Why would it bother you that a 10 speed transmission changes gears more "often" than a 5 or 6 speed transmission...??? That IS the whole idea, to keep the engine in the sweet spot for power or economy, instead it revving higher than actually "needed" or luging the engine lower than optimal... Having said that they could have done a better job of it on my truck that's for sure, (making it shift more often).

To get back to this thread, as far as the 10 speed is concerned, it allows either the 3.73 or the 4.30 to basically do the same job. IMO

 

Imagine if Ford didn't give a visual transmission gear indicator that could be turned on to see what gear it's in.

No one would be complaining about what gear it should be in, all the thread would be about wish they gave us display for what gear.

Sort of like the oil temp display. We think it's operating in a good temp but don't know so can't second guess Ford with the temp but if Ford would of gave us the temp we could have numerous threads about how the truck should run cooler...."oh" like the transmission temps.

 

Mine shows oil and trans temp. Can you point me to the threads?

 

I've come to the conclusion that Gazilla must either have gotten a grade F lemon, or he is just an extremely special case user. Millions of gas Super Duties out there and I have never seen anyone hating the 3.xx as much as he does, but then a simple swap to an otherwise identical truck with 4.30 magically solved everything.

 

I hear ya. He seems to think you have to be in 10th gear all the time. That's the luxury of the 10 speed drop a gear and roll.

myself personally, I think the 4.30 crowd hates on the 3.55-3.73 so much because they wish they had the low rpm's on the highway
I'm not an engineer, but I'd think the extra revolutions the 4.30 performs has to be an increase in wear and reduced longevity compared to the 3.55/3.73

i towed for 17 years with my f150 with 3.55 gears. And when loaded I towed in 3. When empty I towed in 4

now with the 10 speed towing in 8th or 9th Is still an overdrive and is doing better than the f150.

I love my combination. Drop a gear and go if need be, and let the horses do their thing.

 

scraprat what size tires do you run. Still developing my opinion, so i like all the input. Thanks.

 

Scraprat is running a 33" tire.

 

Sissies.....F450 C&C, 4.88 gears - 75mph = 2500rpm, 10 mpg empty and 7.5 mpg loaded..... Gas mileage

 

The whole point of having a 10 speed with three overdrive gears is to be able to run gears like the 4.30’s.

There was nothing wrong with the 3.55 truck I had, it functioned as designed. With the 3.55 gears and the three overdrive gears it was just a lazy, sluggish boring truck to drive constantly shifting and forget about putting bigger tires on it.

 

Totally agree. More OD gears are great for lower axle gears, and likewise, more under drive gears in the trans is good for higher axle gears. This allows those with 4.xx gears to cruise the highway at a lower RPM while still having the torque multiplication not to constantly downshift on every overpass or hill. And the 10-spd has enough lower gears in it so those with 3.xx gears can get a load moving, and have options even when locking out 10/9/or 8 while towing.

I would have chose 4.56 if it were available.

 

Like I said, either your truck was assembled on a Tuesday after a 3 day weekend, or you are just very, very special, because very few people, if any at all, seems to think 7.3 with 3.xx gearing is lazy, boring or sluggish. Who knows, maybe the transmission programming was just adapting to your driving style, since you seem to think these things aren't supposed to go over 79mph.

 

No, his truck was perfectly fine. A 7,000lb brick at highway speeds in multiple overdrive gears with a 3.xx ratio sucks. I've been there, done that too

 

I like having these effective gear ratio options available with the 4.30’s just by changing tires.

 

As a caution Gazzilla, the labeled tire sizes often vary a significant amount from the actual diameter by manufacturer and even different tire names within a manufacturer for the same tire size on the sidewall. Most manufactures also list rpm/mile and actual tire diameter for each individual tire type/name they sell. I have found it much more useful to use the rpm/mile spec or the tire diameter inches specification when wanting the most accurate values for calculating "effective gearing" changes.

But it is a great idea to consider gearing/tow rating/performance/speedo accuracy when changing tire sizes.

 

I don't consider myself part of any gear crowd. If I'm owning a Ford gasser, it will only be with 4.30s, because that's what my application calls for. But I couldn't care less what anyone else runs.

I also want to make sure I understand correctly, you think the 4.30 will induce more wear and tear vs a 3.xx geared truck that has to run lower transmission gears and possibly higher RPMs to do the same work at the same speeds? I'm not seeing that. Not to mention that the 10-speed will shift more with 3.xx, than 4.30. That seems like more wear and tear to me. All that for 1 mpg. Doesn't make much sense to me.

Bottom line is to run whatever you want, but folks cannot change the laws of physics and engineering. The 4.30 puts more torque to the ground in any gear and any situation than a 3.xx truck does in like-situations. It is also impossible for a 3.xx geared truck to get a load moving easier than the 4.30 gear set despite having the savior 10-speed tranny. 1st gear is first gear (10R140 vs 10R140).

I have nothing against any 3.xx gears and have owned many of them. But pound for pound, it's not going to do what the 4.30 will do easier. If they would, if performance was all the same gear set to gear set, we wouldn't have the options we do. Ford produces the 4.30s for a reason.