I'm looking to put a 4.5" lift and 37s on my 2011 F250 which has the 6.2L gas engine and wanted some feedback from others who have the same setup. The kind of info I'm looking for is how much power did you lose, does the trans drop out of overdrive alot on the highway, whats you mpgs, etc. And overall driving and performance of the truck.

thanks

 

I'm just getting ready for a 6in with 37s on my 2014. This isn't my first rodeo on lifting trucks, I can tell you it's going to be a turd. You are into tire sizes that require regearing. Yeah you can drive it but it's hard on transmissions. The only hope you have for not swapping gear sets would be if you have factory 4.30s. With 37s they will feel closer to 3.73s...3.73s are going to be like 3.30s. With 37s a 4.56 ratio will get you close to the 3.73 and 4.88s will be close to the 4.30 to correct for the tire size.

 

Yeah I've done my fair share of lifts on trucks too, my last truck was a 7.3L so that handled the bigger tires just fine. Before that was an '94 F-150 with 5.0L, now that truck suffered a lot from the bigger tires, but it also had half the power these 6.2L put out, so that's why I ask how well these new engines handle the bigger tires. Thanks for the input though.

 

The weight/width of the tire is just as important, as the height. Obviously feel of the pants power, mpg's etc...will suffer but I'll let any 6.2L guys chime in on how their truck reacted.

How do you plan on dealing with the driveshaft hitting the exhaust when you lift the truck? Are you thinking custom shaft or modded exhaust?

 

According to the lift companies the 4 inch lift don't have exhaust/driveshaft issues. 6 inch lifts are advertised there are issues. I've been looking at different converters or changing the bends for the exhaust for that issue. Rolling resistance will play a issue just like height. These engines do seem to like to rev so gearing is a no brainer. The only thing that could band-aid the issue is the 6 speed transmission.

 

Is there a bolt on 4" kit for the 6.2? I will be doing this also towards the end of the year....... It's race season and I have lots of money dedicated to my cars so the truck has to wait...... I still like to plan.

Whichever lift kit I buy I want it to be a bolt on and I don't want to have to get a drive shaft made. Does this exist in a 4"kit?

I have 3.73 gear and I plan to run 35's I would do a re-gear to 4.56 or better if its offered.

Does anyone know what aftermarket gearing is available for these trucks?

 

I get about 10-11 MPG around town. Maybe 12 if im taking it super easy on the freeways. Power definitely took a hit. Truck was a missile when it was brand new with 4.30 gears and stock tires. Towing my 2400Lbs sand rail on a 20ft car hauler flatbed trailer and a little bit of gear(not sure on the trailers weight) I got about 8 MPG the entire drive going about 65 MPH from Glamis to Phoenix.

My tires are big and wide, and not only that but they are really heavy. I believe the 37" toyos weigh 95-100 Lbs each. Add in a 20 " rim and its probably close to 150Lbs per wheel. If I were to do it all over again I'd probably got to a level kit and find some nice light 35" tires. A lot of the tire manufactures list the weights of the individual tires which is very helpful. I believe the General grabber A/Ts are very light. Also the Nitto tires where relatively light weight.

FYI my Icon lift seems to have lifted my truck a lot more than the claimed 4.5" seemed like at least 6.5" or more.

Also, unless you do a 2.5" evel kit, you WILL need to address the front drive shaft issue. Luckily on my truck I took it to an exhaust shop and they were able to loosen the clamps at the header and shift the exhaust over enough that it will clear. I have not done any extreme wheeling in 4x4 but I have had it off road on relatively unflat surfaces in 4x4 and it has not been a problem with any rubbing. Also if you want a little more rumble, do what I did and just take off the big giant bazooka looking muffler and add a hidden down pipe right off the resonator. No more seeing that giant muffler and exhaust pipe. Sounds great too. Nice low not obnoxious rumble at idle and cruise and then you hear it sing when you really get on it. My muffler shop only charged me $30 for shifting the exhaust and doing the muffler delete and welding on a down pipe. Went into the shop thinking I was gonna drop $200 on a new muffler and then another $300-$400 on a new smaller diameter drive shaft. All said and done, I got both issues addressed and it was only $30. SCORE!

 

What's up with the driveshaft hitting the y-pipe on the 6.2? I read this thread when it first listed and I did a quick Google search and there's a lot of info on anything 4" and up causes the driveshaft to hit? Did Ford make the bends too low for the truck or is the sweep to far over to the driveshaft?

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The exhaust at the cats sits somewhat underneath the driveshaft. When you lift the truck and the angle increases on the driveshaft as the driveshaft sits lower it rubs slightly on the cats.

If you have a 6.2 crawl under there and you will see exactly where the problem will be

 

Yeah I figured the gas mileage would take a hit, but I hate to loss the power too. I like the get up and go the truck has now, but I guess that's the sacrifice for a sweet looking truck. As for the driveshaft issue I have asked several lift companies and they say every truck is different some have clearance issues and some don't. I lifted my truck by the front bumper using my high lift jack and it looks like I'll be in the clear. It's close, but it should clear.

 

CCSTP, does your trans hunt around for gears a lot on the highway? I noticed that with 35" tires it drops out of 6th a little more compared to when I had the stock tires on it.

 

Not to start a fight or anything but why is it nowadays ever body puts huge tires on their trucks and then wonder why it lost power? When I was growing up a lot of guys in my area had huge lifted trucks and the day after lifting the trucks THEY ALL had them in the garage doing gear and locker swaps..... What happened to the mandatory thought of big lift and tires = gear swap times? Sent from my iPhone using IB AutoGroup

 

Answer = DIESELS! At least that's what happened to me. My last truck was an '01 F350 7.3L and with 37s and a tuner it had tons of torque to spin those big tires, even with stock gears. So now with my new truck I know I don't have the option of getting a $400 tuner to make up for lost power. And I really don't have the cash to re-gear this truck either. I know that 37s will differently change the trucks performance, i'm just wondering how much and is it worth it.

 

No not really. I knew I was going to lift and get bigger tires immediately after buying the truck and I wanted to keep the E-locker so my only option was to order my truck with the 4.30s. I dont tow heavy and and I havn't crunched the numbers but 4.30s with 37s is pretty close to 3.73 with stock sized tires so I knew it would be good enough for me..

I dont know what your current truck is but with these new transmissions gearing isnt all that important because you can override the system with the select shift. basically making it a manual trans. If it seems to always be hunting for that sweet spot between 5th and 6th just simply lock it out. Thats what I don when I'm towing. Even if I only had 3.73 I dont think it would be an issue I'd just lock out 6th and maybe even 5th if I was pulling heavy.

 

Lol well if you can't afford a gear swap then most likely you can't afford the diesel option!

I posted the question a few posts ago and I suppose no one has the answer.

I asked if any one knew what aftermarket gear sets were available? Of course you have to re gear after big tires to keep the factory performance!

Te same with a diesel you just don't notice it due to all the tq!