1979 rear end ratios

From : Annonymous

Q: my father has this old 1979 class c motorhome built on a dodge chassis. its a small 21ft and not very heavy vehicle and the 360 engine with 3speed auto transmission is fitted with a 4.1 rear end. with todays fuel price my father wishes to replace the rear end with a more fuel efficient ratio. what would be the available ratios for this vehicle hes probably just going to shop around for a used axle but hed like to know what different dodge axle ratios are out there. thanks for the help! carl .

Replies:

From : bryan swadener

it is likely a dana 60 axle assembly. there are lower numerical ratios -- 3.541 is fairly common though i dont know what is available in-between. however i wouldnt recommend changing ratios because of the extra wear and tear on the engine and transmission. sure the motorhome is light compared to many motorhomes but its still a lot of baggage. you might be better-off to swap in an od transmission and not use od when accelerating or pulling steep grades. there is an a500 and a larger a518 that will bolt-up to his 360. the 500 is similar to the smaller a904 while the 518 is larger like the a727 he currently has. bryan my father has this old 1979 class c motorhome built on a dodge chassis. its a small 21ft and not very heavy vehicle and the 360 engine with 3speed auto transmission is fitted with a 4.1 rear end. with todays fuel price my father wishes to replace the rear end with a more fuel efficient ratio. what would be the available ratios for this vehicle hes probably just going to shop around for a used axle but hed like to know what different dodge axle ratios are out there. thanks for the help! carl .

From : redneck tookover hell

it is likely a dana 60 axle assembly. yep good guess there were 3.54 and 4.10 gears. new gears are now available in 3.73 a complete dual wheel dana 60 rear axle goes for $1000 up here at the wreckers the other side of this is weight is weight and wind resistance is wind resistance. those arent going to change. you start running the engine out of its peak torque range and its likely to get less mileage rather than more. you hook up a late model dodge ram fuel injected 360 to a tag travel trailer or a 5th wheel of comparable size and weight as the motor home and guess what it gets 8 mpg. doesnt matter if its got 3.55 or 4.10 unhook the trailer and it gets 14 thats the only difference between older carbureted engines and late model fuel injected ones the mileage running empty personally id save my money for gas politics the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich. .