Which diesel-powered Dodge?

[WARWAGON41]

Thanks JimmieD.
I envy you..... A Cummins powered Townie ! Thats one of my dream rides.

Please dont get me wrong guys....theres nothing wrong with 4.10s , mine has 4.10s, weighs in at 8000 lbs empty and like Norm says is happiest under 2100 rpm.
With peak torque at 1600 rpm , a 6spd manual and tiny stock tires it just didnt seem happy with the 4.10s.
It always seemed over reved , you couldnt shift fast enough and it never had a chance pull / work between gears if you know what I mean.
Every gear change was like trying to shift 6 granny gears....well 5 not counting the real granny gear.
It wasnt at all unpleasant or difficult to drive but its my daily driver and just seemed a little mis matched for my use.

We had a 90 w / 3.55s and a 91 with 4.10s , both manuals , both had tallish 255 tires.
Both were excellent trucks and are still going but the one with 3.55s was quieter and smoother at road speed (engine wise ) and created the allusion of having more power just becuse of the gear spacing giving it room to pull in each gear.
Also the one w/ 3.55s would generaly out pull the other on hills ( speed ) at a point were both need to down shift , once you came out of over drive w/ the 4.10 truck you really had to back out of it.
As far as mpg there was only a slight differance and the one with 4.10s has gotten as good as 22 hwy at 65mph.

When I went to 35" tires on mine it was like a completely different truck.
Much more pick up between gears , and a 3 mpg increase all around....yes even city much to my surprise.
Now when I down shift on a grade I can still run 55 or as much as 70 mph but it can pull most hills loaded in high gear
60 mph is now 1600 rpm..... right in the sweet spot.
The high gears work good for us but not everyone uses them the same way .
I put alot of miles on mine in a week empty and tow on ocasion......might be different if I towed every day.

With soooo much low end torque it seems a waste to spin higher rpms.
Even the gas motors ( mopar of course) we have built over the years were focused on torque at low rpm ranges.
We raced an A-body Mopar stock car on 1/4 mile and 1/2 mile asphalt with a 360 based LA with great sucsess.
Our set up was all the power we could get at the lowest possable power band and a higher gear than most in the rear.
This thing was a monster comming out of the turns.
Not only was the car a regular winner , since we rarely turned it over 4500 rpm we NEVER had motor problems and used it as race only for 3 years with out even having to replace bearings.
The same motor has been in my Dads restored 69 Coronet 2d ht for 15 yrs , hasnt been touched and ran a 12.04 1/4 mile with 3.23 gears on stock tires the one and only time it was at the strip.
Ooops Im getting kinda long here ,sorry for ramblin on.
4.10s work good and 3.55s or 3.73 work good as well , its just personal preferance and how your going to use it .
I hope youve found the right one for you Josiah , were ever you are.
William.
P.S. Thats a mighty fine setup you got there Norm , looks like the ultimate do it all rig !

[MoparNorm]

Thanks! It gets the job done!
One possible difference, in why my 4.10 works well for me, is that I'm running an auto transmission, so the shifting isn't as much of an issue, in fact I love how the auto works and and a little band tweaking does wonders for it.
Since my truck sees most of it's action in SoCal and the freeway driving is mostly stop and go, a manual isn't a real good option down here.
The auto is working well and with the exception of needing one service and adjustment it's towed many loads over 12,000 lbs, some from as far away as Texas. I've been at or over the 23,600 max GCVW a couple of times....
One thing I'm curious about, is the final drive ratio in overdrive. I've always thought the auto 0.73 and the manual 0.73 were the same, but at several of the on-line gear ratio calculators they factor the manual overdrive and auto over drive at a different ratio....

I would imagine that the close gear spacing of a six speed does negate the 4.10 ratio, on the road and diesels like to lug, so a taller gear may work well. In fact I see that Dodge is dropping the 4.10 as the standard ratio in favor of a more fuel friendly, taller ratio.
However, I think that once you get much taller than a 3.54, the equation would tilt in the opposite direction and too much lugging would also be counter productive.

[JimmieD]

I think the online ratio calculators all suffer from a disease: Chevyitis. They're talking about Chevy transmissions, like Dodge doesn't exist, and use Choveme ratios.

Similar to the Slummit catalogues that list every GM product ever made in extraordinary detail, out of alphabetical order, giving GM first, Ford second, then Chryser dead last. When they list Chrysler they lump all engines together like LA's, and usually say 'CALL for Pricing' as an added insult. Guess who I don't buy parts from?

[xm708]

injection pump differances

Guys back on the pictures of the red dually sorry didn't see the year it shows the injection pump with the high pressure lines coming from the top as with the 94-98 trucks I was wondering when did they change pumps I remember seeing the injection pump on the 93 style trucks with the lines on the rear of the pump ? I ask because I am going maybe to look at a truck 92-93 vintage and was curious when they changed injection pumps.

thanks

ed

[MoparNorm]

I only know the lift pumps:
2nd Gen from 98.5 to 2002 had the VP pump, least desirable pump. 1st Gen pumps and 3rd Gen pumps are pretty stout. The 2nd Gen pumps have a TSB (tech service bulletin) to remove them from the engine and place them into the fuel tank. Many are free if you're under time and mileage on your warranty.