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Changing from 3.73 to 4.10 gears

oakmandan
Explorer
Explorer
Hello all,
After towing our new Reflection 320MKS from Eastern Iowa to Estes Park Colorado and back, I need more power for the hills. I have a 2015 F-250 with the 6.2 Liter engine. I have 3.73 years. Can they be swapped out for 4.10 gears, and will it help ?
Thanks
Dan and Diann
Hank the Havanese
2019 Grand Design Reflection 320MKS
2015 Ford F-250 FX-4 6.2 Gas
MORryde Step Above Steps
MORryde Pin Box
99 REPLIES 99

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
Crabbypatty wrote:
I just looked up your fiver and its max is 14,000# thats places you 2000# over the limit of what you can tow. Find a scale and see what you weigh as you might be overloaded for the truck set up.


Who says he is towing the max GVWR? maybe he has 4k lbs CCC and is right at the tow limit? however gearing it to 4.30 will allow it to be well under its rating.

OP, do the gears! those of us that have done it have said its worth every penny. those that say it wont help have never done it. so who would you believe?
To make it an amazing tower I say go with 4.56 gears!
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

Crabbypatty
Explorer
Explorer
I just looked up your fiver and its max is 14,000# thats places you 2000# over the limit of what you can tow. Find a scale and see what you weigh as you might be overloaded for the truck set up.
John, Lisa & Tara:B:C:)
2015 F250 4x4 6.2L 6 spd 3.73s, CC Short Bed, Pullrite Slide 2700, 648 Wts Solar, 4 T-125s, 2000 Watt Xantrax Inverter, Trimetric 2030 Meter, LED Lights, Hawkings Smart Repeater, Wilson Extreme Cellular Repeater, Beer, Ribs, Smoker

Crabbypatty
Explorer
Explorer
I have the same truck and same engine etc. I added a K & N cold air intake and that added some HP. In reading about tuning, 5 star, fueling up with premium 93 will add more hp. I find that the 6 speed does well. Im not as heavy as you the TT, but I wouldn't change the rear end.
John, Lisa & Tara:B:C:)
2015 F250 4x4 6.2L 6 spd 3.73s, CC Short Bed, Pullrite Slide 2700, 648 Wts Solar, 4 T-125s, 2000 Watt Xantrax Inverter, Trimetric 2030 Meter, LED Lights, Hawkings Smart Repeater, Wilson Extreme Cellular Repeater, Beer, Ribs, Smoker

rhagfo
Explorer III
Explorer III
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
parker.rowe wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
Ford 2015 towing guideShows that a 4.30 truck can tow 3000# more than a 3.73 truck.


Yeeeep. Guess the people who designed the truck say they make a difference.


Yes, that's because a short gear will give you a better duty cycle. That's why a 450, 550 with the same engine tranny combo will give you a more choices of shorter gears.

Here is a great article that tells you about the myth of torque vs HP. Read the article and then read #1. The guy is spot on if you do the math.


I have an issue with the last part of this statement.

Enough theory: Lets see an understandable example of torque and horsepower

Let’s say that you are loading the back of your pickup with rocks. The bed is two feet high, and you lift six fifty-pound rocks in one minute. You have done 2 feet x 300 lbs = 600 ft-lbs of work. Power is determined by how fast you do this work, so you have done 600 ft-lb of work in 60 seconds, requiring 600 ft-lbs / 60 seconds = 10 ft-lbs/sec of power. A horsepower is 550 ft-lbs/sec, so you have used 10 / 550, or .018 horsepower. So, now let’s say that you work twice as fast, and lift 12 rocks in a minute in place of the 6. You have now loaded your pickup using .036 horsepower. Note that in both cases, you have exerted the same force (torque) when lifting each rock of 2 ft x 50 lbs = 100 ft-lbs. In the second case, however, it required twice as much power with the same amount of torque.
This is because the torque was occurring at a higher rate of speed.


So it isn't the same amount of torque, 12 rocks at 50 lbs ea is 600#, 2' X 600 lbs = 1,200ft-lbs of work.

So 1,200 ft-lbs / 60 sec = 20 ft-lbs per sec of work, or .036 Hp

In the second case you did twice the work in the same time, requiring twice the HP.

