well just got back from picking up our 5500# trailer and it did it with no effort. I was in 10th gear most of the way. I’m loving this thing more and more.

 

Numbers may not lie, but a good numbers person can make them say pretty much whatever they want to make a point.

 

AND there are a couple other points to be made; one is that IF the majority of the truck usage is going to be NOT towing heavy, THEN the 3.73s will be better for fuel mileage, if the operator cares about such things (most do). Then if a heavy tow comes up, can just manually select one gear lower, get the job done nicely, and after the tow, go back to the better fuel mileage. Alternatives.

Now to an argument for the 4.30s: What if I want to run 37s? Then, the 4.30 ratio will work better for me and that tire choice is saying "I don't care about fuel mileage anyway". What it boils down to is selecting the proper ratio for what the truck is ACTUALLY GETTING USED FOR AT LEAST 70% OF THE TIME. If towing at max ratings 80% of the time, especially in higher elevations, in mountains, obviously there is a need for 4.30s then. But then the argument could (should?) be made for the diesel. IF the truck tows under 10k < 30% of the time, but occasionally pulls max capacity once in a blue moon, then pretty obviously the 3.73 is going to work better, if not running huge tires, which seems to be a badge of honor for truck owners here in TX. Anyway, my personal experience on a 2019 F250 / 6.2 / 6 speed / 4.30s was that I never got over 12 mpg, I was not towing my fifth wheel very often at all unless I moved to another job, and the 3.73s (I think) would have worked better for all the highway miles I was doing with the truck.

SO, decide on honestly how much heavy tow work gets done, how big a tire you're gonna run, how bad ****ty gas mileage is going to be, and make a choice. OP is just presenting a great choice to appeal to the user who may not be towing super heavy all the time, but when needed can still git 'er done. All good.

 

Anybody that thinks they NEED the 4.30 gears to get a load moving obviously hasn't driven a 7.3 10 speed combination. I was convinced I needed/wanted the 4.30's. I got tired of waiting on Ford to build my truck and bought one with 3.73 gears. First is borderline too low with 3.73's. I am really glad I went with the taller gearing. I am seeing 16-17 mpg daily driving and it will no doubt still pull a house off its foundation if I asked it to.

 

I agree. If I was getting a 350 it would be 3.73s. IMHO issue is 250 and 3.55 vs 4.30s. Tougher call and I'm going 4.30s.

 

Same camp here. My ordered 2022 was 7.3 with 4.30's. Even as of JULY 28th it wasn't scheduled and ford wasn't scheduling even in early august so I found one and jumped on it. it was my exact same truck but with 3.55's instead of 4.30's. I honestly dont feel now they are a big priority to tow what I tow.

 

Big priority to tow what I tow. That sums it up because you have to match your truck to your needs, if you pull heavy get the 4.30s if not go with whatever suits your needs. If it wasn't for our big heavy trailer we live in 6 to 7 months a year we wouldn't even have a SD because your F150 would be just fine. Our F350 DRW 6.2 with 4.30s has only had 32 miles put on it since the 20th of April because we didn't need it but on the 1st of October it will become our main transportation again because that's what we need and that's why it was ordered with towing in mind and 4.30s. I've changed the gears in a few of my trucks over the years and it's never been to a higher gear . The last big mistake I made was with a 1995 F350 CC LB 2x4 XL 351W with 3.54 gears work truck that only had 5K miles on it (it was some kind of a Ford lease truck) and it was great with a lot of get up and go until I put my utility box on it removed the back seat and put racks in it for all my crap and loaded it down so it weighed just under 10K and it turned into a dog. We don't even want to talk about what it was like pulling a trailer with more of my crap . In the end I pulled the guts out of it and at 117K it needed a new motor and a easier life so it went down the road for the same truck but a V10 and 4.30 gears.

Denny

 

Most of that isn't a very fair comparison, certainly not the 1995 351 truck. The new trucks are worlds better than that when it comes to pulling. More than double the power, more than double the gears in the transmission. You also need to be honest in that very few people choose the 6.2 in a dually to tow a heavy camper. With the ten speed the taller rear gears would be inconsequential anyway. The extra multiplication is present in first gear with the ten speed without needing to resort to the deep gears. Admittedly the converse is also true that with several overdrive gears there is no need to go with the taller set. I would argue that the new transmission makes the rear gearing choice a moot argument. Any of them will work fine unless racing from stoplights with 15k lbs plus is a need. The difference in off the line performance is gone, as is most of the empty highway mileage penalty.

It is important to align your needs with your choice still but MUCH less so than previously. The video of the guy hauling 24k lbs up a mountain with 3.55 gears shows how capable the trucks are even if you make the "wrong" choice. The reports of 16 mpg highway with a 7.3L gas V8 with 4.30 gears demonstrates that there is no penalty either way anymore as far as I can see.

The only difference in my case is that with 3.73's I can go faster backwards when plowing snow, for better or worse since damage to the back of my truck has been an issue in the past...

 

No one mentioned the bit beefier axle when going to the 4.30's the 10.8" Dana M275 vs the 10.5" sterling with the 3.55's and 3.73's the axle tubes are 4" vs 3.5" I read. that for me would be worth the 4.30's is that not a good reason?

 

One would think so other than the M275 has had issues historically

• Axle shafts breaking
• Axle tubes crushing and leaking

 

Looks like a very small number of trucks. I didn't know the steel comes from Mexico though.

 

Not really.

 

28,xxx trucks with an estimated percentage of 17% is like 4,850 trucks. So pretty small percentage at least the first link.
Second link all 27,604 are included. How many super duties were produced during said timeframe?

 

The numbers from the axle tube debacle are also skewed because Ford is ONLY including diesel models in the recall, so guys with 6.2 and 7.3 trucks are getting the shaft even with evidence being presented that this issue is affecting these trucks as well. They'll be included before long.

 

Maybe folks who get the 4.30 axle are using them at much higher weights...which would cause more failures in the stats.