Hey guys and gals. I have been a member for some time and I can't thank you all enough for the tutorials you post!! Long live the EX!!

- My question.....I have an 2002 V10 Limited running stock size tires. When not towing the truck is a beast, and has all the power you would ever want, but when I pull my 5500LBS camper, its a totally different story. I run great on the flat ground at 65-70mph, but if I hit a hill of any kind my truck is seriously struggling. if I hit a hill at 70 at the bottom, I might be at 50mph at the top..pisses me off (flashers on...foot on the floor) So my question is...I know there is not a lot of power upgrades for the v10, what if I traded my 3.73's for a set of 4.10 or 4.30's....so you think that would be of much benefit? what are your thoughts or is my expectations of the V10 to high for the hill climb at 65mph? Do you think my gas mileage drop much worse than it is? thank you all for your input. (and I understand the camper is like a GIANT air dam)

oh by the way..I only ever plan to run stock ht tires....maybe, just maybe 315's after the spring swap this summer.

 

Stock tires and 4.30 gears seem to be the way to go around here. If you plan on running a larger tire get something that will keep it equivalent. Another option is a tuner and y pipe. Check out 5 star for both of those.

How is the maintenance on the truck? Service records? What RPM are you at when going up a hill?

 

Yes Art, go to deeper gears for much better towing performance, that was the best upgrade I made on my tow rig EX. I went from stock 3.73s to 4.88 and upsized my tires to 35"s for an effective ratio of 4.39 and the change allows the motor spin up a little more where it makes better power. Pulling the same load (9.5k toyhauler) over the same route (Philly to/from Savannah on I-95) at the same speeds (61 to 63 MPH mostly) the 3.73s gave an average trip MPG of 6.5 to 7, when swapped to the 4.88s (with 32" tires for an effective ratio of 4.80) the trip average was 9 MPG. Going to deeper gears allows the EX to hold OD much better and that makes for better towing MPGs, the rig didn't downshift out of OD at all on the return leg of that trip. Maintaining speed on hills is much improved also with the deep gears as is acceleration under load.
Now with the gears, Banks headers and running the 87 Octane Performance tune from 5Star Tuning we have seen repeated trips of 8.5 to 9 MPG pulling the new 11k travel trailer, solo MPGs are down by about 1 MPG average but I don't do that much solo driving to collect detailed data on that.
I know how you feel, my EX was a dog in stock trim pulling our old 9.5k TH, now with these upgrades it is a completely different machine and I am very satisfied with the towing performance now.

 

supercharger or this Ford Modular 6 8L V10 T76 Custom Twin Turbo Kit 1500HP | eBay

 

4.30`s and a 5 star tuner with a towing tune and SPD Y-pipe! it will make a night and day difference in how well it tows.

 

I recently drove Apocalypse V10 Excursion with 4.30 gears and it has some serious *****!

4.30 gears are where it's at on a V10

 

SCT tuner and y-pipe

 

Well, I see the twins, but what's this about a turbo?

 

You guys are freaking AWESOME! thank you so much for all the advice. The 5 start tuner with 4.30 R&P and a Y-pipe is what I will do. I love my truck, and the best thing is it's paid for!! As far as the maintenance records...there are great. I take amazing care of my truck and the maintenance that it calls for. My wife says that I am obsessed, I just tell her I'm dedicated!!!

thanks again everyone!

Art

 

Art, If you plan to go up in tire size (you had mentioned 315s) take that into consideration with gear choice. I use this handy online calculator to figure new effective ratios with various gears and tire sizes 4Lo.com :: Tire Size Change, New Gear Ratio Calculator
Using 34.5" for BFG T/A KO2s (in 315/75R16) and 4.30 gears will net an effective ratio of 3.93. that's better than your current 3.73 but not by very much, a 4.56 gear would net an effective ratio of 4.16 with those same tires and should perform and tow better. The popular and well matched towing ratio for a V-10 seems to be 4.30 so the closer to that target the better for optimizing the V-10's potential without giving up much if any of unloaded highway mileage. 4.88 gears with those 315s will have an effective ratio of 4.46, I pulled for a season or two with 32" tires and 4.88 gears (4.80 effective ratio) and it was a locomotive! Of course I gave up some solo mileage when it was that deep though, about 2 MPG unloaded highway.
Gears are expensive so do your homework and make the right choice once. Gears are also the biggest single improvement you can make with these motors (well maybe besides a high boost turbo/super charger setup but that would also require a few motor mods as well....), headers and or Y pipe and custom tunes (dialed in for what you want and your usage) are also great performance upgrades for the mighty V-10.

 

Did the 5 star tunes and y pipe on my 03. I had 430s as well. Added the tuner and the y at the same time I lifted and did 35s. Still felt like it towed better than when I had the 285s on and everything stock. 5 star tunes helped a ton. WAY more responsive.

 

So to not make a new thread. I have 4.30 gears and 265/75/16's currently. Tows great. With the v/b codes the tires look tiny. I have been wanting to go 285/75/16's. How much is this gonna kill my towing ability?

 

It won`t. I was running 285`s with the tuner, Y-pipe and 4.30`s. it towed just fine. I could even go so far as to say that 4.56`s aren't out of the question with stock size tires!

 

A user with a V10 Super Duty named SLE swapped in 4.56 gears a few years back, here's his thread on it:

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

Another user with about the same specs as your truck did the same:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...my-v-10-a.html

Neither had anything bad to say about the decision to go with 4.56 gears.

 

Yeh, no gear change here. Keeping 4.30's but as my tires are almost done, wanting 285's. If you guys say it won't make much difference towing, I'll go with 285's.