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Are the RPM's at 60 MPH different for various differential ratios?

Jhill

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I have a 19 Rebel with 33" factory tires and the locker 3.94 rear end. I noticed the RPM's look to be around 1600 at 60 MPH. Does the transmission have capability of different ratios in 8th to help the different rear end ratios? In other words will someone with 3.21 diff and smaller factory tires have their transmission geared in 8th to make RPM's be the same as mine approx 1600?
 

riccnick

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The physical gears inside the transmission are the same across the board. The rear end ratio is what makes the difference. If you have a 3.21 truck, the difference between running in 7th gear vs 8th on the highway is about the same difference you'd see running in 8th on a 3.21 vs 8th on a 3.92 truck.

So (I think) to answer your question: trucks with the 3.21 will run at lower rpms at the same speed in the same gear (60 mph in 8th in your example) when compared to a 3.92 truck
 

Jhill

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Thanks.....Might be interesting to chart what different configurations RPM run at 60 MPH. There are both tire diameter variances as well as differential ratios. So my 33" tires are larger from factory and bring RPMs down some to counter the 3.92 ratio. Of course they are bigger, heavier and cause more drag.
 

riccnick

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The nominal tire sizes will all calculate to a difference of less than 1/2" I'd imagine. In reality they're all going to be very close when mounted on the truck and inflated to spec. There are only 2 rear end gear ratios available for the Hemi's, so it should be relatively simple. I don't have the number's in front of me at the moment for the trans gears, but calculating the overall final drive ratio including tires would still just come down to the rear axle ratio's.

For example, the 20's on my Laramie are 275/55R20, so that means 275mm wide * 55% * 2 / 25.4 + 20 = 31.9" diameter.

Your Rebel has 275/70R18 which calculates out to 33.15", which means radially, there's a little over a half inch difference (I spoke too soon a few lines ago huh?), which would translate into a less than 4% difference in circumference (which is what will translate to speedo error, if any), IF all other metrics were the same, and we wouldn't need to consider wheel width, tire pressure, and vehicle weight to determine true rolling diameter (or circumference, whichever we use to calculate).

As this math unfolds as I type here, that 4% difference is 2.4mph difference baselined at 60mph, so I imagine we're missing something with the actual mounted diameter of the wheels. Otherwise, each truck would need to be calibrated to its tire size at the factory, and from what I understand, that's not the case with how most manufacturers do things.
 

Fidomac

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Thanks.....Might be interesting to chart what different configurations RPM run at 60 MPH. There are both tire diameter variances as well as differential ratios. So my 33" tires are larger from factory and bring RPMs down some to counter the 3.92 ratio. Of course they are bigger, heavier and cause more drag.
Very good resource available at tiresize.com for your questions..... allows you to change tire sizes and compare them with wheel diameter, circumference, final gear ratios, etcetera
 

cory1223oh

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I know this is an old thread, but may help others doing research. This link is a great tool that allows you to input axle ratio, transmission ratio, tire size, and speed and it outputs an engine RPM. Really useful as I've been looking at the effect of tire sizes and 3.21 vs 3.93 gear ratios on engine RPMs for the speeds I usually travel at.

Crawlpedia Engine RPM Calculator
 

Billy James

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I know this is an old thread, but may help others doing research. This link is a great tool that allows you to input axle ratio, transmission ratio, tire size, and speed and it outputs an engine RPM. Really useful as I've been looking at the effect of tire sizes and 3.21 vs 3.93 gear ratios on engine RPMs for the speeds I usually travel at.

Crawlpedia Engine RPM Calculator
Good share, thanks. I had to use info from this link for transmission gear ratios: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct....do?id=18750&usg=AOvVaw17yCc92iogTMAyjcaFdr5M

Going by the RPM Calculator, my truck would be about 100 RPM lower with 33.5" tires at 70 MPH. In theory, this would put my truck in the RPM range where MDS stays active at 70 MPH. Of course, this doesn't account for extra drag and weight of the larger tires.
 

Zeeya

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Rebel - 3.92 at 75 I’m right at 2100. I asked on another post what the guys/gals with the 3.21’s were doing and the response I got was 1600/1700 rpms at 75mph
 

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