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That's the reason I switched to 3.55 on mine Khan, It was nice towing stuff with 4.10 and stock sticks but once I jumped to 160/0 the engine had more than enough power to switch over to 3.55.
once I installed a complete diff with LS 3.55 I still have power to spare, doing 75 mph with my 285 75 16 i cruise right at 2000-2100 rpm and that's with the speedo corrected to the taller tire.
That's the reason I switched to 3.55 on mine Khan, It was nice towing stuff with 4.10 and stock sticks but once I jumped to 160/0 the engine had more than enough power to switch over to 3.55.
once I installed a complete diff with LS 3.55 I still have power to spare, doing 75 mph with my 285 75 16 i cruise right at 2000-2100 rpm and that's with the speedo corrected to the taller tire.
I am actually considering the opposite Adam. 4.10s and True Trac because it will only go with the 4.10s. I figure with my ZF though, It won't be that much different and will pull even easier with a tad lower gearing. The jury is still out though.
That's the reason I switched to 3.55 on mine Khan, It was nice towing stuff with 4.10 and stock sticks but once I jumped to 160/0 the engine had more than enough power to switch over to 3.55.
once I installed a complete diff with LS 3.55 I still have power to spare, doing 75 mph with my 285 75 16 i cruise right at 2000-2100 rpm and that's with the speedo corrected to the taller tire.
I tow heavy at 2000 RPM with 3.73 gears at 65 - 67 MPH (265/75R16 tires) and feel this is a great combination. We are on the last 1,000 miles of a 6,000 mile cross country trip towing the 5th wheel and even in WY climbing a hrafe up to 9,000 feet elevation the 3.73 in 5th gear was holding speed just fine. I see no need to run up the RPM, but understand if others do.
Starting from a stop with the ZF6 is easy as the L gear will move a house. Just today I pulled the 5th wheel up at 35° - 40° exit out of a construction yard where I was waiting. Starting from an uphill position from a stop, put it in L, let out on the clutch and it rolls uphill until I give it some throttle and go into 1st gear.
Perhaps 3.55 would suit my needs better as a long distance traveling tow pig, but with a 4x4 the cost vs. benefit isn't likely there unless I did the work myself.
This is good stuff to hear from people like you as most go to 4.10, 4.30, etc...
I tow heavy at 2000 RPM with 3.73 gears at 65 - 67 MPH (265/75R16 tires) and feel this is a great combination. We are on the last 1,000 miles of a 6,000 mile cross country trip towing the 5th wheel and even in WY climbing a hrafe up to 9,000 feet elevation the 3.73 in 5th gear was holding speed just fine. I see no need to run up the RPM, but understand if others do.
Starting from a stop with the ZF6 is easy as the L gear will move a house. Just today I pulled the 5th wheel up at 35° - 40° exit out of a construction yard where I was waiting. Starting from an uphill position from a stop, put it in L, let out on the clutch and it rolls uphill until I give it some throttle and go into 1st gear.
Perhaps 3.55 would suit my needs better as a long distance traveling tow pig, but with a 4x4 the cost vs. benefit isn't likely there unless I did the work myself.
This is good stuff to hear from people like you as most go to 4.10, 4.30, etc...
how heavy is your 5th wheel? My typical towing load is roughy 8000lbs, the longest trip I had was about 1000mi each way from Colorado to Johnson Valley, a ton of which is on i70 and i15 which have 80mph speed limits. I was usually able to cruise around 75mph at 2500rpm with my 285/75r16 and 4.10 gears. Fuel mileage suffered a bit, at that speed I was averaging around 11-12mpg. But over high mountain passes (10,000+ feet in elevation and 7% slopes) I was cruising 50-55 in 3rd gear (sadly I have the E4OD). That’s what has me thinking bigger tires or higher gears. The only thing really making me consider staying the same is that I plan to eventually upgrade from the Tacoma on a little trailer to a 28’ gooseneck with a slide in pop up camper and the Tacoma. Would be roughly a 11,000lb load, and every time I would tow that would be over high mountain passes. Might just keep the same tire size and gear ratio until I see how it performs with that load.
This is another reason I really want to do the SD axle swap, better brakes.
how heavy is your 5th wheel? My typical towing load is roughy 8000lbs, the longest trip I had was about 1000mi each way from Colorado to Johnson Valley, a ton of which is on i70 and i15 which have 80mph speed limits. I was usually able to cruise around 75mph at 2500rpm with my 285/75r16 and 4.10 gears. Fuel mileage suffered a bit, at that speed I was averaging around 11-12mpg. But over high mountain passes (10,000+ feet in elevation and 7% slopes) I was cruising 50-55 in 3rd gear (sadly I have the E4OD). That’s what has me thinking bigger tires or higher gears. The only thing really making me consider staying the same is that I plan to eventually upgrade from the Tacoma on a little trailer to a 28’ gooseneck with a slide in pop up camper and the Tacoma. Would be roughly a 11,000lb load, and every time I would tow that would be over high mountain passes. Might just keep the same tire size and gear ratio until I see how it performs with that load.
This is another reason I really want to do the SD axle swap, better brakes.
