gearing question

From : cbhvac stephen

Q: yea it is coming with electric trailer breaks. how will the 410 gear compare to the 355 in standard gas mileage without a trailer its gonna kill it...well...maybe not..but you will notice it...for sure.. your combination is similar to what i was doing w/ my 69 barracuda 340... 3.551 gearing torqueflite 500# tongue weight 4500# trailer weight. the rear clutch in the trans went south twice. with your heavier van your combination has more total mass. go with 4.101 gearing and stay out of od when towing or at least when pulling a hill or accelerating. then theres the matter of stopping -- youll need functioning trailer brakes. i used an electronic controller but could never get it to work as well as i liked. i switched to the type that plumbs into the hydraulic system on the tow vehicle which was much better behaved. bryan i did not realize all the info that was needed for this question. the van has the tq flight w/ od. 360 engine tongue weight is about 500lbs i will be using a weight distribution kit and antisway. the trailerweight it right at 4000lbs. total combined weight is 11000lbs or there abouts. thanks for the input. i have a 96 dodge full-size conversion 2500 van. it has 3.55 gears. i will be pulling a camper. everyone is recommending i go with a 410 gear. what will this do to the van kill mileage give more tq i will only be pulling from april to october about twice a month. thanks fred .