DON T. - Naaa. With 3.55's and loaded to 19K# gross, I could idle away from a stop without slipping the clutch IN 2ND gear at 850 RPM. And cruise at 67 MPH @ 2000 RPM in 5th. If I needed to get going in a hurry I might feed the clutch in at 900-1000 RPM in 2nd. My truck only runs 15 MPH at 2500 RPM in low, it's geared WAY lower than your A/T truck in low gear. If I could have gotten any other axle ratio beside 3.55's, it'd have been 3.23's or 3.08's. I've got PLENTY of low gears, but need more fast gears!
For me, 4.10's would be a total waste, they're only needed if you're going to tow over 20,000# gross all the time. Remember, I've driven all manner of trucks from single axle dumps, tandems with 5+4 trannies, to 18-wheelers with 9, 10, & 13 spd Road-Rangers, and many of those trucks had way less HP than my stock PSD has. When I graduated from college, my "Dream Job" was being a buyer for a HUGE trucking co. where I could spec out the semi-tractors, engines, transmissions, axle ratios, tire sizes, etc. I LOVE that stuff!
The ZF-5 spd in my PSD is Hands Down the BEST SHIFTING manual trans I've ever had the pleasure of driving in ANY vehicle, including my old '88 Mustang GT w/ Borg-Warner T5 5-spd, and my Volve with manual 6 spd. Too bad FMC doesn't put a manual trans in ANY pickup worth owning, they put a manual 5-spd in a plain-jane fleet truck with a V6 engine, vinyl seats & floor mats, no radio or A/C. At least I think they still do, they did 5-6 yrs ago.
FWIW, If I had to buy a new truck, I would buy a RAM 3500, Reg. cab 4X4, 6.7L CTD, & manual 6-spd. RAM is the only co. that offers a manual trans anymore. I priced one on Kelly Blue Book a week or two ago, $40,000 US vs $50-$60K for a new F350 w/automatic. Plus the 850#/ft of torque would be nice, but I bet they don't offer that tune with the manual trans. NO way the frame, transmission, & axles could handle that much stress. That's as much torque as my 320 HP 903 V8 Cummins made. The axles, frame, transmission, etc were at least three times the size of the parts in the Ram 3500.
MIKE F. - As a counter-point to discussion, a small amount, say a finger-print of oxidation would help hold oil or lubrication for parts that have to wear in nicely with other parts. We used to "Parkerize" parts at FARMALL, had to send them out down the street a mile, similar to Bluing or Black Oxide coating common on fire arms & machine tool parts etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkerizing
A smooth finely machined surface doesn't hold much oil. Part of the secret to the long life of IH 300 & 400 series diesel engines was the magnetic oxide treatment to the cylinder sleeves, it held oil much better. Also why cross-hatch is important on cyl walls.
Speaking of nitro motors, I remember the time when Kenny Berntsen went to the line and did his burn-out in a round of eliminations in a major NHRA race, at least ten yrs ago. He pulled into the staging beams, and his crew chief shut the engine down. Seems the crew forgot to "Add OIL" after they did the between-round rebuild. $70,000 worth of parts Ruined in a minute! A guy doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at something like that!
