More Power
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More Power
I have a 2003 f-150 with a triton 4.6L V8 and 3.55 gears. I pull a 1995 24 lite camping trailer. The combined weight of the camper and truck is 10,500 and I'm within the 6900 rated pulling capacity. I would like to increase my power on the inclines. Does anyone have any idea's or sugestions as to try, other than buying another truck.
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Joined: Jul 2002
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From: South Dakota
Originally posted by spikedog
You could accomplish the same thing as new gears by going to a smaller diameter tire.
You could accomplish the same thing as new gears by going to a smaller diameter tire.
Yes, you could, but decent truck tires run in the $500+ range, and thats not counting services. Gears are cheap, especially if you know where to look.
Not to mention that the 2wd f-150s are already low to the ground.
I would reccomend that you swap your rear end gears out and then get your pcm reflashed, that will allow for the speedo to read right, and allow your tranny to shift properly.
What size rear end do you have? The axel code is on the drivers door, and if you post it, we could tell you the rear end size.
If it's an 8.8 rear end, you can get a very unused 3.73 ring and pinion off of ebay for 50 bucks. The larger rears may be a bit tougher.
You should be able to get your pcm reflashed for under 70 bucks, or you could get a diablo chip from motorhaven programed for the lower gears and more towing pwr for around $250.
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I will look at the rear end size. I have heard also changing my exhaust would help, could you tell me the best bang for the buck out of all the options?
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From: Wyoming
Gears are probably the best bang for the buck, and you'll feel it the seat of your pants immediately.
Like Superrangerman2002 says, don't go too low. I went from 3.00:1 to 4:11 gears on a '75 Ranchero, and while I loved the low-end grunt, I hated the mileage. Plus, I was in third gear and still in the driveway! Cut a half-second off the 1/4 mile, but doing 75 mph on the highway was far too high RPM's than I was comfortable with for more than a few minutes.
Like Superrangerman2002 says, don't go too low. I went from 3.00:1 to 4:11 gears on a '75 Ranchero, and while I loved the low-end grunt, I hated the mileage. Plus, I was in third gear and still in the driveway! Cut a half-second off the 1/4 mile, but doing 75 mph on the highway was far too high RPM's than I was comfortable with for more than a few minutes.
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From: South Dakota
Originally posted by skip648
I will look at the rear end size. I have heard also changing my exhaust would help, could you tell me the best bang for the buck out of all the options?
I will look at the rear end size. I have heard also changing my exhaust would help, could you tell me the best bang for the buck out of all the options?
Changing the gears out is the best bang for the buck in terms of money, but it is at the expense of mpg, this is why I reccomend the 3.73 gears over the 3.55 gears you have, not too low that mpg's go through the floor, but low enough to give you the extra grunt. Who knows maybe you'll even get the same mpg loaded (this would be due to the motor not get bogged so bad). I'm really hoping that you have the 8.8 rear, because there is an abundance of those rears in 3.73's and 4.10's on ebay, from rangers and mustangs.
Programmers and chips are a ok idea (depending on what you get), but you'll find that most reccomend not towing in the High Performance modes, which pretty much negates the cost of buying the thing.