This is great in Theory and math formula.

It doesn't seem to workout in real life, most HD Pickups gas engines High HP/Low Torque ratio top out at about 16,000# towing capacity with most needing 4.30 to 4.60 gears to get there at near 4,500 to 5,000 rpm.

Today's Diesels with low hp/Torque ratio are rated to to tow nearly twice that amount about 30,000 lbs with 4.10 gears and maybe 3,000 rpm.

I my personal case my 2001 Cummins factory rated at 235 HP and 410 ft-lbs of torque, is likely near 300 HP and 610 ft-lbs of torque. I have added a DS Power Puck (50 HP and 140 ft-lbs claimed increase) and a set of RV275 injectors. The math is 275 + 50 = 325, but in reality not likely cumulative increase so about 300 HP. Torque 410 + 140 = 550, have never seen a torque rating for RV275 injectors so 60 ft=-lbs is a guess. My TV has 3.55 gears currently the GCVW of my rig is 20,500 lbs, I can put that up a 7 percent grade at 55 mph in direct drive (4th gear) at about 2,500 RPM.

So while love Theory and Math, when it comes to the power difference between a gas engine and a diesel it doesn't always seem to work out.
Russ & Paula the Beagle Belle.
2016 Ram Laramie 3500 Aisin DRW 4X4 Long bed.
2005 Copper Canyon 293 FWSLS, 32' GVWR 12,360#

"Visit and Enjoy Oregon State Parks"

rhagfo
Explorer III
Explorer III
blofgren wrote:
4x4ord wrote:
I'd swap the 6.2 for a 6.7.


Me too; the inline 6 version! :B


X2!
Russ & Paula the Beagle Belle.
2016 Ram Laramie 3500 Aisin DRW 4X4 Long bed.
2005 Copper Canyon 293 FWSLS, 32' GVWR 12,360#

"Visit and Enjoy Oregon State Parks"

blofgren
Explorer
Explorer
4x4ord wrote:
I'd swap the 6.2 for a 6.7.


Me too; the inline 6 version! :B
2013 Ram 3500 Megacab DRW Laramie 4x4, 6.7L Cummins, G56, 3.73, Maximum Steel, black lthr, B&W RVK3670 hitch, Retrax, Linex, and a bunch of options incl. cargo camera
2008 Corsair Excella Platinum 34.5 CKTS fifth wheel with winter package & disc brakes

Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Explorer
parker.rowe wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
Ford 2015 towing guideShows that a 4.30 truck can tow 3000# more than a 3.73 truck.


Yeeeep. Guess the people who designed the truck say they make a difference.


Yes, that's because a short gear will give you a better duty cycle. That's why a 450, 550 with the same engine tranny combo will give you a more choices of shorter gears.

Here is a great article that tells you about the myth of torque vs HP. Read the article and then read #1. The guy is spot on if you do the math.
~ Too many freaks & not enough circuses ~


"Life is not tried ~ it is merely survived ~ if you're standing
outside the fire"

"The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."- Abraham Lincoln

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
parker.rowe wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
Ford 2015 towing guideShows that a 4.30 truck can tow 3000# more than a 3.73 truck.


Yeeeep. Guess the people who designed the truck say they make a difference.


Yep! That’s the way I see it. If you could just drop a gear to tow more that would be in the Manual! But as hard as I look I have yet to see that!

Gearing makes a difference, even in a diesel!
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

parker_rowe
Explorer
Explorer
Huntindog wrote:
Ford 2015 towing guideShows that a 4.30 truck can tow 3000# more than a 3.73 truck.


Yeeeep. Guess the people who designed the truck say they make a difference.
2015 Starcraft TravelStar 239TBS 6500 GVWR
1997 GMC Suburban K2500 7.4 Vortec/4.10
1977 Kawasaki KZ1000

Lynnmor
Explorer
Explorer
time2roll wrote:
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Repeat after me: GEARS DO NOT INCREASE POWER! One more time: GEARS DO NOT INCREASE POWER!


However the lower gear does effectively reduce the spacing between transmission gears and the operator can more easily keep the RPM in the correct power zone AND THIS MAKES MORE POWER.


time2roll has it right, the amount of performance increase will vary depending on the power curve of the engine and the number of gears.

