3:21 vs 3:92 Gears

[MOONCHASER]

Preparing to order a 2021 Limited & debating gear choice. As I will spend more time not pulling anything than doing so, it seems only economically logical to opt for the 3:21 rear end. I question my thinking when I observe the majority of existing inventory on dealers lots have the 3:92 gears. What am I missing?

 

[Sascwatch]

Do you plan on towing? How much city vs highway driving do you do? And hemi or eco diesel?

I have the 3.92 and love the low end torque with the eco diesel.

 

[CMil527]

3.92 is the way to go imo... I've had the 3.21 in my 2015 and always regretted not finding a truck with 3.92's. It was a must this time, has a different feel imo. Just more low end grunt.

 

[Psyonic64]

I think it's less a question of how 'often' you will tow and more of 'how heavy' are you going to tow when you do?
The difference in tow / haul capacity between 3.21 and 3.92 is significant.

After I got mine, the notion of looking into an RV came up. 3.21 definitely limits our choices.

 

[kdoublep]

I vote 3.92 but I haven't driven anything else.

 

[TNRamGuy]

3.92 has torque for days, very good for larger tires, towing or hauling or just producing sh** eating grins when next to a prius at a stop light. 3.21 may have 1 or 2 mpg better. I'll take fun over fuel economy any day

 

[flyfingers]

There's a really long thread relating to this just use the search bar above and type in:

An engineer's Ultimate Guide to 3.21 vs 3.92 axle ratio​

It has more than you'll ever want to know re; this question.

 

[Venom700]

It’s all about towing and MPG. These trucks aren’t fast compared to others or $30k sports cars so ignore the noise.

 

[KCViper]

Just ordered mine and was heavily advised to go with 3.92...which I did. Literally every truck on the lot had 3.92......I live in Texas so it tells you something! I don't plan to do much towing, but if/when I do should be helpful.

 

[z0n3]

I chose 3.21 gears for me as I typically don’t tow often or very heavy. Mostly load the cab/bed with camping gear and that’s about as heavy as it gets. Enjoy my 3.21 gears and wouldn’t switch to 3.92 unless my needs changed and I had to tow heavy often. Also, I’m not planning to lift this truck other than leveling or going to tires bigger than 33”. If you have plans to do that I’d go with 3.92.

 

[HeavyMetalHauler]

I chose 3.21 gears for me as I typically don’t tow often or very heavy. Mostly load the cab/bed with camping gear and that’s about as heavy as it gets. Enjoy my 3.21 gears and wouldn’t switch to 3.92 unless my needs changed and I had to tow heavy often. Also, I’m not planning to lift this truck other than leveling or going to tires bigger than 33”. If you have plans to do that I’d go with 3.92.

Similar situation for me too. Don’t tow a whole lot, mostly just filling the bed with stuff that needs to be moved around when necessary. 3.21 is fine for that, so that’s what I got in my 2021 Sport.

 

[Kxlexus]

I prefer the 3.92 even if you never tow. The truck is more responsive and fun to drive.

 

[kenthelawnguy]

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[HEADING=3][HEADING=3]kenthelawnguy​

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JoinedOct 23, 2018Messages17Reaction score7

• Jan 11, 2021
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• #432

I had 3.21 gears in my 2017 limited 1500, 3.92 in my 2019 limited 1500 and I got the 3.21 in my 2021 Ram limited 1500. Why you may ask did I go back to the 3.21 gears? One thing I noticed after going to the 3.92 ratio was even though you get a little bit more of a kick off the line with the 3.92 and I mean just a little, you can really feel the pull of the 3.21 when you kick it down vs my 3.92 I had especially when kicking it down from higher speeds. Yes, to me the 3.21 just feels sportier and I don't know if it was due to ratio diff and the 3.21 finding a better gear when kicking it down or what but to me the 3.21 seems stronger once off the line and is more fun to drive. The truck feels lighter and smoother with the 3.21 and my wife even said the same thing and she could care less about trucks. Just my 2 cents on my personal experience. The best thing for you to do is test drive both, put them both through their paces and decide yourself witch you prefer out of both for you will find different opinions on both. Both gears tow well enough for what I would tow. If I needed to tow anything heavier I would step up to a 2500 Ram. The fuel economy is not that great of a difference so far between both gears with only 2000 miles on my new truck but let me tell you, the 33 gal tank is a must no matter which gears you go with!! High 500 to low 600 miles on highway to a tank is awesom

 

[RSZ]

These threads are always hilarious. They make it sound like the 3.21 rear end makes the truck into a dog that won't get out of it's own way.

 

[z0n3]

These threads are always hilarious. They make it sound like the 3.21 rear end makes the truck into a dog that won't get out of it's own way.

Usually that’s the result of these threads. I get the argument for towing. But if someone’s only response is buy a 3.92 because it gets off the line faster... then they bought the wrong type of vehicle to begin with in my opinion. I test drove multiple 3.21s, 3.92s and the difference never "wowed" me.

 

[thedream829]

I didn't even know we had this option until I came on the forums.

 

[PurpleRT]

I think it's less a question of how 'often' you will tow and more of 'how heavy' are you going to tow when you do?
The difference in tow / haul capacity between 3.21 and 3.92 is significant.

After I got mine, the notion of looking into an RV came up. 3.21 definitely limits our choices.

This. I had 3.21 in my 14.. regretted not doing enough research and finding a truck with 3.92. I didn’t make the same mistake this time in my 5th gen. 3.92 all the way even if you don’t tow. The little bit of extra mpg you lose is worth in my opinion and isn’t a significant difference unless you keep your foot in it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[86grand]

Biggest reason for upgrading to 3.92 would be bigger or heavier wheels and tires or towing a decent size boat or RV. If you are sure that neither of these are in your future, you can save some gas with 3.21. Every day driving is very similar, but upgrading gears later will cost a lot more than the gas saved now.

 

[MrSixStrings12]

I chose 3.21 gears for me as I typically don’t tow often or very heavy. Mostly load the cab/bed with camping gear and that’s about as heavy as it gets. Enjoy my 3.21 gears and wouldn’t switch to 3.92 unless my needs changed and I had to tow heavy often. Also, I’m not planning to lift this truck other than leveling or going to tires bigger than 33”. If you have plans to do that I’d go with 3.92.

I went with 3.21 with my order for the same reason. If I do end up towing, it'll be a small trailer for extra room for moving furniture or something random. I may tow my parent's boat, if needed, where the 3.92 would be way better. But thats likely to be a once a year occurrence if that. The 1-2 mpg's add up in my opinion.

 

[Jason605]

I had the 3.21 in my 14 bighorn and my 21 BTS has the 3.92. For me its a big difference. Power right from the start, the 3.21 always seemed sluggish down low. If you change exhaust with the 3.21 while on the highway it drones because of the lower rpm's.