Wow, that was an ignorant but somewhat true statement. 5mpg is just wrong off the bat. With the current 3.73 gears I avarage 7.2-7.5 towing the TT and roughly 13.2 on the highway unloaded but, the truck is basically a tug boat on the road when towing anything over 10k. Some grades are in 1st gear at like 4500rpm. screamin'. I have decided though to put in the 4.88s as they will help mileage and power in my case. My truck is just downright heavy, at over 11k it should have come with 4.56s with the stock size tire.

I do feel the V-10 superduty's fuel tank is a bit on the small side compared to other trucks of its weight. I wish they offered a dual tank setup like on the '80s-'90s trucks.

 

Meanie,

I think (based on my experiences) that you will be very happy with your decision.

I highlighted a line above...when I had my 3.73's with my 3.16" stock tires and I was climbing Powder River Pass (9666') and Togwotee Pass (~9700') I too found FIRST gear was needed. BUT the problem was more (IMO) with how far Ford spaced 1st and 2nd on our 4R100's...once you get into 1st gear...you DO have to run her up to 5000rpms before attempting to shift to 2nd...do it SOONER and when you hit 2nd...she WON'T PULL...now your situation was probably worse with your larger tires...you may have not been able to figure out a way to pull due to the more substantial drop in rpms due to your effective TALLER final drive with the larger tires?

Anyway...this summer (with 4.30's in the truck) I pulled passes in the Appalachians (no where near the ALTITUDES obviously) but still 5 mile long 7% grades...so no small task. BUT the lowest I found was 2nd and I had PLENTY of gear and pedal LEFT. The only reason I found 2nd was I ran up on the back of an Army convoy doing 25mph and there was traffic that I couldn't merge over...so I had to SLOW to 25mph in the middle of a 7% grade! . I looked over at my wife and based on my previous pulls noted above, I told here we were so s@rewed!. I then manually downshifted to 2nd, merged over to pass and was up to 60 mph within a 1/4 mile!...remember I roll down the road at 17,000# combined!!! So that totally impressed me with the pulling power of this motor/gear combo!


Yeah...I meet up with SD owners in the campgrounds all the time (BTW Blue Ovals DOMINATE campgrounds!)...and their biggest complaint to me is their fuel tank size...I hate to tell them mine is 44 gallons!

But have you thought about a transfer tank mounted in your bed? I've got a good friend that has one on his F250 short box and he LOVES it! Really gives him extended range....I forget how many extra gallons it gives him...but if I remember right the short box only has a 29? gallon OEM tank...I believe he at least doubled his capacity but I could be wrong. Let me know if you are interested and I could get the data for you on the company and capacities available.

BTW...didn't the late 80's and 90's dual tanks only total like 34 gallons (i.e. 17 gallons each?)...my FIL has this model F150 and that's my recollection...two smallish tanks vs 1 larger tank...but I could be wrong...two LARGE 29 gallon tanks from the factory would be sweet though!

Good luck and I DO feel you are making the RIGHT choice with the 4.88's given YOUR situation...with our V10's RPM's RULE how well it performs...and in my experience on steep long grades...3200 RPM is the point the motor will pull like a train. Below (even slightly) that RPM and you will drop a gear.

joe.

 

I had a '95 f-150 and the front tank was 18.5 and the rear was 19. Dont know if there was differences in year models but thats what mine held. But, even a 34 gallon total would be better than my 29 gallon. I have been looking into the transfer tanks in northern tool and equipments catalog. I just cant figure out how the plumbing has to go (I have to figure things out before I buy them as I've been burned in the past when ordering things that were supposed to be universal and they didn't work) I've also been contemplating a bifuel system such as LP as a secondary fuel. Seems the U.S. hasn't caught up to that craze. We can order the kits but they are not CARB legal for the US......crazy.

BTW: I'm in Iraq right now. My wife is taking the truck to the trans shop to have the gears done on the 3rd of feb.

A funny thing about the previous statement. My wife, as wonderful as she is, took my truck to get it inspected for PA registration. They said the brakes needed work so she brought it to another place to have it done. On the way, last tuesday this is, she missed the turn so she turned around in a parking lot. in the parking lot was a below surface loading dock........filled with light, fluffy snow. It wasn't marked so, to make a long story short, the truck is now at a ford dealer getting a new front clip. She's ok though, all she could do was laugh.