Might help with fuel economy for some people...

2008 Ford Truck “What’s New” Guide

The purpose of this guide is to provide some advance insight into 2008 model year Ford Truck

product features that may assist final stage manufacturers and vehicle alteration companies in

preparing their production process.

This guide is for reference only, reflecting information available as of May 2007, and is subject to

change without notice. It should be used in conjunction with other related Ford publications listed

below. Methods to obtain these and other useful publications are described further in this manual.

FUNCTIONAL CHANGES

Rear Axle Ratios (Late Availability)

• New rear axle ratio is available for SRW pickup

models with 6.4L diesel engine with automatic

transmission and limited slip rear axle.

- 3.55 with 17" or 18" tires and wheels.

Vacuum Brakes (Late Availability)

• Provided on all SRW diesel engine models,

except dual alternator installations.

• Dual alternator option continues to use Hydro

Boost brakes.

• Same system as used on SRW gasoline engine

models.

• Includes a vacuum pump on the front accessory

drive of the diesel engine.

• Hydro-Boost will be available as a limited production

option (LPO) with SRW for those who

require an open front accessory drive location.

Diesel One Touch Start

• Diesel one touch start is included for all diesel

powered trucks.

• Enables faster starts with less effort.

• Move key to start position and release. Engine

starts without need to hold key in the start position.

 

The 3.55 will help empty and for those that tow relatively light loads, but if they hook on to a 10,000 lbs trailer they are going to wonder why they are only getting 6 mpg. The person who buys 3.55's had better be sure they know what they are doing with their truck, just my $0.02 though. The good news is, this is probably due to Ford recognizing people are not happy with the fuel economy of these trucks. Maybe by the next engine model, they will figure out how to get us 20+ mpg again.

 

..............our 1990 F250 7.3 had 3:55's and your 100% dead on,one thing that might help would be to tow with OD locked out,my 2002 F350 7.3 with 4:10 turn's 1950 rmp@ 62 mph in OD pulling a 32 ft sunybrook 31 BWKS with 3 slide's,at the scale I weigh 20900#'s and on the interstate it never kick's down except when climeing MT'S,then I lock it out ,would need to see how far off one would be with 3:55 with OD locked out @ 1950 rpm in mph,people who only tow a couple time's a year and use it for the daily driver might get by with it if they can get enough rpm's under load with OD locked out ?????.might be kind of like a poor man's two speed rear end.

 

Problem is there is no way to lock out OD on the Torqueshift. The Torqueshift has two modes "normal & tow haul" and neither of these lock out OD, they only change the shift points and what gears the TC is locked up in and for how long.

I do agree that the 3.55 ratio is only going to work if you never tow with your truck, otherwise fuel mileage will drop with these gears while towing.

 

In my opinion the 6.4 should do well with 3.55's. my 99 v10 with 3.73's was rated 9800 towing and I towed 16k for 5 years with it. The 3.55s would spend more time down shifting towing up to 12-14k, but If it if someone that only tows sometimes or less weight, should be a good move for fuel milage driving 70 mph mty. I would like to see Ford offer a six speed auto with double overdrive that would allow 4.30's to run 72mph at 2,000 rpms. But in the mean time 3.55's should be good news for quite a few people.

 

3.55 would be fine for me, I am one of the many that do light towing but "MUST" have a new Super Duty for my next vehicle. Every time I go to a dealer, they insist on asking what I need it for and what I am towing, I respond with this is not a need but a want. then they try to talk me into a F150 which I then just tell them, thank you for listening to the customer and they have yet to sell me that F150.

So when can we(the non heavy tow users) start ordering the 3.55s?

 

The loss of hydro boost is unfortunate- Or rather, the requirement that one order the hydro boost to avoid the vac system is unfortunate.

In my experience, the hydro boost system is much better for high load conditions.

The one touch start feature is interesting. It will be even more interest to see what it does when the truck starts hard or does not start. I wonder... how long will it crank? Will it try again? Does it cuss for you when your truck goes belly up?

That's the feature- auto cuss...

-Mike

 

heh heh...

That's the way the Dmax is -- took me a while to get used to when I 1st got my Dmax -- then when I got back to a PSD I had to remember to hold the key in start. I'm with you: what happens in a no-start? (like in my old PSD when one batt. was down and the starter couldn't crank the engine fast enough...). I guess it keeps cranking til you turn it off??!

 

I'm sure it's timed. I think the one touch start in my parent's car is set at something like 30 sec.

 

probably more like 10 seconds, i have seen keys get stuck in the start position and the starter catches on fire.

 

This feature needs to be offered with the manual trucks only. It will also need the feature when it's cold in the morning and supplemental heat is not available, or when driving empty and the 3.55 is not available.

 

I think a two speed rear axle would be nice. Could set it so only one speed works in 4x4 so as to match front axle.That way we could have overall lower gearing for towing and some higher (low numerically) gears for highway economy.