SM465 swap into 92 suburban.

[PrairieDrifter]

I'm zero help, but I have a question you might be able to answer... On the SM465, especially with tall gearing, is it practical to use Low gear as 1st gear in normal/street driving? Or is the non-synchro that big of a deal? I've only driven two trucks with non-synchro low gear, and both were conventionally geared so Low gear was just for crawling around, basically, and both were 15-20 years ago and only ranch duty. I'm curious if a big tire/3.73 truck could use low as first gear, as "1st" would be pretty tall.

Like said above. 1st is fine to get going, but you won't be able to downshift easily or at all into first. 1st gear would be better with a big tire and higher ratio, that being said I doubt you would have to downshift into first for most turns.

I've thought about that theory as well. With a manual and big tires your power band should be pretty nice depending on ratio and tire size. Then you should get higher speed with lower rpm's, more of useable setup. Then you wonder if first gear would be useable or if you would have to use it or not, and if second would lug too hard for turns.