Hi, I have a 2008 Ford f-150 with a 4.2 and a five speed is there any thing out there bolt on that will increase its power output? Im pulling a 71 Glasspar 22ft boat with it in the summer and having a problem getting up a few hills if you know what i mean? It will not even think of pulling it out of the water! lol!!!!!! but I would be satisfied with being able to keep up with traffic on the highway. thanks for any help, Rob

 

I would say a gear swap would probably be your best bet....that and maybe a locker or something of the sort for traction on the boat ramps. Performance wise, without spending major $$$, there is not much that you can do, but a gear change will certainly help you out.

 

Hi, thanks for the reply, Ive never done a gear change before how hard is it and where would I start? And mostly around how much money are we talking? Im a mechanic by trade at ( Farmland Foods) so I no some about gears, motors, bearings and such but never got in on a gear change on a truck. Not afraid to get my hands dirty at all just not very experienced thanks again for any help, Rob

 

If you are looking to do it yourself you might wanna pick up Randy's Ring and Pinion book, he has a website, and it is for sale there. This book will allow you to do your reading on the subject before you open up the diff and start working. In theory it should not be that hard but I have never done them myself, I have tried all the mods that I could think of to try to avoid doing the gear swap but it is in the future.

The cost should be around 200 or so for the gears, around 600-700 if you wanna put a locker in it, and then you are going to have to add fluid, master build kits and other stuff, so it can get expensive, just depends how far you wanna take it. Depending how comfortable you are I would also consider getting it done by a pro, It may cost a little more but you hopefully wont have to worry about tearing up your diff due to the wrong measurements and such inside the diff.

The only good thing is that you do not have to do the front diff too as we are blessed that we dont have 4wd (in this case only) as it cuts your costs in half.

Overall I would do your research, get some quotes if you want, and then weigh your options from there. Another option is to go talk to the guys in the section regarding diffs and such on this site as there is a wealth of info there that I just dont have.

On EDIT: Here is the link for the Diff guys on FTE

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum69/

Anyways I wish you luck and hope that I have been of help.

~jstnromero