Is anyone running or considering a Gear Vendors for their 6.4? I am running a 450 w/488's and would like to see a bit better mileage.

 

I am considering one! Done alot of research on it and sill not sure if it's worth the $3195plus. U S Gear also makes one, but it installs between the transfer case and transmission I believe. My truck is a 4x4, and Gear Vendors is suppose to automatically switch out of overdrive if it goes into 4x4. I know you have to shorten the driveshafts and also purchase a bracket kit. I copied this from their site: Note 1. Speedo Gears Necessary on all Super Duty Pickups, F-250 thru F-550. Require tire size and rear gear ratio. Right angle drive required for standard cab/extended cab shortbed vehicles.
Note 2. F-250/350 Crew Cab Longbeds require 8" Carrier Brg Drop Down Bracket Kit Number 3K0273.
I did read on another site about a person that purchased one. When he took the rear-end off his transmission he discovered that they had sent him the wrong adapter, and some other parts. Took him a week to get the correct adapter, and still didn't get all the other parts. Even tho he tryed to get them to send the correct parts overnight, they wouldn't, so??? I have read alot of good articles about the company, but don't know if I'm willing to risk trying to do it myself, especially if I have to worry about getting the correct parts. Sent an email to a company on Ft. Worth Texas to see what they would charge to insttall one, but haven't received a reply yet. I know on my truck with the 4.10, they told me that it would drop my rpm over 500, and make my final drive (overdrive) 3.20... Hope this helps you some. If you find someone that has one, please let me know.

 

I've posted on several sites asking questions about the GV's units. I have gotten a few PM's from one or two back. It sounds like if you do a good bit of hiway driving then the GV unit will help your mpg's but I have not been able to get any solid numbers from anyone.

I've got an F550 auto with 4.3's. I think my biggest problem, other than the 4.3 rears, is that the truck won't shift fast enough into the higher gears to get decent mpg's. Talking to Gv it sounds like the unit most likely won't help much in mpg's and may make it worse as the truck may stay in lower gears longer. Again I can't seem to get anyone who has one to let me know how the trucks seem to run in anything less than double OD.

I'm strictly looking for something to make this fuel hog get better mpg's. I don't need the eficency for towing as I have way more truck than I can ever use for that. Basically I'm looking at it as an expensive 2 speed rear in my 4x4.

I'm going to keep an eye on this and see what pops up. If I get any good info I'll pass it along.

 

Well sounds like you are after the same thing as I am. I want something to help with mpg when driving empty. Right now I'm getting anywhere between 10.5 and 11.5, and that's if I keep it under 2000 rpm. Any faster, it drops like a rock. Towing 11000 (trailer and hay) it's between 5.6 - 7.2. Wish I had my 06 Dodge sometimes. At least it got 17 plus on the highway and towing same load around 10 - 11. This truck is killing me with the fuel cost, but it is one sweet ride. I most likely will purchase the Spartan programer, within the next few months. Just waiting to see how much everyone's mpg goes up. If that's what I have to get to have better mpg then I will do it. Don't really care about the extra power, I'm at the point that I have to try something. My wife and I are both retired Air Force and will retire again in 2 years. We are in the process of trying to get our house sold and will travel for a few years and then move to Idaho. That's if we can afford to drive this truck. If I get any additional info on the Gear Vendors, I'll be sure to get in touch with you.

 

DSW, got this off of rv.net. Thought you may want to read it. Also if you have the time, go to the site and search gear vendors. About 7 pages of reading. RE: 08 F450 speed governed?

I just had a Gear Vendors removed from my 2002 F350 SD CrewCab Dually with an original installation that was less than a month old. On the trip, I just returned from, towing my 15,400# 35’ Holiday Rambler 5th wheel I had two Gear Vendors units fail. The first failed towing straight and level. This one cost me $315 in wrecker fees plus $152 in rental car fees. (An unlimited warranty does not include towing and transportation to retrieve the repaired vehicle). The replacement unit failed on the same trip when I attempted to back my truck up on two 2X6 blocks for leveling while hitched. Gear Vendors Technical Support said, “Didn’t anyone tell you are not supposed to back up a Gear Vendors under heavy load?” In my experience they are trash.

