As my primary purpose for my truck is pulling a 23 foot tandem axle camper that fully loaded is roughly 5,000 lbs.
My truck is a 1994 F150, 300 I6, automatic, 3.08 rear diff.
I am going to order new rear axle ring & pinion kit. Need more takeoff and better hill pulling power.
Was curious what other's are using as far as ring & pinion ratios go.
I need to be able to run with the overdrive off but still go 60 MPH.
Don't give a crap about going 70. Just 60 MPH. With all the power this
little 6 can put to the ground without blowing the H up! LOL
Gas mileage is of NO concern. Granted, if I can stay above 8 MPG that would be awesome. I got 9 MPG on my last camping trip. The biggest thing is the HILLS. Pedal on the floor, 50 MPH at the bottom, 30 MPH in 2nd gear at the top. And was still slowing down. Would have hit 1st gear if that hill had been much longer!
Current "performance mods" --- said with sarcasm --- is:
Exhaust is brand new magna flow high flow cat ( MUST keep the cat ) , Flowmaster 50 series, new O2 sensor, intake is K&N drop in.
Accel cap & rotor button. NGK V-Power plugs.
New TPS and cleaned IAC valve. New Bosch ( IIRC ) fuel pump.

Anything short of swapping in a 460 carbed big block in front of a C6 transmission, what else can be done ?

 

60 mph I was pulling around 2k RPM in 4th gear approximately with 4:10's with E4OD trans.

That's a guess....I swapped 3:55's back in for highway use about a year ago

 

Put 4.10 gears in it and tow in OD.. the E4OD trans is rated for that. My new-to-me van has 4.10 gears with the 4.6 and it's the best tow vehicle I have owned yet.

What else can be done? The biggest problem with the I6 is it makes no HP and there are no mods that will generate any, yes torque gets a load moving but horsepower makes it accelerate. All 3 of the available V8s can easily generate 2x as much HP as the I6 so even a 5.0 would perform better if setup correctly... and both the 5.0 and 5.8 are bolt-in options that could use all of the existing powertrain.

 

our farm truck is a 1995 F150 XL reg. cab 4X4 longbed.
No clue what axle ratio it has. Never looked. But it has the 5.8 and
E40D. Never had any issues pulling with it, but then again, all I have ever had any experience with towing using that truck has been pulling a Melroe 230 Spray-Coupe sprayer to the repair shop (very often!) and pulling a 1000 gallon water tank to a field somewhere. In both cases, I never had a need to go more than 45 MPH. The Spray-Couple wobbles all over the road and gets plum dangerous to pull at anything over about 35 MPH. And the 1000 gallons of water weighs 8,800 lbs, plus another 2k lbs for the tri-axle trailer that the tank is sitting on. Even though equipped with electric brakes on all 3 trailer axles, stopping is still a bit of an issue so we never get in too big a hurry pulling the water tank. That 1995 F150, right now in September of 2015, has ALMOST 40,000 miles on it. Yeahhhhh, farm trucks don't go very far. LOL But it has had a HARD 40,000 miles.
I would like to keep the 300 I6, but a 5.8 swap may be in the future.
That, or a carbureted 460 with a C6 transmission. ** evil grin **
I do so love this 'ol 300 6 though.

 

I ordered this oil cooler kit from Amazon. I am thinking (hoping) it is
better than the factory trans oil cooler that is part of the radiator.

 

Well, after waiting several days for the tire shop to get the 235's in, and still did not have them, I went someplace else, who then told me they too no longer stocked LT rated 235/75/15's, but had a sale on a set of Mastercraft Courser ATX tires in 31x10.50x15 and he assured me I would never feel the bigger size difference as far as acceleration and pulling power goes. So, I put his head on the chopping block and made him sign a paper stating 100% satisfaction guarantee.
He was correct. Although I have not pulled my camper over the same road with the new tires, I did haul a small ride on trencher about 18 miles, mostly flat with maybe 4 good hills on the way there & back. Pulled like normal.
The local shop wants $1400 to install a set of 4.10 gears!!!!!!
HOLLY RING & PINION BATMAN!!!!!!
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm, NO !
I will do it myself! Like, in 3 months when I slow down and get the
2 motorcycle projects put back together and out of my wife's side of the garage!
LOL

 

My 92 f150 single cab short box 4x4, 302 5 speed. has factory 4:10 gears and I run the 31 inch tires. Usually get around 14 mpg.