Good rear gears

[Scruffy49]

My 85 C10 swb shipped with P205/75r15s, on 15x6 van rally wheels. Factory Quadrajet equipped 4.3L V6, Th400, and 2.73 open rear gears. Only deviation is I ran it on P235/75r15 ATs.
Around town, while it would not win any stoplight drags, it held its own just fine. Fuel economy of 12-14mpg.
On the superslab, it was an entirely different truck. Get it up to speed, set the cruise control, and watch the miles fly by. Driving from Memphis TN to Gulfport MS would get it running a lot cleaner. 16-18mpg on the way down, around 395 miles. Coming home it would be in the 22-24mpg range.
Always used whatever 15W40 conventional was on sale. Tranmission was filled with John Deere Hy-Gard or similar hydraulic oil, perfectly fine in Th350/400, C4/6, 727/904 3spd autos. 75W90 rear axle oil. Would have pulled even better highway mileage with the “correct” engine oil/atf.
Truck is currently being ground up refreshed. You have the same opportunity since your engine popped. Building for durabilty, not looks… Oh, 3.54 is the sweet spot gear for all around use. Decent pulling power, acceptable fuel economy. 31-32” max tire diameter.

 

[Grit dog]

People drove these trucks everyday,cross country,just like they came from the factory,sure someone may have ordered it or installed some tall gears in it. As @legopnuematic said find out what ratio you have and your tire size. Or get us rpm at 60mph and your tire size.

True story. And they also drove model Ts and Conestoga wagons cross country. None as comfortable as a squarebody. And a square screaming at 4k rpm’s all day pulling down negative 6 mpg is nowhere near as nice as having an OD gear or 2 to choose from to keep the ponies running slower.
But agree not enough info to help the Op provided.

 

[bucket]

True story. And they also drove model Ts and Conestoga wagons cross country. None as comfortable as a squarebody. And a square screaming at 4k rpm’s all day pulling down negative 6 mpg is nowhere near as nice as having an OD gear or 2 to choose from to keep the ponies running slower.
But agree not enough info to help the Op provided.

I forgot to mention in my earlier post, that comfortable cruising at 70-80 mph in my Suburban got 12-13 mpg in the warm weather. That's not far off from a modern 3/4 ton truck.

What was the engine rpm? Don't know, didn't have a tach.

What did it sound like? Nothing really, it had the original GM exhaust with original GM mufflers.

Just calm and quiet cruising... other than the noise from the wing windows.

 

[Ricko1966]

True story. And they also drove model Ts and Conestoga wagons cross country. None as comfortable as a squarebody. And a square screaming at 4k rpm’s all day pulling down negative 6 mpg is nowhere near as nice as having an OD gear or 2 to choose from to keep the ponies running slower.
But agree not enough info to help the Op provided.

And no matter what you do to a square it's not going to be as comfortable or capable as a 50 year newer truck. Just like the model T isn't as comfortable or capable as 50 year newer Truck. I think an overdrive is a better option than swapping rear gears depending on what gears he really has, but the OP never asked about that,and he doesn't know what's in it now. Until we know what kind of RPMs he's turning at 60 or what gears he has this whole thread is kind of pointless. And no matter what,just changing rear gears is not going to make it as comfortable as a new truck.

 

[bucket]

And no matter what you do to a square it's not going to be as comfortable or capable as a 50 year newer truck. Just like the model T isn't as comfortable or capable as 50 year newer Truck. I think an overdrive is a better option than swapping rear gears depending on what gears he really has, but the OP never asked about that,and he doesn't know what's in it now. Until we know what kind of RPMs he's turning at 60 or what hears he has this whole thread is kind of pointless. And no matter what,just changing rear gears is not going to make it as comfortable as a new truck.

Something I'd like to point out here, there is a much bigger difference in comfort and capability between a model T and a 50 year newer truck than there is compared to a squarebody and a new truck.

 

[Ricko1966]

Something I'd like to point out here, there is a much bigger difference in comfort and capability between a model T and a 50 year newer truck than there is compared to a squarebody and a new truck.

Will a square warm your butt cheeks and give you 37 zone climate control?

 

[bucket]

Will a square warm your butt cheeks and give you 37 zone climate control?

No, but they both can have heat, defog, AC, stereo, bucket seats, power windows, cruise control, do 100+ mph, have weatherstripping, turn signals and electric start.

I don't think the model T has much, if any of that, lol. Just an engine, a seat and wheels. A Conestoga wagon just had a seat and wheels