Any here tow large 5th wheelers (toy haulers) in 12-13000 lb category. If so how does it do in mountains. I currently have 373 rear end will upgrade in future to 456 or 488 probably. What are your tow experiences. Thanks for any input.

 

I would say my truck does pretty good towing heavy in the mountains that I live in (VA) w/ 3.73s after the truck gets moving. That is the only hard part with 3.73 gears instead of 4.30s as far as I can tell. My truck has a 4r100 and I have never been around a 6speed.

 

I just pulled a 38ft 5th wheel from Statesville NC to Calgary AB. with my 07 F-350 cc 4X4 SRW. I have the V-10 auto and 4:10 gears. The gross weight was 23540 lbs. I went north of Statesville on I-77 through the Mountains and did not find anything that I could not hold 50 mph on. I could have gone faster but I don't like holding it to the floor. If I had gone west on I-40 to Knoxville it would have been a harder pull. The truck handled it very well but only averaged 6.8 mpg for the 2500 mile trip. I am 2000 lbs over the max GCVW with the 4:10 and would have been 540 lbs over if the truck had 4:30 gears. Rear axle weght is close but not a problem at 6800 lbs. It's good to 7000. It's not a diesel and you can tell but I was very impressed with how the V-10 handled the load. The wind in SD was very hard on the mileage as well. I think that going East I would have averaged 7.5-8.0 mpg if you factor in a tail wind and 3000 ft elevation drop. But you do have to go home so that is a wash. I checked my diff fluid on the road and when I got home and there was no discoloring or burnt fluid signs evident but I am concerned about the weight and heat on the diff. I am going to change the gears to 4:56 and live happily with the V-10.

 

The 3v v10 w/ torqshift is a very impressive tow package. You should have no problems towing at Max GVWR. I recently towed 8-9K through some serious mountain passes and could pull 70+ mph on virtually any grade I saw. If you are towing heavy at high elevations like Colorado you may run into some performance issues.

 

Thanks for the replies. I have an 04 F350 Dually. May wait til after this summer to go larger and see how it performs in Co we do lots of passes. My current setup is 8000 lb travel trl and 2nd trailer in tow with large motorcycle and 4 wheeler. Around 10500 total in tow now. Thanks again.

 

Estaban, I have a 2000- v10 excursion 4x4. I tow about 14K pounds here in So Cal. I have an effective gear ratio of 4.30. I have no problems holding 50 on the hills. I get about 7-8 mpg.

 

I have a 99 F250 and tow a gooseneck that weighs 13-14k loaded for a total of 20500-21000K (depending on occupants and tools) in the mountains of Utah. I added the Y-pipe, FM70, zoodad,K&N, BTS valvebody and 4.56s. With these mods, my rig does well despite having the crappy non-pi heads. I can run 75+ on the flats and 50 up 2-3% grades. It will average 9MPG if I baby it and around 8 if I'm in a hurry. Not too bad considering.

My only regret, was the 4.56s. I wish I would have gone with 4.88s instead. For heavy towing on a 2v, the best cruising power/mileage comes around 2500-2800. Stay in that sweet spot, and you're good.

HTH -Marcus