Txgunslinger

I stopped by my local axle shop here in SATX to personally inquire about the front axle gears. The tech i spoke with confirmed the readily available parts for the rear axle and also confirmed the swap in the front was possible so long as the front differential type/make was known and confirmed via RPO code. I headed to a nearby dealer and the parts department printed off my codes to reveal my diff type/manufacturer which I will share when I get back home. The issue with the front swap seems to be with whether or not the carrier is welded requiring replacement and thus changing the price from a few hundred to closer to a thousand. Stay tuned, this will happen (if it hasn’t already by someone else). I will have to wait until later this year when I get back to work in the spring and stack up some cash. The good news is it can be done.

Phenomenal update, thanks. I tried scanning the upc code for my rpo list of options but for some reason it would only show me a partial list and then cut off, so I gave up. Guess I’ll pursue that further and save my knuckles for a different job. Like I said earlier, I’m going to visit the axle shop in town when I get back at the end of august and report back then.

I’m gonna check in with my local driveline shop when I get back home and see what he says. He quoted me last year but he may not have realized what I was asking for. Or he did and has an inside line I don’t know about. I’ll post back after I talk to him. Twisted Axles in SA

Just curious, if I actually get the gumption to pull the cover off my front diff, what am I looking to confirm once I’m in there? Some kind of manufacturer stamp/mark? Size marks? Dots? I really want to regear my truck. Tow/haul is fine with the 37’s for now, but there’s a trailer in my future (albeit the lightest all-aluminum enclosed hauler I can find), so I need to prepare. Assuming I pull some useful information out once I’m in, take that to the dealership and cross reference it? Someone here also mentioned ‘pictures to prove it’… any links to where those might be? If this wasn’t so frustrating it almost feels like a quest - YOU SHALL NOT PASS 3.23 GEARS!

Out of curiosity, since I cannot seem to find any current aftermarket manufacturer offering a front diff set, is it possible to get a factory set from GM? The max trailer package this truck was offered with would have outfitted it with 3.73’s from the factory. Can I go into a dealership and ask them for a set to buy?

Glad I found this thread as I have been hunting for 3.73 gears for the front and begun exploring factory GM options. I am determined to find a 3.73 (I’m running 37’s on my stock 3.23 setup and running tow/haul mode continuously) gear set and will also report back when I have found something. Stay tuned… r

Ah, got it. Thanks.

I think the gears are the same for front and rear, but I’m going to call some folks this week and find out and report back. Anyone have experience or thoughts on a particular brand of gears ? Motiv? Richmond? Yukon? Also, to the person asking about the squat, it’s actually still just slightly raked.

lol thx. It's just the angle of the photo and the fact my street slopes. I'll get some better photos after I get it back from the body shop, but I think it actually sits pretty level, definitely more so when it was ass high in the stock stance.

Okay, so I'm finally back from Florida and got the lift installed. I called an audible at the shop and had them add some AMP power steps so mama can get in easier. Plus I like how they tuck out of the way while driving. The tires don't stick out that much so that's cool and they don't rub either so the rim offset is good. Rims are a bit flashy for my taste, but the color is pretty nice. I'm just glad to finally have some ground clearance and something that looks a little different than most of the other lifted trucks out there. Can't afford to regear at the moment, but looking at tuners and thinking DiabloSport Predator 2 (7222-R) to adjust some shift points and disable DFM. I can feel/see the transmission hunting for gears a little and my gas mileage just took a nose dive lol. I was averaging 17-18 and right now I'm down to 10-12 mpg. Guess that's the price I pay to look cool lol. Going to the body shop to get a new tail gate soon (not my fault) so I'll get some better pics after she's all fixed up

Badass information fellas, thanks. Can’t wait to get home and start putting this together. @clowe1243 beautiful truck and you’ve given my mpg hope or at least put off the re-gearing for a little. So much money going out! Anyone running headers yet and did it help power wise? Gearing is supposed to cost me $3-4K depending on lockers, etc. and about that much for an LT header kit with cat back from Stainless Works. Guess I just need to spread things out, but probably proceed with gearing first. Maybe? So many forks…

Yours is the second response that includes 3.90 as a possible choice and probably what I’m leaning towards. I figure it’ll be better than the stock 3.23’s and still keep the RPM’s at a mere roar. And yes, recalibrating via the tuner I still plan to get (most likely some flavor of Diablo). With all the driving I do, I can’t afford tickets so knowing my correct speed is critical.

So I've been researching and shopping for parts for a few months now and here's where I'm at currently: - BDS 6" coil-over kit - 37x11.50x20 Nitto Ridge Grapplers - Black Rhino KAIZEN (20x9.5 on 6x5.5 / 6x139.7 bolt pattern, +12 offset, 112.10 bore) Dearborn Blue Still to come: - gears (3.90? 4.10? 4.56?) - tuner (looking at Diablo flavor but open to suggestions) - headers (would like 1 3/4" LT to help low-end, but open to suggestions. Stainless Works or Kooks likely) Yes, I'm going with 'pizza cutters' as I'm more interested in ground clearance for the occasional off-road jaunt and hazardous water crossings. It's still mostly a highway truck to get me to storms and hurricane zones and of course handling claims, so definitely a daily driver (I just turned 53K while working up here in MN). The truck came with an 8-speed trans and 3.23 gears on stock 265/65x18 tires. By my calculations, the 37's are 17.0886% larger than stock (31.6 inches) and applying those calculations to new gears would be 3.78 or so (3.73 or 3.90). I was originally thinking 4.88's and then 4.56 to allow me to downgrade to 35's in the future, but I'm not towing anything (yet). Given how much time I spend on the road, I am concerned about mpg and would like to maintain as much as possible. The 17% came from https://www.4wheelparts.com/the-dirt/a-guide-to-gearing/ and 3.73 or 3.90 surprised me and has me wondering. I realize I'm going to lose some grunt by not going with higher gears, but I can't afford to tank my gas mileage (pun intended). If I went with 3.90 gears per the chart, I'm still in the 'green', but I feel like those RPM numbers don't take into account how many gears you have in your tranny nor any shift point tuning. Are the RPMs fixed like that regardless of anything else? I also realize gearing low puts additional strain on the drivetrain/trans so I'm trying to find a happy medium if possible. Thanks for reading and your input folks. Pics to come once I get home and get to start putting this stuff on. Pic shows my stock truck with a headache rack that I just removed and replaced with an ADARAC Pro kit, but the big changes are coming. Thanks for your input!