Originally Posted by Chrsnl05

Hi everyone,

My wife and I bought a toyhauler and are looking to upgrade our truck. We have a 09 f250 crew cab short bed with the 5.4 and 4.10 gears. It pulled our former 27 ft travel trailer well at about 9k fully loaded and even with a 600 lb utility quad in the bed.

The toyhauler we bought is 9200 empty and has a gvwr of 13k. I towed it home from the dealer and the 5.4 did ok at under 60mph but when i turned onto the interstate 65 - 70 what a stuggle but we had a hard headwind (trailer was obviously empty since we were bringing it home from dealer). We bought the trailer assuming we would look for another truck.

I like the 6.2 and we are looking at used but the 4.30 gears seem impossible to find used or even new for that matter. I have test drove a few 6.4 psd but the fuel and maintainence cost concern me especially if it breaks down. I have been reading through post in the 6.2 all week and have found plenty of people that town heavy with 6.2 and 4.30s but not too many with the 3.73. Will the manual shift option make up for the taller gears by not using 6th gear? or will it feel underpowered? I understand that it will likely be in 1 gear lower then the 4.30s on hills but concerned that it will run out of power when pulling heavy since the towing capasity is only a few hundred lbs more then my 5.4 (11700 vs 12000) but the 4.30 are rated for around 15000. We usually camp within 3 hrs of home but have alot of hills in my region (WNY and Northern PA) but would like to go to some of the offroad parks in tn ky and wv 8 to 10 or so hrs away. Im not concerned with empty mpg since i have another vehical that is my dd. towing power is more important to me then 1 or 2 mpg. But if the 3.73 will do the job better fuel economy is never bad.

I have not driven a 6.2. We found 1 we like at a good price but it is 5 hrs away and dont want to waste our time to go look at it if its not up to the task.

Thanks for your help

Originally Posted by Chrsnl05

Texas huh? I guess that would be quite a road trip from NY. I have been checking autotrader and dealers websites that i can think of . I even checked ebay tonight. Do you mean google searches? I plan to trade in the 09 so it would have to be a dealer.

Originally Posted by jeepnford

I didn't know you lived in New York, your post didn't say that. Anyway, my local dealer told me about some in Texas with 4.30.s while doing a truck search. I usually look on cars.com and then look at the dealer site for more info when I see something I might like. I gave up and am going to order one.

Originally Posted by 99150

I won't tell you what I pull with my 6.2 and 3.73 gears; but it is like a Keystone Raptor 367SE 40' toy hauler! 12000 empty! You will be just fine with the 6.2 and 3.73's! I generally stay at 65MPH or less. When pulling mine, I average around 8 MPH overall by the lie-o-meter. That is through mountains, plains, winds, and desert. 4.30's would undoubtedly do better, but the 3.73's will definately get the job done

Originally Posted by 99150

I won't tell you what I pull with my 6.2 and 3.73 gears; but it is like a Keystone Raptor 367SE 40' toy hauler! 12000 empty! You will be just fine with the 6.2 and 3.73's! I generally stay at 65MPH or less. When pulling mine, I average around 8 MPH overall by the lie-o-meter. That is through mountains, plains, winds, and desert. 4.30's would undoubtedly do better, but the 3.73's will definately get the job done

Originally Posted by Chrsnl05

Wow that's a lot of weight for sure. 8 mpg is what I expected. Do you run a tune or is your truck all stock?

Originally Posted by kerm7807

Wow! That's amazing. I have a 36' travel trailer, around 9500 empty. I often haul some water in the tank for overnights and a lot of stuff in the truck. I have an F350 CC lariat with 3.73. I took it off the lot. I love the truck. I tows unbelieveably. I do lock out 6th or it would shift a lot, but it holds most hills at 65-70 right in 5th unless it's a serious climb. I get 8.5-10 depending on terrain and speed. I would like to upgrade to a 5th wheel some day, and thought I would be pushing my truck, but after seeing this post, I don't know if I have too. I'm looking at the 10k to 12k range and I think I would be fine. I'll just use it as an excuse to order a new one when this one gets old.

Originally Posted by 99150

It is still stock; but I did order a 5 star tuner for it just yesterday. They say it will give it a little more low end grunt and better transmission response so we will see how that does. My 6.2 had an AIRAID intake on it when I bought it (used with just a few miles on it) ..... be prepared for extreme noise level in the cabin if you go with a CAI (especially when towing)!!!. I threw it out and put it back to stock! My gas mileage actually improved by a couple of MPG when empty!!!!!

Originally Posted by 99150

It is still stock; but I did order a 5 star tuner for it just yesterday. They say it will give it a little more low end grunt and better transmission response so we will see how that does. My 6.2 had an AIRAID intake on it when I bought it (used with just a few miles on it) ..... be prepared for extreme noise level in the cabin if you go with a CAI (especially when towing)!!!. I threw it out and put it back to stock! My gas mileage actually improved by a couple of MPG when empty!!!!!

Originally Posted by Chrsnl05

My original post mentioned wny (western new York) as my region. Thanks.

Originally Posted by jeepnford

Oops. My bad. Gonna have to give up speed reading.

Originally Posted by Chrsnl05

So you got better mpg without the intake? Personally I like the sound of an intake. It gives a deep throughty sound on hard acceleration but mostly unnoticeable cruising. Many comment on how good the 6.2 sounds stock. You will love the 5star tunes if its anything like it is on my 5.4 night and day difference. I have an 87, 89, 93 performance tune. 87 is noticeable gain and much better throttle response. I run 89 octane most of the time because the increased mpg offset the extra cost and made it cheaper per mile with more power. Win/win. 93 tune is amazing but it doesn't get any better mpg then stock. The low end torque is much increased over stock and pulling my 14' enclosed trailer (~4k) it will take rolling hills in over drive and hold moderate hills at about 3k rpm where stick it was usually in 3rd gear at close to 4k rpm on the same hill. A new tune will be my first mod regardless of rear axle ratio. I have the tuner obviously so mike just has to email me new tunes and load them up.

As far as throttle response goes Ford won't allow full throttle blade opening until higher rpms. My 5.4 the tone of the engine changed when it did (I think at about 3k or 3500 rpm but its been so long since I've drove it stock I font remember) I read on this site that it is around 4500 for full throttle blade opening on the 6.2. Gotta love drive by wire.