GCVW is 18,000 - 20,000 lbs (5th wheel) based on fuel, water, supplies and misc crap. We travel cross country from GA to ID every couple of years usually taking I-20, 40, 70, 80 or 90 east or west bound based on the time of year, weather patterns and friends/family visiting along the way. We have been over all of the bigger mountain passes like Vail, Raton, Teton, Eisenhower, etc. We towed all the way to Seattle one time on I-90 (Atlantic to Pacific coasts), but Washington and Oregon are not places we have traveled extensively like we have most of the other states. Never been to CA and only plan to see the north when we do go.
We were in ID a few days ago and just towed across ID, MT, WY, SD and are now sitting at a state park in Albert Lea MN. 80 MPH speed limits are not a concern for me as I travel at a speed that is comfortable to us, that is 65 - 70 MPH. Regardless of what the flow of traffic is, I stick to the right lane and just go. That puts my RPM right about 2000 RPM which is in the power band of the engine and turbo with the 265/75R16 tires and 3.73 gearing.
Going across TX and OK is the same thing, just keep on at a pace comfortable to us.
This is our first towing trip out west since doing some upgrades to the truck and we only went up to 9,000 feet, but countless long 6 - 8% grades as we made our way on state and county highways and interstates. We originally intended on going east up the 10% Teton pass and then back onto Vail east, but due to the scorching temperatures across the country we stuck to I-90 east until I-35 where we are cutting south. We have been on both of these several times as we enjoy staying in Jackson WY when possible.
Teton and Vail east can be traveled on the next trip if we come earlier or later in the year or if weather permits.
Everyone has different expectations, goals and budget. You should go with your gut feeling and select the best path forward for your application. I only wanted to share my experience in order to broaden your knowledge base.
Not exactly the same as you as I have a ZF6 and smaller tires, but it will give you food for thought.
Hydroboost and dialed in drums will do wonders for your set up. Check out @Edgethis's axle build. The stock drums are huge!
I’ll definitely need to do some more research on the hydro boost
Originally Posted by Sous
GCVW is 18,000 - 20,000 lbs (5th wheel) based on fuel, water, supplies and misc crap. We travel cross country from GA to ID every couple of years usually taking I-20, 40, 70, 80 or 90 east or west bound based on the time of year, weather patterns and friends/family visiting along the way. We have been over all of the bigger mountain passes like Vail, Raton, Teton, Eisenhower, etc. We towed all the way to Seattle one time on I-90 (Atlantic to Pacific coasts), but Washington and Oregon are not places we have traveled extensively like we have most of the other states. Never been to CA and only plan to see the north when we do go.
We were in ID a few days ago and just towed across ID, MT, WY, SD and are now sitting at a state park in Albert Lea MN. 80 MPH speed limits are not a concern for me as I travel at a speed that is comfortable to us, that is 65 - 70 MPH. Regardless of what the flow of traffic is, I stick to the right lane and just go. That puts my RPM right about 2000 RPM which is in the power band of the engine and turbo with the 265/75R16 tires and 3.73 gearing.
Going across TX and OK is the same thing, just keep on at a pace comfortable to us.
This is our first towing trip out west since doing some upgrades to the truck and we only went up to 9,000 feet, but countless long 6 - 8% grades as we made our way on state and county highways and interstates. We originally intended on going east up the 10% Teton pass and then back onto Vail east, but due to the scorching temperatures across the country we stuck to I-90 east until I-35 where we are cutting south. We have been on both of these several times as we enjoy staying in Jackson WY when possible.
Teton and Vail east can be traveled on the next trip if we come earlier or later in the year or if weather permits.
Everyone has different expectations, goals and budget. You should go with your gut feeling and select the best path forward for your application. I only wanted to share my experience in order to broaden your knowledge base.
Not exactly the same as you as I have a ZF6 and smaller tires, but it will give you food for thought.
Travel safe sir.
That’s good info! Thank you! I need to look into the difference between swapping in a zf5 vs zf6 fit when my auto finally takes a dump
From what I’ve read the HPO system bleeds air in 50mi, but I’m probably 500-750 miles since the HPOP change and in the last couple of days the truck only romped on start up once out of about 10 starts. Usually it was every single start up, wonder if there might have just still been a little air left in there?
Happy Independence Day everyone! Well with my girlfriend and family out of the state for the weekend, I’ll be grilling with the neighbors this evening, but until then it’s a good maintenance day for the ol Ford. Got the rear diff drained, cleaned up, and sealed so I can refill it in the morning, did an oil change, and drained the water separator. Tomorrow I’ll change the tcase fluid and hopefully can get all the bolts off of the flex plate cover so I can drain the trans fluid (the PO rounded off all of the bolts) and install my deeper trans pan with cooling tubes. Took some pics of the underside, I’m lucky how little rust there is
Everything looks pretty good for a 240,000mi set of gears Irate fuel kit looking great All sealed up Hard to tell if this leak is coming from the front cover or the oil pan The stain on the water pump is the place that a very small coolant leak drips from Just replaced these seals in like October. Guess it’s time to do it again
What did you use to seal the rear diff? I used lubelocker on both when I did mine.
Just used some blue RTV. I’ve had good luck with standard oil rated RFV on third member axles before, so I’m hoping that continues. Took me an hour to get the gasket the PO put on scraped off, so I’m glad I didn’t do a gasket
Originally Posted by Khan
Tried to order a lubelocker for my truck a few years back. got the wrong one so I just RTV'd it up.
On the sterling 10.5 I have in my garage I drilled and tapped it for 1/4" npt plug for a drain. Should make draining and changing diff oil nifty
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