Picked up the M5R2 today. Stick shift 4wd for the win!
Looking into gearing and added weight, Two-wheel drive draws 5 to 15% of the engine output, and with the four-wheel drive extra Wait and rotating parts It draws 20 to 30% of the engine output. if using a manual transmission.
In 2wd the truck was right about perfect with what I wanted.
With the 2wd and 4.33 gears and 35" tires Google and DeepSync are telling me that 4.56 gears will get me to similar performance as far as acceleration and highway speed with the 4wd.
But, 4.88 will let that 4wd dig deeper.
Between the M5R2 4x4, xfer case, new gears front and rear, trutrac up front, and drive shafts... including time and metal and consumables... This swap in parts alone is going to be 2k.
This is the biggest single spend/upgrade on the truck