My truck has 3.73 with 11r 22.5 tires and a 10 spd. I run 65mph no problem. Over 6.5 mpg pulling a flatbed with a Cummins ISX.
New trucks are programmed to run low rpm older engines like to sing a bit more.. mixing the two rarely works .. talk to Detroit Cummins etc and ask where a certain model year engine should be run for fuel mileage or performance depending on what your after
There’s not a big difference between 3.42 and 3.55, not enough to warrant a gear swap. Your truck sounds laggy. Or has a boost leak. Or she can’t breathe (when is the last time you checked the breather filter?) If you’re going to swap gears, 3.55s would be a waste. You’d have to do 3.70s or better.
The question is what do you want. Lower RPM at speed. Then go taller. Higher RPM at speed. The go short Tall gears 3:24, 3:36, 3:42, 3:55, 3:70, 3:90 short gears Lower RPM to Higher RPM
No, truck/motor is fine, I just through a number out there and my desire to swap out the gears. If I do, I would more than likely look at something in the 3:70 area. My best truck, doing this same kind of work, was an old Volvo running 3:90 gears. That may be a little much for this particular truck, but 3:70ish would be night and day running local/regional as would 3:58's. The big question is fuel mileage and the ability to keep everything in synch, RPM vs Road Speed. When I get serious about doing it I will need to sit down and do some figuring. Not something I am just going to go do on a whim. Oh, those are pretty, throw them in, ain't going to happen.
You said... A factory 600 described as a dog? That truck should have enough power to change the rotation of earth. Even with those gears you have. Do you have a boost gauge?
The motor is fine, it pulls like a freight train... Not the issue, stop lights, traffic, etc are the reason I want to swap out the gears. I run local/regional, Michigan, Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Saginaw... If OTR, no issue with the gears.