Wow. . .all this over a simple re-gear. The reason most guys don't bother is because it's cost prohibitive. Now because of that, it's become the norm.
I come from a wheeling back ground where gears are everything. I've never understood why puerile don't just a automatically re-gear for tire size. Seems like a total no brainer for such an easy job. If you can install a lift, you can re-gear an axle.
For all those with the gear vs. tire vs. rpm vs. speed questions, check out the gear calculator at grimjeeper.com. Totally customizable for your rig. Tells you every thing you need to know. I'd post a link but I'm on my phone. Just google it. . .
Just can't beat the right gears to have a truck run right. It just feels good when the gears are right.
I have personally replaced my rear R&P set twice due to wear, overheating from towing and my front R&P once due to full out failure in the case of the front pinion snapping off.
In all of those opportunities to change the ratio I selected the 3.73 ratio again and again because it is the best for my needs (sub 37" tires). Not because "it was what's in there".
There goes the idea that people run such ratios on lifted trucks for cost or ease reasons.
As for the guy that can't even conceive of a diesel pickup outrunning a cute little sport scar because he has overgeared his truck into a tractor... thanks for making my point for me.
As for hypothesizing about how it could, would or should go down between a diesel pickup and a little Benz.... it's much simpler than all that. I already
DID it. TWICE!
When you roll out on somebody over a span from 70 to 80 all the way up to 120+ the deed is done. The bs stops. I did it.... then a minute or so later after driving up next to me with his passenger staring up at me with the most perplexed look on his face he nailed it again, at which point I lit the chargers off, reeled him back in and walked right on past him a SECOND time!
Done and done. The car had exhaust, that much I know from the obvious tone change from a stock model. Other than that, I haven't a clue what it had going on, other than a driver that was raising all kind of hell on the city streets just looking for trouble. And I gave it to him, in a superduty on 37" tires...
As for towing, I've melted a ZF6 out of my F-250 while towing, and also melted the rear diff down from towing. I'm talking 24,000+ at 70 to 75mph constant for a few hours. Problem with your gearing hypothesis is that I just got done replacing the ZF6 and the DANA 135 in my 550 that has 4.88 gears! It obviously didn't make too much of a *** now did it? The whole reason I got the 550 was because the driveline in my 250 wasn't up to the challenge, and OBVIOUSLY, the one in the 550 is no better. Not because I
think _____, _____ or _____, but because in ACTUAL USEAGE the proof was in the pudding. Sh*t did exactly the same as my 250 driveline at the same power output and towing duties. The only additional penalty the 550 has was due to it's own additional weight. It is ~3000lbs heavier than my truck. However.... this weight is due to the very things that were supposed to make it better for towing, heavier axle (that burned up) larger brakes (that are nice) so on and so forth.
At the end of the day, I just got done replacing the same components on the 550 with a much larger rear axle with 4.88 gears that failed on my 250 with the little sterling and some 3.73's. Period. The sick part of it all, is that while they both towed at the same power, and failed in the same timeframe.... the little sterling in my 250 was taking over
600 rwhp pretty often, while the 550 is only ~300, max.
Kind of a joke when you think about it. Other than the brakes.... the 550 is no better. Not by conjecture.... by DIRECT EXPERIENCE...
As for the comment about the porsche. A good friend of mine that works not 2 minutes from my office, and also the shop where I started fabricating the compounds on my truck and have spent countless hours helping out with various cars and helped my buddy remove, install and modify various parts of his supra happens to be a professional tuner. And yes.... he also tunes porsches, and in fact has a GT2 he bought for the sole purpose of writing programs on, that they took and won the One lap of America race with last year. That one was tuned to mid 500's IIRC for durability. It would outrun the sh*t out of my truck as it sat. Now as for 400hp, I sat with him while he tuned a new porsche to 450rwhp not that long ago, then took off with him on the road test. There's nothing about a 400rwhp porsche that scares me bud.
On Edit:
Sorry, they won it in the porsche the year before last.
http://www.onelapofamerica.com/history/ShowEventDashboard.do?eventId=29
Last year they won it in a Nissan.
http://www.onelapofamerica.com/history/ShowEventDashboard.do?eventId=30
He tuned those cars exclusively. The supra I've helped with out of that shop consistently turns out 1100rwhp on fuel in full daily driven trim. I help with, watch the dyno tuning and then ride in and sometimes go to races with this guys and these cars. Point being I spend a lot of time with some gasser guys that know their sh*t. There's nothing gasser that's going to surprise me. Plenty of gasser sportscars can be outrun by a modest diesel pickup.
And there are plenty of trucks roaming the streets FAR faster than mine.
