Hello to all;
I have a 2003 f250 v10 w/ 3.73's 4x4. I bought it with 35" tires and 4" lift. I
currently pull a 4000 lb travel trailer plus another 1500-2000 lbs of toys & junk.
I take the wife and 3 boys camping with lots of stuff. I am considering purchasing a larger trailer around 7500lbs dry. To get out of the Vegas valley
we must climb some pretty descent mountains. My questions are
1. Will roughly 9500lbs be too much for my current truck with gears?
2. Would 4.56 roughly 4.14 final ratio or 4.88 with a final ratio of 4.44 be
better?

Thanks for your input.

 

In my opinion:
1) Yes 9500 pounds will be too much for your current setup.
2) Go with the 4.88s. The MPGs will probably be similar between the 2 and the 4.88s would help the truck work less since you are pushing a wall through the wind. The 4" life and the 35s definitely affect the aerodynamics of the truck.

 

I agree with G Lube

 

uh huh, a final corrected ratio of 4.10-4.30 would be ideal. I'm down wit dat'

 

Any chance u might wanna take off the lift and go with 33"s? I have a stock V10 4x4 with 3.73s and 33"s and I can do 7500#s no problem-wouldn't hesitate to pull 9000 if I needed to.

Otherwise I agree with G Lube if you keep the current setup. In my opinion the 3.73 gears are great for my needs but just not suitable for towing 10000lbs, especially with big tires.

 

I have a 01 V10 with 3.73 and 35's and have no problem pulling a 6500lb car trailer. Now I know the car trailer is different than pulling a giant wind brick (TT trailer) but I would give it a try before investing the money in changing gear ratios to 4.88s or any other ratio. There are alot of people who answer questions with out ever having actually towed, or even owned a truck. My best MPG has been 13.8 not towing and I have managed to get 12.3 towing the car trailer. I have towed, with this truck, for approx 7K to 8K miles. I am always delighted with the way my truck tows and am very happy with the performance of the V10. This is just my $.02 and I hope it helps
Steve

 

A "dry" trailer weight of 7500 is probably going to come out "wet" around 9,000 lbs. Plus the toys & stuff.... I'd go for the 4.88 gears.

Having pulled a 10,000 lb 5th-wheel with 33" tires & 3.73 gears around our relatively flat locale, I'd want a little more umph for the mountains.

 

KEVCYB,

To answer your question you need more info. Most can be found on your drivers door jamb or frame.

First you need the GVW of your vehicle (this is the max allowable value your truck can weigh when loaded which will include your hitch weight or tongue weight).

Next you need the the ACTUAL weight of your truck as loaded with all passengers, gear, everything you will have in the truck when towing.

Then you take the GVW - ACTUAL and that equals available remaining payload.

Your 7500# trailer when loaded will likely tip 10K# (considering you mentinoned upwards of 2K#'s of "stuff" in your post) so that will present upwards of 1000# of tongue weight on your truck. As long as that doesn't bust your payload you calculated above we can go to the next step.

NExt you need to make sure that you will not exceed your GCWR (this is the maximum BOTH truck and trailer can weigh combined. Take your loaded trailer weight of 10K + ACTUAL truck weight for GCWR. If that number is below the number on your drivers door jamb, you should be okay. NOW the caveat is that the closer you approach the GCWR the more unhappy you will likely be with the towing experience. As stated at travel trailer (TT) presents much mnore than just weight...it is called wind resistance. There IS a difference in pulling a 10K# TT and a 10K# flat bed or boat.

So do the math, crunch the number and see where it comes out. Also if you don't have a brake controller, weight distributing hitch and sway controller, you will need those too.

Oh yeah...those hills will pull you down too...as long as you aren't looking to win any speed contests and the numbers all jive...you should be fine...agreed that deeper gears would help ALOT.

Good luck.

PM me if you need help understanding my math.

 

For reference, I'm pulling a double wind brick: E-350 extneded van, V10 with 3.73LS, 245/75-16 tires, in front of a 24-foot, 7500-pound gross, Haulmark very rectangular enclosed car trailer. I just did a trip from CT to Atlanta and back and I got about 7.2 mpg. I had problems staying in overdrive on most of the flats unless I maintained 80 mph or so (which ain't bad, but can be nerve-racking). If I stayed in the 65-70mph range the truck would hunt in and out of O/D. Going through the Blue Ridge was a 3rd gear, foot-to-the-floor, 50-mph drive (well, except for the downhill part...)

I've decided to buy a 4.30 from Randy's for the '06 season. - GA