I just replaced my 3.73 gears with 4.10's. I'm still in the break-in period but here are my observations thus far.

-at 50mph my rpm's are 1500
-at 65mph my rpm's are 2000
-you can feel the added pep for sure
-The tranny shifts nicer. The best way I can describe what it did before the 4.10s was it seemed confused. Sometimes it would shift too early, sometimes too late. Now all is good.
-cost was $800 for parts and $500 for labor. I had them check the trac-lok and do the rebuild if needed. It didn't need it.

I did this b/c we tow with it and I don't use a programmer etc b/c it would just be too hot in the summer. If I didn't tow with the Ex then I would not have done this. 2000rpm at 65 is too slow around here where the freeway limits are 75mph. I'll update this after my break-in period with my towing results.

I also requested my old parts back. Everything looked great. I was surprised to see koyo and timken bearings. I was expecting all koyo.

 

A programmer would amaze you then. It made my truck a different rig completely, and the tow tunes were exceptionally nice. I did just swap tuners and will post a thread later.

Now you have me debating gears too...

 

You and I went back in forth in the other thread. I tried the tuner, it works no doubt. But the engineer in me feels better about reducing the stress on the tranny, engine, and running cooler. We do most of our towing in the summer when it's 106 out and we're climbing hills for 2 hours to get to the cool country. If I wasn't towing I'd definitely keep the 3.73's and use a mild tune.

 

I had admittedly forgotten all about that. I still maintain if you get one with just an Eco daily, a tow, and a high-idle you won't be stressing anything more. Especially with the tow tune, it essentially functions as a tow/haul mode on newer vehicles. If you're worried about stressing just opt for a small bump in power, it can be had as low as 20hp from some tuners. It'd be worth calling Gearhead to see what they could do for you.

I'm going to be following this for updates after your break in regardless, very interested in an overall package evaluation and review!

 

My 2001 Excrursion is lifted 6 inches and has 35s. I did feel some additional stress on the drivetrain with the bigger tires, but swapping to 4.10 gears made the difference all around. Towing and daily driving were much easier for the truck and I really haven't looked back at all. My only regret is that I didn't get a Detroit trutrac, since Ford thought that an open diff was a great idea on a 3/4 ton truck.

 

I just finished my 500 mile break in w/ the 4.10 gears and did my towing test again. At 2000 rpms the truck runs 65mph which is perfect for towing our 4000lbs TT. On the same hill I tested the 3.73 the 4.10's did a bit better. For example, there is a slight grade leading up to the big hill. With the 3.73's I couldn't keep the EX in overdrive to maintain speed. Now with the 4.10's it's not an issue, I'm in overdrive the whole grade leading up to the big hill.

I was hopeful the 4.10's would allow me to carry overdrive up the big hill but it didn't. In the end I still had to use the superchips 1705 performance tune to do it.

All in all it runs at a safer 65 mph speed w/ the 4.10's when towing verse the 75+ mph at 2000 rpms. I would never consider the gear swap if we weren't towing with it though.

I've heard bad things about the superchips 1705 tuner and the transmission. My wife thinks the truck is too slow without it, so I'll be looking at the ts performance ship or the hydra chip. I like that the hyrda works w/ the PATS and I have yet to see a dyno graph from the bill's phxchip tunes. I need the horsepower/torque to come on at 1800-2200 rpms and not 2500-3000 rpms.

 

Gearhead Gearhead Gearhead. You will NOT be sorry. The other tuners run hot on EGT's out of the box, whereas Matt at Gearhead is damn near perfect. It's a blank Hydra with Matt's tunes, you keep the email updateability.

 

What about mpg with the 4:10s better or worse?

 

I've not noticed a significant difference either way.

 

Are you saying if I get this one:
https://gearheadautomotiveperformanc...ucts/PHP-Hydra
it comes with his tunes by default? Or do I need to speed another $110 in the options pull-down to get his?

BTW, I don't like that dyno graph they show:

https://gearheadautomotiveperformanc...3_238_dyno.jpg

b/c the rpm's are way too high to get the max HP. But what I do like about the hyrdra is that hopefully I can find someone's tunes I can load on it that produces max HP at lower rpm's.

 

That dyno graph is for someone that put out 520hp and 900+ torque.... Way more done to the engine than your or my applications, so the revs will be higher. Just part of supporting the power that engine made.

All you gotta do is talk to Matt and he'll hook you up with what you're looking for. I love free reburns for life, other big name guys say they'll do free reburns for upgrades and such (injectors, etc) but most of them don't mention you have to get the upgrades from THEM. Otherwise you're looking at $30-50 PER TUNE reflash fee.

The price on the site looks to be accurate, you get the blank chip for $375 (standard cost anywhere), then $110 for Gearhead tunes.

 

I can tell you that Ford left a lot on the table in the trans shift programming. I have a V-10, but got the same results from a gear swap (3.73`s to 4.30`s). and when I went to the tuner it made the truck feel less sluggish when shifting and just overall improved the X. I`m running a 5star tune. I believe they have tunes for the diesels also.

 

I'll have to call them. When I talked to ts performance I was under the impression the hydra came w/ the software that provided access to a slew of tunes. I'm not keen on spending $485 just to get started.

 

Ironic, haha. I just ripped out two TS chips from local rigs that were switching the GH after riding in my X. The out of the box tunes were way hot, they'd both peg their pyro's in a matter of seconds. Ultimately it is your choice of course, but I've run DP and PHP, left one for the other, then left them for GH after riding in both of Razzi's Excursions that are running GH tunes.

It's indisputably a steep entrance price, however it's the last price you'll ever pay. My DP F5 was $490 and it didn't even support email tunes, had to send the whole chip in for re flashes. 'You get what you pay for' has never been more true with custom tunes.

I'm not talking **** as I don't completely understand tuning programming, but I don't see how TS can just blanket-program chips without requiring the PCM code like everyone else does. To me it seems like they wouldn't have as in depth and application-specific tuning done compared to competitors. Everyone else I've had a chip from required the PCM code... but like I said, I don't fully understand the programming aspect yet.

 

It requires removing the PCM and submitting the code before ordering:
6 Position Customized Switchable Chip, Ford (1999-03) 7.3L Power Stroke