ReGear or No

biglance45 · August 13, 2013

I am having a 6 inch BDS lift installed on my 2013 Denali with the 6.2L AWD and 3.42 gears. I read alot about others regearing their trucks for bigger tires is this recommended? If so can somebody point me in the right direction towards what would be best to do because I have no idea about gearing.

Carder09 · August 13, 2013

REGEAR!!!! What size tire's you plan on getting? Since you are getting a decent sized lift, I assume you are getting some decent sized tires. Blackout, Chevyboy and a few others will suggest regearing also. At least 4.10's. 4.56's if you are going really big with the tires.

biglance45 · August 13, 2013

I am going with 35s i have my truck in the shop now I have to pick it up in the morning sometime. Since it is a AWD would I have to regear the front and rear? Around how much regearing is normally? Please excuse me if the questions I ask sound stupid because I know nothing about gears and regearing a truck.

Chris · August 13, 2013

Yes you have to regear both. Approx $700 an axle

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biglance45 · August 13, 2013

thanks for the info guys that doesnt seem bad at all. I will keep researching and looking into it to see what would be best. Just searching on here I see ppl are impressed with the power and mpg regearing brings back after a lift.

Christiank22 · August 13, 2013

4.56 at least. I also have a Denali with the same setup and had 35's on there and made the bad decision of 4.10's and yeah it made a difference but not enough to justify what I paid for em. I ended up going down to 33's and am loving it doesn't look too small but there's still part of me that really wishes I had 35's. Anyway's, 4.56 for sure!

blackout07 · August 13, 2013

4.56 or 4.88 depending on how much highway driving you do. I have 4.88s and don't think i would have been happy with 4.56 but I'm rarely on the highway. And $700 per diff is super modest. These days with parts and labor you're looking at closer to 2k for everything. I did mine a couple of years ago and it was $1600-$1700.

biglance45 · August 13, 2013

The majority of the time I ride on the highway but im leaning towards the 4.88 gears just from reading on these forums. Not sure when I'll get it done though.

Prokopchuk_9 · August 13, 2013

You'll take forever to recoup that initial cost in fuel savings. But it will feel like a more powerful truck.

LaserBlueZ71 · August 20, 2013

4.56 at least. I also have a Denali with the same setup and had 35's on there and made the bad decision of 4.10's and yeah it made a difference but not enough to justify what I paid for em. I ended up going down to 33's and am loving it doesn't look too small but there's still part of me that really wishes I had 35's. Anyway's, 4.56 for sure!

Do you have any pictures of your truck with 33s on it?

I know 35's look good, but for a daily driver I would never go over 33's. Tires are quite a bit cheaper, and it eliminates so many potential problems.

Christiank22 · August 20, 2013

here's a picture with the 33's. the 20x10's are what make it look good. I think it would look a little awkward with 20x9's.

hollis092 · August 20, 2013

This is what I am mulling over now - except I got the short straw 3.08

tyhuck · August 21, 2013

This is what I am mulling over now - except I got the short straw 3.08

You definitely need new gears. I ran factory 3.42s on 35s for about a year. It wasn't bad. RPMs were low enough to get me 16mpg at 70. Mathematically, 3.42s in 3rd gear were the same as 4.88s in OD, and once it got out of OD it would pull pretty good. Justin had tuned the truck, and it had a rebuilt trans with a shift kit so it ran pretty good on the highway. However, I always wished it had a lower first gear for offroad and take-off.

Not giving any advice, just my experience, FWIW.