I know this ain't racing (I need to say this to head off those comments), but any racer, whether drag or road racing, knows the best performance is had by selecting the gear that runs the engine to the maximum in top gear. This way the engine can be better kept in the power band at all times.

Huntindog
Explorer
Explorer
Ford 2015 towing guideShows that a 4.30 truck can tow 3000# more than a 3.73 truck.
Huntindog
100% boondocking
2021 Grand Design Momentum 398M
2 bathrooms, no waiting
104 gal grey, 104 black,158 fresh
FullBodyPaint, 3,8Kaxles, DiscBrakes
17.5LRH commercial tires
1860watts solar,800 AH Battleborn batterys
2020 Silverado HighCountry CC DA 4X4 DRW

time2roll
Nomad
Nomad
:R Why the fight? I agree with you. Just saying it will help but probably not as much as just getting the RPM right with the gears available. Lower gears may help but it will be a measured improvement not night and day.

OP does not have a class 8 either.

Again we need more info on the OP driving experience...

Don't worry someday these trucks will be electric with no ratio issues like the coming Tesla Semi 😉

Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Explorer
time2roll wrote:
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Repeat after me: GEARS DO NOT INCREASE POWER! One more time: GEARS DO NOT INCREASE POWER!
Yes not quite the same effect anymore with the increased transmission gears.

However the lower gear does effectively reduce the spacing between transmission gears and the operator can more easily keep the RPM in the correct power zone AND THIS MAKES MORE POWER.

Huge benefit on the old 3 and 4 speed transmissions. On mine I would easily hit redline in second but would lose speed in third. Gear change allowed more speed and the correct RPM so I can go faster.

Again we need more info on the OP driving experience...


The OP has a 6 speed. Why are you talking about 3 or 4 speeds? Are you going to talk about Power Glides next? This is exactly why there is no talk like this in class 8 truck forums. They have enough gears in the tranny to keep the engine in the peak power curve.

Look at the chart RCMAN46 provided. If the op would drop a gear or two it would be the same torque to the rear wheels.
~ Too many freaks & not enough circuses ~


"Life is not tried ~ it is merely survived ~ if you're standing
outside the fire"

"The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."- Abraham Lincoln

K3WE
Explorer
Explorer
FWIW- I have had 3.42, 4.10 and 3.73 rear ends. (Chevrolet Suburbans and a 27 ft 7000 lb gross TT).

I have noticed very little difference in performance. We downshift to go up hills. Worse yet we rarely get into high gear EVER (even on downgrades). Engine RPM's differ by only a few hundred RPM between rear ends.

I understand the fiziks and the idea with different rear ends- it does not affect horsepower much at all, but it does affect "the amount of pull" available- and maybe...MAYBE could get you to some sort of magical "sweet spot"...but doubtful.

If you are really maxed out- maybe you should have the lower gear rear end. Conversely, I usually wish I had a higher one (due to the car 'feeling' it has to be in fourth gear so much...if you are going to be stuck in 4th, use a higher rear end to cut the engine RPM a tad- and then get better mileage empty.

I agree that newer transmissions tend to make the rear-end choice a lot more trivial (not totally worthless, just somewhat trivial).

Based on my experience, I agree that the $ to swap out may not be worth it.

Huntindog
Explorer
Explorer
Ever wonder why torque is advertised so much in the HD light truck market?
Because it has a dramatic effect on how well it tows.
Ever hear of torque multiplication?
Unlike HP, it can be increased with gears. The lower the gears, the more TQ.

A 4.30 gear set will increase the TQ by about 20% over 3.73 gears. That is a VERY noticeable increase.

All one has to do, is drive a truck equipped with 4.30s and then get back in a 3.73 truck which will then feel like a slug.

As for the mileage penalty.... We are talking about towing performance right?
Huntindog
100% boondocking
2021 Grand Design Momentum 398M
2 bathrooms, no waiting
104 gal grey, 104 black,158 fresh
FullBodyPaint, 3,8Kaxles, DiscBrakes
17.5LRH commercial tires
1860watts solar,800 AH Battleborn batterys
2020 Silverado HighCountry CC DA 4X4 DRW