Remembered why I got a F450 with 4.30 gears ... observation.

Sure a new F450 is a heck of a pickup but you're comparing it with a medium duty carrying lots more weight! Sorry to burst your bubble but if you want to compare apples to oranges, put that F450 up against an air ride Peterbilt with a C15 Caterpillar, 550 HP. I'm quite sure I could drag several F450s with campers behind it up the mountains and not even notice they were there. And thats with 3.50 gears and 24.5 tires.