Gear vendors or similar splitter

[Budman]

Okay so when I return to the states, I am planning on buying a new 1 ton truck for my permanent tow rig. It may not see a lot of towing right off the bat, but probably will as time goes on. One of the things I would like to do is improve MPG while maintaining the low end ability. Since we all have a good idea how gear ratios work... I was thinking about installing one of these on a 6 Speed Truck.
http://www.gearvendors.com/dmanual.html.
http://www.usgear.com/dual_range.htm


Now I have run 2/3 speed splitters in big trucks, 2 1/2 ton chevy's and a 1 ton or two in MO when we were pulling lots and lots of weight. They work great.

So now come the multiple questions.

1. Does anyone run one of these or something similar in a newer rig?

2. Does anyone know of a similar setup?

3. Is there a better way to get the HP/Tourque/MPG that I am looking for?

4. Is this complete overkill? (I like overkill)

[bcw1284]

depends on what you are running for drivetrain and what type of useage the truck will see... Some swear by the gear vendors, but one of the dealers (a close friend, not some random guy) told me that they have durability issues if you bang them around while off roading. If you plan to pavement pound, you ought to be fine.

[Budman]

This would be a tow rig only, and DD. But I plan to do a lot of towing.

[74BuckinBronc]

I thought about doing one a while back because I was making a lot of trips down the front range to visit family. 75-80mph on my 6spd puts the rpms too high, but funds just weren't there so I never did do it. Now my thinking is a mild lift and larger tires, which I want to do anyway. My cousin is looking to do this now. He has a PSD with a 5spd. I am intertested to see of anyone who has one of these.

J.D.

[Budman]

I thought about doing one a while back because I was making a lot of trips down the front range to visit family. 75-80mph on my 6spd puts the rpms too high, J.D.

This is exactly my thoughts. I do a lot of road trips to MO and AZ, most of the time unloaded, or lightly loaded. Would be nice to run 80-85 with the Revs down way low.

[74BuckinBronc]

I have heard that 2000rpms is optimum for the 7.3L PSD, but you didn't mention which rig you're going after. You just want an rpm where you're turbo is spooling some so that it builds boost quickly when needed, but is not working hard most of the time (flat ground). I would guess that 2000rpms is probably pretty close for all the big three...

J.D.

[Budman]

I haven't decided on the make yet, there is a good chance that it will be a ford cause the wife works for them, and we get a huge discount... But Dodge really treated me right when I turned in my lease early before this deployment, so they still get my loyalty. We will see.

[bcw1284]

i'm going to be buying a chebby this comming week, if you are interested I will do a write up on it once i've put it through it's paces. It's time to say goodbye to my CTD ram, I just need a smaller truck. and GM has year end 0% financing on remaining 2007's. woot woot.

[Budman]

Please let us know what you think. My buddies in MO that have them and work them hard seem to like the New Dmax and allison combo a lot.

[bcw1284]

mine is going to be gas, not diesel. $3.40/gallon is killing me, and the 6.0L GM is getting the same mileage I am... so its a no brainer. that and 0% for 5 years, woot woot.

[74BuckinBronc]

Consider longevity as well. I see your avatar is a dodge, so you have the cummins motor, which is well known for lasting a long time. It's a "pay me now or pay me later" scenario. You "pay now" when buying fuel, or you "pay later" when you have to replace your gas truck. But most folks don't keep vehicles long enough to see the cost savings of longevity anyway.

I guess what's crazy is diesel is cheaper to make, there is no reason it should cost more other than padding more pockets, but that's for another thread.

J.D.

[bcw1284]

yep. and i'm pretty unwilling to support that any longer. I love my dodge, but I am tired of working on it, getting harassed for noise, tire stickout, smoke, mudflaps, window tint, and anything else the locals can think of. I'm also tired of fixing little things that don't really affect function, just form... like the plastic door panel clips I was replacing friday in the freezing azz cold (grr). I'd rather have the cheaper fuel and full warranty now, because I will probably trade it in for a crewcab duramax someday when I have a career in motion, just not right now. I know I could probably get another 100k out of the dog before I have to open it up, but I'm not really anxious to dig into that either. If I keep it, I know it will end up a hot rod mofo that is a bear to DD anyway, so I might as well cut and run before I get into yet another project.

In fact, I'm going to put my wagoneer back together this summer, and sell all my other rigs. I only want a pair of cars, I'm tired of 6 rigs and 2 trailers. I'm shooting for 1/1/1... 1 DD pickup, 1 jeep, 1 utility trailer. I will just buck up and drive the jeep to the trails, and carry enough crap to get me home. I'm tired of working on all my rigs and never getting anywhere on any of them. If I don't have to work on the dd, I can deal with the jeep, and be done with it.

Once I get all this figured out, I will let you all know what I have found with the chevy. I am planning on using full synthetics and a bypass filter once I get it all broke in, just because I want to preserve longevity. I want to have that 250k mile gas truck that is still running like a champ. I don't really tow anthing absurdly heavy, at least not often, so I think the 6.0L should be just fine.