ ,if you over TQ $$$$, Adjustments have some effect on temps, But improper adjustments will cause premature wear or failure.

 

[CUMMINZ]

Once you get new Ram disease, the only cure costs $50,000!

My 07. 5 only has 80k miles on it and getting the best mileage ever. Just added a topper to make our fall Colorado/fishing Wyoming/hunting trip in October. I have too much tied up in this truck to trade now. Maybe when an 8 speed shows up and it will.

 

[RVTRKN]

There is not much difference in 3. 42 v/s 3. 55 v/s 3. 73, i don't see how or why there would be a weakness built into the 3. 42. For a 6spd, 1 overdrive manual transmission, I think it is a fine ratio. For the new 6 spd autos and 2 overdrives, I think it is a poor choice for towing. That may be why Ram forces you to go dually to get the lower gear ratios.



Nick

Nick, I believe thats our point, its a dandy ratio when empty, but when loaded, its like fighting a head wind. If you where to take two identical trucks except for one has 4:10 and the other has a 3:42 rear end on the same grade together, you could see the difference in towing. But empty its great, although I still feel your adding undue stress to the Ring and pinion gears at the lower ratio of 3:42. Hell, I was worried about the 3:73, but had 50% planned city driving. When climbing heavy I miss having 4:10's, the last time I climbed (even at only 15K GCVW) Baker grade I purposely kept my RPM's at 2500 leaving my Boss behind because I didn't want to hunt for the right gear, in other words going from 5th to 6th & back to 5th all the way up baker grade. My bosses 7. 3 Ford is a dog, but it climbs real steady, sorry I don't know what rear ratio he has. This will be my last post in this thread, I wish the best of luck for the trucks equipped with 3:42's and the buyers of them as well.