Upgrades!
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Upgrades!
Hey, I am the owner of a 2001 Ford F-250 V-10 gasser, extended cab about a 3 inch body lift sitting on 35" tires and 17" rims I'm just wonder what people's opinions are for upgrading performance. What to do first, what not to do first. Any and all input is appreciated.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jan 2012
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Spd y pipe gears if you plan on keeping 35's go 4.56 5 star tune. Do you really have a body lift on a super duty? Not very common as they are so easy to change the suspension on. If you have leaky exhaust manifolds you should think about headers they different y pipes. That eliminate the stock one as well.
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^^^^
That about covered it. You will nearly always see gears as the number one performance upgrade for a V10 truck. The V10 likes about 3000 rpm for real good power and 4.30s are just about perfect for stock tires. Im on the hunt for 4.30 05-07 axles and front end so I can do the coil suspension swap and get better gears all in one go.
That about covered it. You will nearly always see gears as the number one performance upgrade for a V10 truck. The V10 likes about 3000 rpm for real good power and 4.30s are just about perfect for stock tires. Im on the hunt for 4.30 05-07 axles and front end so I can do the coil suspension swap and get better gears all in one go.
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Spd y pipe gears if you plan on keeping 35's go 4.56 5 star tune. Do you really have a body lift on a super duty? Not very common as they are so easy to change the suspension on. If you have leaky exhaust manifolds you should think about headers they different y pipes. That eliminate the stock one as well.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jan 2012
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The only company for ring and pinion that I'm familiar with is yukon I think they are the best for aftermarket gears but pricey, I've been seeing more about nitro gears on here. But no experience with them but I'm sure if installed properly they will be good to go.
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They hard to install or is it worth just paying someone to do it ?
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From: Media PA
It's very important to have the gears setup perfectly, so if you don't have experience with gear setups then it's worth sending out to a shop that specializes in them. 
Gears are the number one performance mod for the V-10, these motors love to run with an effective 4.30-ish ratio. With true 35"s you will need to go with 4.88s to get to that effective ratio, that's what I have now for an effective 4.39 ratio and it runs and tows great!
I have the Banks headers with Y pipe, 5Star tunes and the deep gears, all have individually made the truck run and tow better but the gears were the single biggest improvement.
Gears are the number one performance mod for the V-10, these motors love to run with an effective 4.30-ish ratio. With true 35"s you will need to go with 4.88s to get to that effective ratio, that's what I have now for an effective 4.39 ratio and it runs and tows great!
I have the Banks headers with Y pipe, 5Star tunes and the deep gears, all have individually made the truck run and tow better but the gears were the single biggest improvement.
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2015
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It's very important to have the gears setup perfectly, so if you don't have experience with gear setups then it's worth sending out to a shop that specializes in them.
Gears are the number one performance mod for the V-10, these motors love to run with an effective 4.30-ish ratio. With true 35"s you will need to go with 4.88s to get to that effective ratio, that's what I have now for an effective 4.39 ratio and it runs and tows great!
I have the Banks headers with Y pipe, 5Star tunes and the deep gears, all have individually made the truck run and tow better but the gears were the single biggest improvement.
Gears are the number one performance mod for the V-10, these motors love to run with an effective 4.30-ish ratio. With true 35"s you will need to go with 4.88s to get to that effective ratio, that's what I have now for an effective 4.39 ratio and it runs and tows great!
I have the Banks headers with Y pipe, 5Star tunes and the deep gears, all have individually made the truck run and tow better but the gears were the single biggest improvement.
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From: Media PA
The 5.4 might even benefit from the deeper (4.88) gears more than the 6.8 due to the V-8 having a little less power but the same RPM range.
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I know bigger tires kill mpg and its a gas, but does the deeper gear 4.88 hurt the mpg??
Moderator
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From: Media PA
I can only reference my rig and how we use it.
Stock with 3.73s and 31.5" tires it typically got 14-ish MPG in mixed driving and had a best of 15.5 on a mostly highway trip. Towing our 9,500lb toyhauler it got 6/7 MPG and was pretty doggy.
After the swap to the 4.88 gears and 32" tires it dropped down to 12 MPG running solo and bumped up to 9 MPG towing that same trailer. The towing performance increase was huge, it pulled like a locomotive and just ate up the hills!
I then added Banks headers, custom tunes from 5Star and 35" tires, which put my effective ratio at 4.39. We also bought a new TT that is 41' long and weighs 11,000lbs. We are now typically seeing 8 to 9 MPG towing with a new best of 9.4 last week! This combination is still a strong performer and handles the new TT very well, most Interstate grades are being climbed in OD. Unloaded on a pure highway trip running 5 over the limit it saw just a hair under 13.
My V-10 EX currently serves as our dedicated tow rig and sees most of it's miles with the TT on the hitch and then some solo miles running around our destinations seeing the sites.
More Turbo
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The 5.4 with 4.88 gears and ~35" tires is a very good combination. My last truck was a 2003 F250 SCSB 4x4 with the 5.4/ZF6 and when I upgraded the tires to 315/75/16, I also regeared to 4.88 front and rear. The truck had 4.10 gears stock and the new tires and gears at the same time definitely improved the seat of the pants feel for performance. I seem to recall seeing ~1 mpg drop in fuel mileage after the upgrades, but I could still get ~15 mpg on long highway trips where I kept it under 65 mph.
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