 

Interesting that after 7 pages of reading, and well over 100 posts, you pick the one solitary post with a negative experience. Granted the guy did copy and paste it a few extra times. There were 2 or 3 others posts out of the 100+ posts that mentioned it wouldn't hold up, but none of them cited any experience to back it up.

 

DSW Everything else that I've found on the Gear Vendors has really been great. I'm going to call them next week to see what other info they can provide. Will let you know what I find out.

By the way 66stang351 I still plan on getting one, even tho someone had problems!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just had to rib you a bit. I am picking up my F450 on Wednesday and it will be getting a GV installed next week. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

Please do! I did read something interesting on the internet. Someone said that in the small print in the Gear Vendors manual that it said not to back with a heavy load! Doesn't sound right to me, but I did send Gear Vendors an email just to check if there is a problem while backing. Are you trading in your F350, or ?

 

I'm interested in hearing the results too. I have a neighbor that has one in his 98 dodge he used to haul horses cross country in his 32' trailer with. He loves his, but installed it when the truck was new so he can't comment on mileage changes. He's never had any trouble with his (stick shift version), but he bought it for the mountains not mileage.

 

The farmer beside me has one one old 95or97 super duty 200k on it they pull anything with it and never a problem so far they put it on and have givin it hell since.

 

Yep, trading the 350 in...after taking off all the mods. I upgraded my trailer and need a dually now. figured might as well get the 450.

 

66stang351 I would think long and hard about if you really need to go to the 450. Everything I have managed to get from various guys tends to show that for about the same weight the 450's get about 2-3 mpg less than similar 350's. My thoughts are that the shift program on the trans keeps the truck at a lower gear longer than those in F350's but have yet to get anyone at Ford to give me any Data on any of this. The best I got was from one Ford tech that said "there is a reason you can't get the info you want". He wouldn't go into any other details.

I wanted an F350 with 3.73's but no one at Ford would put my body on the F350 cab and chassis. I went to the F550 because it was cheaper and everyone said that they shoud get the same milage at the same weight. It's BS. My truck scaled weighs less than 12.5K fully loaded has 4.3's and gets 8-9mpg at best. No towing or anything else. Similar F450's seem to get 10-12 (4.3's), F350 DRW 12-14 mpg (4.10's). I have a to force the truck into 5th at 40mph or higher untill I hit 50. Even driving as carefully as posible I still spend a good bit of time riding around in 3rd at 40 sucking down fuel.

That's really why I want the GV unit. I'm trying to get the mpg's I think the truck should get at the weight it's got. I'm looking forward to hereing how these things work in every day driving. Thanks.

 

The following is what I sent to Gear Vendors:

I have read on the internet that some people have stated that you are not suppose to back up with heavy loads. Is this true? If I am pulling 19000 pounds will this cause a problem with backing up? Any additional info you have on your units would be appreciated. Sure wish you had the manual for your units on the internet.

This is the reply I received:

When you are that heavy, we simply dont want to see anything abnormal in reverse, like backing up a steep hill, or getting on the gas hard to back over a curb. If you are 4WD, this is a non-issue as we can just engage the transfer case and take all the load off the unit. Though it is still not a problem for a 2WD. It is a rare occasion that a unit gets hurt in reverse.

Later this year when it cools off here in Texas, I'll most likely get one installed.

 

Picked up the 450 today. The Gearvendor goes on next week.

Interesting tidbit, on the 120 mile drive to the dealer averaging 57 MPH and a elevation increase of 350 feet I got 15.1 on the Lie-O-Meter in the 350 SRW with 3.73 gears. In the 450 with 4.30 gears on the drive home I got 15.0. The elevation change accounts for some of the difference. However, on the way to the dealer I never went over 60 MPH and on the way back I hit 65 for about 10 mile. In that ten mile stretch, which was after about 80 miles, the mileage on the meter went from 15.5 to 15.0.