3.21 Vs 3.92: Let’s Explore The Dissimilarities Between These Gears!

Is there a big difference between the 3.21 and 3.92 axle ratio? There isn’t a big difference; in essence, there are many significant dissimilarities between 3.21 and 3.92 axle ratios.

If you compare 3.21 vs 3.92, you will notice that they offer distinctly different results in towing capacity, gas mileage, acceleration, and other relevant fields.

While the 3.21 gear delivers promising performance in acceleration, the 3.92 gear stays ahead of 3.21 when it is about towing a max load while maintaining speed.

Having said that, let’s dig out other differences between these axle ratios through this comparison.

3.21 Vs 3.92: How Different These Axle Ratios Are?

How your truck performs in various riding situations significantly depends on its axle ratio. So, by switching to a different axle ratio, you can bring a change in the truck’s performance.

That means a truck with 3.21 gear won’t match the performance of a vehicle with 3.92 gear, which we have described in this content. We elaborate on the difference between 3.21 and 3.92 to help you comprehend these axle ratios. So, let’s read, but before that, get a sneak peek into the comparison table below.

 A Comparison Table Between 3.21 & 3.92 Axle Ratios

You can peek at the debate of Ram 3.73 vs 4.10 gears and how they impact performance.

3.21 Vs 3.92 Acceleration

While comparing the 3.21 vs 3.92 gear ratio based on acceleration, we have found that 3.21 is a complete winner. How? Well, 3.21 comes with an overdrive gear that 3.92 in Ram 1500 lacks.

More specifically, the 8th gear in 3.92 is the 7th gear in 3.21. Consequently, riders get the same acceleration in 3.21 with 7th gear as the 3.92 in 8th gear on the freeway.

Alongside that, the 3.92’s 1st gear is much lower than 3.21’s 1st gear. For example, you need to shift to 3rd gear and wait a couple of times to reach 60mph, while you can top that speed in seconds right after shifting to 3rd gear in 3.21.

So, we can conclude that if acceleration is your thing, you should adhere to the 3.21 gear.

3.21 Vs 3.92 Fuel Economy

The 3.21 gear wins the battle of 3.21 axle vs 3.92 in fuel economy. To let you know, if your vehicle’s differential has a lower axle ratio, it will enable the engine to cruise at a significantly lower rpm than differentials with a higher axle ratio.

Sounds quite complicated? Let’s simplify this fact. When your vehicle runs on 3.21 gear, the engine runs slower and burns less oil or gas than engines that run on higher gear, such as 3.92.

So, switching to 3.21 gear can reduce fuel consumption and help you save some extra penny. However, here’s what one rider from the Dodgetalk forum says about fuel economy while comparing the 3.21 Vs 3.92 axle ratio.

“My sport also has 3.21 gears, and while it was initially a noticeable difference from the 3.92’s that my Outdoorsman had, it’s not that bad. The fuel economy is slightly better, though not a landslide.”

3.92 Vs 3.21 Towing

If you are searching for the answer to whether the 3.92 gear wins over the 3.21 gear or not, this towing section of this content won’t disappoint you. Yeah, the 3.92 gear beats 3.21 in towing capability.

Ram 1500 riders noticed that 3.21 has two lower gears for towing while 3.92 comes with three lower gears for towing. These riders found this difference while comparing the 3.21 vs 3.92 axle ratio Ram 1500.

They have seen that 3.21 offers excellent towing performance at 31-38 mph and 48-57 mph speed. On the contrary, 3.92 gets better at towing from 0-30 mph, 39-47 mph, and 58-70 mph of speed.

That means 3.92 can maintain highway towing speed at a whopping amount of load while 3.21 fails. To give you a clear insight into the towing capacity, here we are gonna mention the Ram 1500 crew cab towing feature as per its axle ratio.

The Ram 1500 crew cab with a 3.21 axle ratio can tow up to 8,230 pounds, while the Ram 1500 with a 3.92 axle ratio allows you to tow up to 9,930 pounds. And the best fact is that you can elevate the towing capacity up to 11,540 pounds if your vehicle features a high-performance engine.

So, it’s evident that 3.92 gear can tow better than 3.21 regardless of engine type. That said, if you tow regularly, you should pick a truck with 3.92 gear.

3.21 Vs 3.92 Gas Mileage

Before declaring which axle ratio wins in gas mileage, let’s talk about how axle ratio affects engine performance and mpg. For your information, a high axle ratio enables engines to achieve more revolutions per mile than a low axle ratio.

Consequently, the engine burns more fuel to produce high torque and speed when you drive the vehicle on a high axle ratio, and you run out of gas after riding for certain miles.

According to various riders, they get around 18-20 mpg while testing Ram 1500 gas mileage with 3.92 gears. And the gas mileage improves up to 22-23 mpg when they run their vehicles with 3.21 gears.

It’s because the 3.21 axle ratio will spin the engine at lower rpm than 3.92, causing the engine to use less fuel and giving the rider better mileage. One rider from the 5thgenRams forum talked about the 3.21 axle ratio in gas mileage.

“Mine has the 3.21 and has 18.5-19 of mixed driving, 20.6 was the best pure highway running 75-80 mph. Around town only it drops off by about 3-4 mpg.”

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Conclusion

So, which one wins the battle of 3.21 Vs 3.92? If you ask us, we would say both gears are winners in their way. If your primary objective is mpg and fuel economy, you should stick with the 3.21 gear.

And if you are a tow guy and want to use the truck as a truck, 3.92 gears are solely designed for you. That’s all for the article; we hope now you know which axle gear ratio is best suited for your specific tasks.

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A S Pattinson

Pattinson used to be a mechanic in his early life. And most of his life was spent working in a garage next to his house. That is where he finds his interest in working with motor vehicles and their parts. Pattinson does the core part of Motor Mav write-ups that plays the part of keeping your reading flow in track by proofreading all the articles and ensuring the proper use of words and tune. Apart from this, he nowadays enjoys his retirement by maintaining his yard with landscaping tools.