F450 vs Ram 3500 DRW tow vehicle

Grit dog wrote:
So 4x4ord has a point with the overall gearing (Trans od ratios and rear gears) and power the engine puts out.
But What he is actually saying is the 4.30 geared Ford doesn’t “need” that low of gears and there may be a small fuel consumption advantage to the taller gears when cruising empty. I doubt you’d see any measurable difference hooked up heavy. Any small efficiency on the engine end of lower rpms will still have to drive through taller finals.
Likely a wash.
My old Mega is a good example of what I’m saying above. Even with taller than stock tires, the shallow OD ratio puts it at 2000rpms just a little over 60 mph and cruising at 85mph is like 2600-2700 rpms. Truck will do it all day long but I’ve driven similar trucks with a deeper OD and it seems the fuel economy is not much different.
So many conditions affect fuel economy, the gearing is only a small part of the equation.

Regardless of what the president of the Ram mafia says, by the numbers a new 4.30 450 Powerstroke IS king of the hill right now on all fronts when it comes to capability.

Tests have been conducted on Agricultural tractors by Nebraska Tractor Tests and have shown that when 1/2 of rated HP is needed a tractor will burn nearly 30% less fuel running the engine at 80% rated engine rpm vs running at full rated rpm. The same is likely true of the Powerstroke. If 235 HP were needed to pull a very heavy trailer it should be expected that running at 2080 rpm would burn about 70% the fuel vs running the engine at 2600 rpm while running the same road speed. When less HP is required (such as what is required to pull a heavy RV .... 110 - 140 HP)running the engine at 1600 rpm could potentially save significantly more fuel.