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

 

Going by the Ford specs depending on how it's configured the 3.73 are rated from 13K for regular cab 2x4 down to 12100 for the CC 4x4, this is for 5th wheel towing.

Will it pull it with the 3.73 yes, will you be happier with 4.30 yes but unless they are ordered they are almost impossible to find because dealers will not bring them in with 4.30 gears. My salesman still tries to tell me I didn't need them.

Denny

 

The toyhauler is a bumper pull style not a 5th wheel. I forgot to menion that. We are looking for a crew cab 4x4. I use the truck for work towing an eclosed trailer, sometimes in snow and ice. We may need it with toyhauler as well since sometime camping at a atv park is little more then a feild.

I wish i could tow with it before i buy since driving it empty will tell me vey little about how it tows. Why dont dealers stock 4.30s? these are 3/4 and 1 ton truck made for towing and hauling right?

Does anyone have firsthand experience towing over 10K with 3.73s?

Since everyone love pics, heres the new(ish) one 2007 Raptor 3110



Old trailer

 

Have you tried over at rv.net?.

 

I have not posted on rv.net but I am a member there as well. I have done searches on this site and general google searches.

 

I know myself from my experience with both bumper pulls and fifth wheels that when I hit a strong headwind that it feels like someone hooked another trailer on back there when I wasn't looking. Have you tried pulling it with the 5.4 loaded up without a headwind? Nice trailer by the way, do all toy haulers come with triple axles? I have never really paid that much attention to them.

 

I towed it for a few miles before i bought it since i expressed concern about my truck pulling it and it did quite well but i didnt go above 60mph. I usuallly run the 93 tune from 5star an it makes a huge difference over stock. I have notice my flat bed tows easier then my enclosed work trialer and gets better mpg with similar weight. A stonge headwind with the rv feels like the brakes are on, Ok maybe not that bad but its noticable. So I understand the effects of a headwind (or tailwind but I never seem to be going the right direction at the right time for a tailwind) We almost didnt buy the Raptor due to the weight but I figure if the truck wasnt up to it I could upgrade. Its cold not (20s F for the high and teens for the lows) so we havnt taken it out, just stayed in it in the driveway.

As far as being triple axle, I have seen many dual axle and many tri axle also both tt or 5er. The dual axle modles usually have 6k or 7k axles for a 12K or 14K GVWR for trailers of this size and weight My trailer has 5k axles and a 13k Gvwr so I will hit my GVWR before i over load the axle so it give a nice margian before the axles or tires hit there limits.This is the first tri axle i have ever towed and it is amazingly stable behind my current 250. The brakes are amazing aswell. 6 tires on the gound certainly helps and brakes on all axles. Im not sure if i will see increased tire wear or not but time will tell.

Im in no hurry to buy a truck but I am looking. If i dont find one before the weather changes I will be taking it out with the 5.4. I have heard many great things about the 6.2 Im just unsure of the tall (3.73) for towing.

 

A couple of posts down by jeepnford might be some help "pulling with gas"

 

The low gears will get you off the line and help to get you up to cruising speeds.
Consider how much towing time is at highway speeds vs. getting up to speed, cruising in or through towns and general traveling around.
A lower gear will get you around campgrounds and off road areas with less effort from the engine/tranny.
It varies widely.
I don't tow fast so keeping the needle at 60 or 65 doesn't matter to me.

 

I too went through the decision of whether the 3,73's would do the job for me. I have a 5er that is just a little less than 10K on the sticker. Have not weighed it but I feel about 11-11.5K loaded and ready to camp. Here is my reasoning for buying the 6.2 with 3.73's.

Leaning heavy on what has been posted on this site, someone posted RPM comparisons between 4.30's and 3.73. Seems with the six speed tranny, the RPM is almost one gear difference. So with that said running in 5th gear with 3.73's is about the same as running in 6th gear with 4.30's.

I find this to be very close. So far I have pulled my trailer about 1800 miles with our 2013 F-250 w/6.2-3.73. I am very satisfied. Exceeds my expectations in every way. I push the tow/haul button, lock out 6th gear, put her on about 65 mph and enjoy my trip. Wouldn't change a thing.

 

You will be fine with the 6.2 and 3.73 gears. I tow a 37ft 5th wheel with a dry weight of 10035.Loaded I figure I'm around 11-11.5k. The tuck pulls the weight great. When I upgraded from my 28ft travel trailer to the 5er, I was planning to upgrade to a new 6.7. My 6.2 pulls so good I decided to keep it. I use tow/haul and lock out 6th gear. I average about 8-9.5 mpg.

 

I tow a 33.5 ft bumper pull toy hauler that is gross 10000lbs but I bet it exceeds that with full water/fuel tanks and rzr inside. I also carry a dirt bike in the truck box as well as tools bicycles etc. My truck has the 3:73 and it tows well. However I also face hilly terrain and frequent head winds of 60+kmph. Truck tows excellent with no wind but does lose steam a bit quick on hills, it always has power I just don't like it when it uses 2nd at 100kmhr. Will it pull a hill fantastic in 2nd absolutely but I choose a bit slower and 3rd. In the headwind it is 4th gear and sometimes I just let it run 3rd gear(3400rpm). In the headwinds a diesel really shine but these trucks do pull pretty darn good. My personal opinion though is that if going any heavier I would go diesel. I have had diesels and chose to return to gas and I am extremely happy with my choice but yours will weigh in even heavier and if I was buying to tow that trailer I would go diesel. If you do choose 6.2 I think the 4:30 would be a must. You may also find a clean v10 if you are considering used. The 6.2 is a huge improvement over the 5.4 (I drive a f350 5.4 everyday at work). Possibly you could rent one to try, I know they rent them here and the cost to rent is minimal compared to purchasing the wrong setup. Nice trailer by the way. Happy truck hunting

 

Thank you to everyone who provided their experiences. I will look for 4.30s but im not holding my breath. I am yet to see any at any price or trim level. Some mentioned v10 or diesel. I have considered a v10 or diesel. Im on the fence with diesel due to the less then impressive mpg of the 6.4 (loaded or empty), higher repair, maintaince and fuel of diesels in general. 6.0 trucks seem to be hit and miss, some have great experiences and other nothing but trouble. V10s a hard to find. It is what i was looking for when i bought the truck I have bug could not find one. I assume the gas milage would be similar to my 5.4 with a v10 I get 12 to 14 empty and 7 to 9 mpg with the my old travel trailer. I think the 6.2 would be a nice setup especially with the 4.30s

 

Looking on the internet once in a while you can find a SRW F350 with 4.30 gears. Texas dealers also seem to have more trucks with 4.30 axles.

 

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.