Cool! Let me know if you need anything. I'm pretty busy with electrical school m,w,tr at night and work, but since you're around town I can probably be of some help sometime!

 

Just read about your trip. I own a first year and last year Ex, and was curious to the Trans mods you did to the 4R100. When we leave Alaska in a few years, I will be selling one of the two Ex's, and I am really leaning towards selling the 2005 due to the 6.0 PSD. Even though it is the one I have done the spring swaps, and Land-Y-ots, sway bar etc to. It only has 36K miles, but with diesel so much more expensive, I think I want to keep the 2000 Ex with the V-10 that has 120K miles, and just put a bit of money doing the springs etc and keep it for the family and trailer hauling duties...

I have a 32 ft TT, so I am thinking 4.30 gears will be in my future for the V-10, and then I need to address the 4R100, as it is bone stock, and original, so I don't want it to puke on me on the road...

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for the insight on your trip, and hope that you are healing well!

Garry in Kodiak, Alaska

 

Hi Garry,

From everything I've ever known the way to keep a transmission happy and healthy is to keep it at the right temperature and use the right fluid. Possibly the most common mod to help with transmission cooling is to install the cooler from a 2003+ 6.0L diesel truck; this is the largest cooler available, and it bolts right in with minimal fuss. The downside is that it provides so much cooling that my transmission never got up to temperature when the Ex was unloaded, so I bought and installed the Derale kit in my signature. Here's the thread where I posted temperature data and how I installed it:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tallation.html

I also flushed the transmission using Mark K's flush instructions. Note that Mercon V is the correct fluid for this transmission, and I used genuine Motorcraft fluid that I was able to get at O'Reilly auto parts for less than $5/quart. Mark K also recommends Mobil1 full synthetic ATF, but that stuff was a bit spendy for me!

After towing with this truck I would have to say that 4.30s are a must if you plan on approaching or exceeding the max tow weight of 10,000 lbs. I exceeded it by 50%, and was very satisfied with how it handled the weight. But with the data on my scangauge it's pretty clear that it would not have held overdrive with 3.73s. On top of that you'd have 15% less grunt in first gear to accelerate from a stop with.

So if you service your transmission, add a 6.0l cooler, and add 4.30 gears you should be well set up to pull. And if you spend any time driving around without the trailer or cold weather I HIGHLY recommend the Derale thermostat kit.

ON edit:

Here's the link for the transmission flush article:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...nsmission.html

 

i just read the entire thread....great info!! Thanks.

I have an 05 EX with a 6.0L 3.73 gears, Rancho 9000, ProPride, Air Bags, Helwig. The whole rig weighs 21,500 lbs. I managed 13 mpg (US ) I often thought i would need more gear...like a 4:10.

 

On the line of the 4.30 Gears... what is the relationship between the front gear ratio and the rear? If I lower the rears (3.73 truck) don't I have to adjust the fronts to keep them in the same relationship when in 4x4?

 

Yes, both axles must have the same gears

 

Yes, the ratio has to be identical to avoid driveline binding. To get a feeling for how this will be, put it in 4 HI on pavement and drive with the wheels turned all the way. Simple geometry requires that the front tires spin faster than the rears, and that causes the resistance you feel.

So if you have a different gear ratio in the front compared with the rears, locking into 4WD will require the front and rear tires to spin at different speeds because even though the driveshafts are spinning exactly the same speeds the gearing is different between the two. So in a nutshell if you were to change the gears in the rears you would lose ALL 4x4 capability; shifting into four wheel drive would be catastrophic to your driveline unless you were on something very slippery, and in this event it would be uncontrollable.

So my truck has 4.30s in the front and the rear.

 

Was pretty sure that would be the case... so a gear change would be EXpensive!