Ford F-250 7.3 Gas Engine Axle Ratios

mich800 wrote:

RoyJ wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

kellem wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

kellem wrote:
Bought my 7.3 gas strictly for towing our 30 ft trailer and the 3.55 gears doesn't acknowledge a trailer is in tow.

4.30, 3.73, 3.55....10spd makes them feel the same.
Tremor sitting on 35" tires, maybe 4.30 is justified. Imo

But how do you know different gears won't make a difference towing your trailer?

It would be marginal towing at only half the trucks capacity.

Exactly! But if towing more weight that’s when the deeper gears make a difference!

With 8 / 10 spd transmissions, the only places it makes a difference is starting out in 1st, and ability to use top gear.

Other than that, in gears 2 - 9, with such close ratio, there's enough overlap your towing experience is identical.

i.e. the 4.30 truck in 6th would be within a few hundred rpm of a 3.55 truck in 5th, and a given road speed.

There seems to be a common misconception about these higher gear transmissions. People seem to think these transmissions row through every gear sequentially under all circumstances. The big advantage is the ability to use different gear patterns based on load requirements. It is not just the bookend gears that make the difference. It is the ability to maximize fuel economy and performance under widely different acceleration and load scenarios.

I agree, with Chryslers 8 and 9 speed transmissions you will never use all the gears. In fact the 9 speed trans in the Cherokee withnthe 3.2 V-6 doesn't even use first gear in normal driving, and you will never see 8 and 9 unless you get the car up to 90-100-120mph! First gear is only used when you put the 4WD shift dial in low gear, then it will use Frits gear in the transmission as your low range. Knowing the ins and outs is why I still say deeper gears when towing heavy is still necessary with the new multi speed transmissions.