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Gears to use????

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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 11:21 AM
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lincolntech8105
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Gears to use????

I own a f-250 with 7.3 turbo with a 5 speed and 4:10 gears

I do a lot of interstate driving and it only wants to run about 65 at 2250 rpms
I was wanting to change the gear ratio so I could run 70 or 75 at 2000 rpms I also skip over first gear and never use it even towing a 26 foot gooseneck hauling hay or tractors.

What gears should I use, 3:23 3:55 3:73???????????????

All comments welcome
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 11:44 AM
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I know that the superduties have 3.73 gears and at 70mph its right at 2000 rpms. Our 94-97 trucks only had factory offered 4.10 and 3.55 gearing.

My truck with 4.10 gears goes at 2500rpms at 70 mph
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 12:02 PM
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I will purchase aftermarket gears to fit my needs.
Any recommendations on what I should use??????
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 12:11 PM
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3.73s are a good choice for a mix of pulling power and mpg
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 12:19 PM
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yeah i wouldn't go with anything lower then 3.73's unless you just want milage and nothing else
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 12:34 PM
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I have the 3.55 Gears & i'm turning about 2000 at 70 mph. works good for me because I do a lot of long distance driving ( 500 + miles at times ) & getting around 20 mpg.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 12:46 PM
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you really can't have both 70 MPH at 2k and never use 1st gear. if you don't want to use 1st stay with the gears you have. If you want 70 mph at 2k you need 3.55 gears. you might be able to find somebody who wants to swap gears with you.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 02:57 PM
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or get bigger tires with 3.73's but then you're getting worse milage cause of more rotating mass....
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 07:31 PM
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I have 35" tires and swapped from 4:10 to 3.55 last year. It is a great combo. RPM's are good even at highway speeds. I do have to grab 4th a little quicker on the hills but 4th is a lot more useable. If you have the crappy independant front like I do you may not be able to get 3.73's. The rears are available but not the fronts.

I sure would like to know how people get 20 MPG out of these trucks. Best I have EVER seen is 17 MPG. I think the math is flawed.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 07:39 PM
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i have a 2wd 250 and i average around 16-18 in town and on the highway i get about 18.5 i am pretty sure i have 3.55s i run 2000 rpm at 66 mph. has anybody heard about OD units and what they do to final drive ratios?? i would really like to be able to run about 80 at 2000 but i dont really want to lose any of the gears i have. BTW imho you can start out in 2nd with these gears on anything but uphill and do just fine
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 08:22 PM
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The OD unit's work well but they are a big chunk of change.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 09:10 PM
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I would assume they won't last as long as they should with any serious towing.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2007 | 10:58 PM
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you could always look into an overdrive unit as well. I know a few people have them on here and really like them. Would let you keep the low end grunt for towing but bring the rpms down on the highway
 
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Old Jul 27, 2007 | 12:44 AM
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Originally Posted by wfodickinson

I sure would like to know how people get 20 MPG out of these trucks. Best I have EVER seen is 17 MPG. I think the math is flawed.
My truck was like that till I did the mods ( see sig ) I can still kill the MPG if I'm heavy hauling, doing 85 MPH, Chip on high horses, ect.
 
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Old Jul 27, 2007 | 06:25 AM
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I would rather use first gear, that what it is there for is it not I was leaning on a set of 3:55 yukon gears with posi-trac and a set of 3:55 yukon limited in the front
 
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