hey guys

When traveling on the highway whats a good range to keep the rpms at on a 7.3, at about 65mph i am turnin just about 2,000. Thats with a 6 speed tranny and 35 inch tires.

 

depends on what you want. economy or power. if your towing and want the most power possible i would suggest around 2400-2500 or so. if you want the best fuel economy 1900-2000 is pretty good. you would get better mileage from lesser than 2000 but not enough power. the truck would have to downshift often just to pull the empty truck up some hills. this is just from my experience and is just my opinion. if your running 2000 i think your in pretty good shape!! good luck

 

Thanks gotdiesel,

I'm pretty new with my truck and diesels so far, is it safe to run 2400-2500 rpm for a period of time on the highway?

 

It'll live forever at those RPM's

 

i wouldnt worry about those rpms at all. the farther you get above 2000 the quicker your fuel mileage goes down. however, i have never seen that big a drop on mine, but it will start to go down. good luck!!!

 

You must have the 3.73 rear gear. My 4.10 turns 2000 RPM at 55 MPH. Like was mentioned before, the mileage will suffer as you surpass 2000 RPM. If you are like me, I can't resist setting the cruise on about 78 MPH, or closer to 2500 RPM. I do it just so I can listen to that beautiful sound she makes.........

 

My '02 F350 has a 7.3 PSD, 6 speed manual & 3.73:1 gears it turns 2000 RPM @ 110Km/h (about 65 mph) I usually run @ 120 Km/h (75mph) & on a recient 1600km (1000 mile) trip I recorded 19.6 mpg southbound & 20.4 mpg northbound. My truck is currently running on 265x85x16 Mt Radials.

 

My truck has a 4.10 rear end, and 35" tires. My speed at 2000 rpm is 68 mph, and that is the speed most people report the best fuel mileage at. I recently returned from a 2300 mile trip, and averaged 17.8mpg for the trip, over 19mpg for the freeway sections.

 

My 95 F-250 4X4 with 4.10s' on 16" Tires and a Gear Vendor Over-drive and an automatic.

1250 RPM = 55
1500 RPM = 65
1750 RPM = 75
1900 RPM = 80 MPH with little to no maniford pressure.

 

I'd love to hear more about your gear vendor overdrive. Was it a pain to install? worth the $$? Does it complicate the way you use your auto? How does it work with chips?

Thanks

 

The Gear Vendor Overdrive sounds interesting, the power of my PSD along with the limited overdrive on the 6 speed manual has often made me wish for a 7th, 8th and maybe even a 9th gear. If I could gain another 20 to 25% overdrive, I have no doubt my PSD would pull it w/o a murmur or complaint.

Who sells this set up? Is it an actual auxilliary tranny?

 

The best money you can spend; period, although I do not run a chip. Don’t need one! I do run a Banks Converter Controller which I understand does increase the transmission pressure and Torque Converter pressure considerable. You cannot believe what it is like to run down the highway at 1500 RPM. I usually engage it manually at around 30 MPH and let it overdrive 2<SUP>nd</SUP>, 3<SUP>rd</SUP>, 4<SUP>th</SUP>, although I sometimes wait until I am in 4<SUP>th</SUP> over before I engage the Gear Vendor. When you do engage it with the floor mounted (Old Dimmer Style) switch, the Gear Vendor unlocks the torque converter and shifts into overdrive and then relocks the torque converter; big step! At 55 I am running 1250 RPM. Sometime I shift the automatic out of overdrive, which puts me right at 1500 RPM in 3<SUP>rd</SUP> Locked Converter and Overdrive Gear Vendor. My advise….buy one!

<O</O

 

I would love to keep my 4.10s and still be able to run the highway under 2000rpms. Did you install it yourself? What level of difficulty is it? What do these run, $4k?

Matthew

 

Check out http://www.gearvendors.com/

 

My 1997 F350 4x4 5spd. with 4.10:1 rear ran about 2,100 rpms at 60mph and about 2,300 at 65 mph, and at 78-80 mph I was running about 2,600-2,700 rpms. The motor never seemed to mind the higher rpms and I could pull down about 18.5-20 mpg running a Banks 3'' downpipe, superchips micro-tuner at 80hp and an AFE intake kit. Had the muffler and catalytic converter cut out with strait pipe too.