Gear Vendor Overdrive
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 42
Likes: 1
Gear Vendor Overdrive
Has anyone ran a Gear Vendor OD unit behind a 7.3 4x4 with a ZF5? I've got a 1997 dually with this combination and 4.10 gears. Love the low gears for when I need them, so I don't want to just swap to a higher gear set. But I would like to have something a little higher for the highway, so that's why I'm considering . Are they durable? Any negative things to know about them from people who have ran them?
Also, if anyone knows where one of these might be for sale, please let me know. I'm not sure if they're still made anymore or not. But even if they are, I'm not sure I really want to put up the money for a new one on an older truck like this. The truck has less than 200k miles and is in decent shape, but the price of those overdrives new is very prohibitive for a truck this old.
Also, if anyone knows where one of these might be for sale, please let me know. I'm not sure if they're still made anymore or not. But even if they are, I'm not sure I really want to put up the money for a new one on an older truck like this. The truck has less than 200k miles and is in decent shape, but the price of those overdrives new is very prohibitive for a truck this old.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 238
Likes: 14
I have a '97 F350 4X4, RC, 7.5, ZF5, SRW, 4.10 gears. I had my GV installed in 2010 at about 69K miles. I'm now at 174K miles and the unit still functions perfectly. The only problems I ever had were electrical connections which were the result of carelessness by the installer. These were subsequently corrected. I service the unit faithfully (change fluid, clean screens) at 12-15K miles. I don't go wheeling or pulling or drag racing...though I used to haul substantial loads of lumber and cabinets for my cabinet business until I retired a few years ago. I picked up from 1 - 2 MPG highway. Yes, they're costly...but they're FUN and GOOD! I paid around $3K for the unit, + the inst + shortening the driveshaft...so about $3.6K total. Yes, they're still available...I just checked. Go to gearvendors.com. I don't regret getting one...I only have to drive another 250K miles or so to re-coup the $3.6K investment by gas savings! Your 200K mile diesel is just getting broke-in. If you plan on keeping your truck for awhile a GV is worth a look. With the GV ratio X 5th gear ratio X 4.10, we have about 2.33 to the road...so our high-torque engines can just chuckle down the highway and last forever.
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5th Wheeling
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 42
Likes: 1
Thanks for the info Bruce. Very helpful!
My '97 is a crew cab dually 4x4, something Ford never made in that body style. But my truck started life as a SRW, was totaled when it was less than 3 months old, was rebuilt with a salvage title and converted to a dually at that point. I plan to lengthen it to a 6 door, so I'll be changing the driveshaft length anyway. I will be using it occasionally to pull 6-7 people, gear, and a 30' enclosed trailer hauling about 10 ATV's across the country to play in the sand once or twice a year. It's not a terribly heavy load for the 7.3, so figured a long haul like that with a trailer would be the perfect opportunity to utilize a GV OD and run the speeds of the interstate traffic without overworking the engine. Just wanted to make sure people who had them liked them. Otherwise, I would consider just changing my axle gears out to something higher, but really didn't want to as my current 1st gear is handy when starting out on a hill with a heavy load. (I also haul a track loader and some heavy attachments occasionally with a gooseneck - about 17K lbs total, so the 4.10 gears are very handy in that situation.)
While they're both torque monsters, my diesel probably doesn't like RPM's quite as well as your 460, so my thought is that it might be an even better upgrade for my engine.
My '97 is a crew cab dually 4x4, something Ford never made in that body style. But my truck started life as a SRW, was totaled when it was less than 3 months old, was rebuilt with a salvage title and converted to a dually at that point. I plan to lengthen it to a 6 door, so I'll be changing the driveshaft length anyway. I will be using it occasionally to pull 6-7 people, gear, and a 30' enclosed trailer hauling about 10 ATV's across the country to play in the sand once or twice a year. It's not a terribly heavy load for the 7.3, so figured a long haul like that with a trailer would be the perfect opportunity to utilize a GV OD and run the speeds of the interstate traffic without overworking the engine. Just wanted to make sure people who had them liked them. Otherwise, I would consider just changing my axle gears out to something higher, but really didn't want to as my current 1st gear is handy when starting out on a hill with a heavy load. (I also haul a track loader and some heavy attachments occasionally with a gooseneck - about 17K lbs total, so the 4.10 gears are very handy in that situation.)
While they're both torque monsters, my diesel probably doesn't like RPM's quite as well as your 460, so my thought is that it might be an even better upgrade for my engine.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 238
Likes: 14
Thanks for the info Bruce. Very helpful!
My '97 is a crew cab dually 4x4, something Ford never made in that body style. But my truck started life as a SRW, was totaled when it was less than 3 months old, was rebuilt with a salvage title and converted to a dually at that point. I plan to lengthen it to a 6 door, so I'll be changing the driveshaft length anyway. I will be using it occasionally to pull 6-7 people, gear, and a 30' enclosed trailer hauling about 10 ATV's across the country to play in the sand once or twice a year. It's not a terribly heavy load for the 7.3, so figured a long haul like that with a trailer would be the perfect opportunity to utilize a GV OD and run the speeds of the interstate traffic without overworking the engine. Just wanted to make sure people who had them liked them. Otherwise, I would consider just changing my axle gears out to something higher, but really didn't want to as my current 1st gear is handy when starting out on a hill with a heavy load. (I also haul a track loader and some heavy attachments occasionally with a gooseneck - about 17K lbs total, so the 4.10 gears are very handy in that situation.)
While they're both torque monsters, my diesel probably doesn't like RPM's quite as well as your 460, so my thought is that it might be an even better upgrade for my engine.
My '97 is a crew cab dually 4x4, something Ford never made in that body style. But my truck started life as a SRW, was totaled when it was less than 3 months old, was rebuilt with a salvage title and converted to a dually at that point. I plan to lengthen it to a 6 door, so I'll be changing the driveshaft length anyway. I will be using it occasionally to pull 6-7 people, gear, and a 30' enclosed trailer hauling about 10 ATV's across the country to play in the sand once or twice a year. It's not a terribly heavy load for the 7.3, so figured a long haul like that with a trailer would be the perfect opportunity to utilize a GV OD and run the speeds of the interstate traffic without overworking the engine. Just wanted to make sure people who had them liked them. Otherwise, I would consider just changing my axle gears out to something higher, but really didn't want to as my current 1st gear is handy when starting out on a hill with a heavy load. (I also haul a track loader and some heavy attachments occasionally with a gooseneck - about 17K lbs total, so the 4.10 gears are very handy in that situation.)
While they're both torque monsters, my diesel probably doesn't like RPM's quite as well as your 460, so my thought is that it might be an even better upgrade for my engine.
Tuned
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 372
Likes: 14
From: Central Minnesota
Gear vendors in business and going strong
They sure are in biz, I bought a unit for my 7.5 extended cab 4wd this past fall and am the process of installing it this winter, along with a clutch and my ol set of Banks headers.
https://www.gearvendors.com/index.html Larry
https://www.gearvendors.com/index.html Larry
FTE Chapter Leader
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 12,338
Likes: 1,314
From: Central Mississippi
As far as durability goes, GV is the primary sponsor of Hot Rod's Drag Week.
Pretty much all the 7, 6, & now 5 second competitors use GV ODs that routinely go 1000+ HP & comparable torque with zero breakage.
Pretty much all the 7, 6, & now 5 second competitors use GV ODs that routinely go 1000+ HP & comparable torque with zero breakage.
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