Ford Super Duty 6.2 with 3.73 towing reviews

I'm posting this looking for reviews of people who are towing with the 6.2 with 3.73 gears (the way 99% of them sit on the dealer lots).

There is a great thread going on now, but it gets a mix of 3.73 reviews along with 4.30 reviews link to current thread The problem I have found is that many want to compare gearing from their old trucks such as a 6.8 v10 that had 4.30's or a 5.4 with 3.73's and that's really not a good comparison. Of course the guy with 5.4/3.73 combo is going to recommend lower gearing....but I think today's 6 speed transmissions make a big difference.

Not really posting this for myself since I already own a 2015 with this combo. I found it hard to find information when I was looking for a new truck and trying to make an educated decision.

Anyone looking for a Super Duty with the 6.2 will find many sitting on the lots, but it seems unless you want to order and wait 8 weeks you will have only 3.73 geared trucks to choose from.

I did not want to wait, and got what I think was a pretty good deal on the one the dealer already had on the lot. ~9k off MSRP on an XLT and decent $ for my trade in (2010 Tundra)

I have not towed with it yet, when I do I will certainly update this post with my own review.

I don't want this to turn into a 3.73 vs 4.30 gearing thread. there are plenty of them and I have no doubt that for certain applications the 4.30 gears are necessary. But for the purpose of this thread let's discuss the 3.73's for people looking at new Super Duty's on the dealer lots and are towing moderate weights.

Initially I was looking at RAM's with 4.10 gears, once DW and I settled on the Ford, I thought I was going to need to order the lower gears until I found this chart (posted by ib516) comparing internal gearing between the Ram and the Ford:

Ford 6R140 ratios (x 3.73)
1st 3.97:1 (14.81)
2nd 2.32:1 (8.65)
3rd 1.52:1 (5.67)
4th 1.15:1 (4.29)
5th 0.86:1 (3.21)
6th 0.67:1 (2.50)
Reverse 3.13:1

Ram 66RFE (x 4.10)
1st 3.231:1 (13.24)
2nd 1.837:1 (7.53)
3rd 1.410:1 (5.78)
4th 1.000:1 (4.10)
5th 0.816:1 (3.35)
6th 0.625:1 (2.56)
Reverse 4.444:1

so you can see given comparable hp and tq numbers... they should be very close, with the Ford 3.73's actually having a lower 1st and 2nd.

I am confident that my truck is going to do great with the 3.73's and I'm not towing very heavy at ~7600lbs, but I do load up the truck with quite a bit of weight when pulling the trailer.

Sol lets hear from guys that have been towing for a while with this config so that anyone who is looking at a truck sitting on the dealer lots can make an educated decision.

Tow Vehicles

Hannibal
Explorer
Apr 19, 2015
katoom400 wrote:
just to update my thread with my first towing review:

today I hooked the Outback 250rs up to the super duty for the first time, went to a parking lot to get the hitch setup, and then took it for a 30 mile test pull.

I choose a route that had plenty of twisty roads with some steep grades (for northern NJ) but no flat highway...figured I would test the tougher stuff first.

left the parking lot on a secondary road twisty and 40mph speed limit, just some rolling hills, right away I could see that the trailer had less influence over the truck compared to my previous Tundra.

next leg was 2 lane highway 55mph speed limit, heading north and pretty much all uphill. The truck pulled the hills great in 3rd around 3500-4000 rpm.

next leg was a secondary road to complete the loop back home, I chose this route because the last leg has a pretty decent decent back to my house, 10% down grade for about a mile, then 6-8% for another 2 miles. The truck handled it awesome. it down shifted to all the way to second, and held it for the duration (4k rpms).... I barely had to touch the brakes.

So far I'm impressed! very happy with my choice.

Sounds perfect to me! I would be very happy with it.
Hannibal
Explorer
Apr 19, 2015
Dave H M wrote:
I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I would be better off with the 3.73 instead of the 4.30 diffy I have.

I could run 5th gear towing and 6th when not.

It seems to get kinda thirsty when running down the road empty with the R's past 2000.

This is the reason I like the 3.73. Plenty of gear reduction for 1st gear launches and a reasonable rpm for empty highway mileage. I paid for the gears in between 1st and O/D. I have no problem using them.
pawatt
Explorer
Apr 19, 2015
WyoTraveler wrote:
I think the original post was by a RVer in NJ. I'm sure the 6.2 with the 3.73 would do a decent job on flat lands. Pretty much useless in the west mountain country.

We have the 6.2 and a 12,000 lb loaded fiver and have towed many mountains of the west without any problem, a bit slower than my worthless old 6.0 diesel up the mountains but no problems.
ib516
Explorer II
Apr 19, 2015
Glad you're happy!
hitnderoad
Explorer
Apr 19, 2015
These reports on the 6.2 super duty lately have been encouraging to me as I just took delivery of one yesterday. Will give a report sometime later as i only have a couple hundred miles on it. Am anxious to hook it to the TT and see how it handles it. Will put the 1000 miles per owners manuel before I tow with it. First impressions have been good.
katoom400
Explorer
Apr 19, 2015
just to update my thread with my first towing review:

today I hooked the Outback 250rs up to the super duty for the first time, went to a parking lot to get the hitch setup, and then took it for a 30 mile test pull.

I choose a route that had plenty of twisty roads with some steep grades (for northern NJ) but no flat highway...figured I would test the tougher stuff first.

left the parking lot on a secondary road twisty and 40mph speed limit, just some rolling hills, right away I could see that the trailer had less influence over the truck compared to my previous Tundra.

next leg was 2 lane highway 55mph speed limit, heading north and pretty much all uphill. The truck pulled the hills great in 3rd around 3500-4000 rpm.

next leg was a secondary road to complete the loop back home, I chose this route because the last leg has a pretty decent decent back to my house, 10% down grade for about a mile, then 6-8% for another 2 miles. The truck handled it awesome. it down shifted to all the way to second, and held it for the duration (4k rpms).... I barely had to touch the brakes.

So far I'm impressed! very happy with my choice.
Learjet
Explorer
Apr 18, 2015
rjstractor wrote:
Gdetrailer wrote:
Not EVERYONE wants or needs to go 80 MPH up the side of a mountain..

The difference from 3.73 to 4.30 is about 14%.. For one that is not hauling for a living that 14% difference is not going to be all that noticeable even at 6,000-8,000 ft..

Might make a difference of running 55 instead of 65 up a mountain.. Not worth the worry in my book..

Good point....BUT somehow a lot of guys have it in their heads that a 14% reduction in overall gear ratio equates to a 14% increase in towing power. This might apply to a launch on a very steep hill, but pulling a highway grade at the speed limit the gear ratio may not make any difference at all, especially with the wide range of gear ratios available in the transmission. Both trucks might run 60 up the mountain, only difference being one might be in 3rd gear and the other in 4th. It's the engine that produces the horsepower.

Yep, still towing in 5th gear going 65 mph...5th is 1st overdrive, so if I had the 4:30 gears....I might be in 6th gear...2nd overdrive.
rjstractor
Nomad
Apr 18, 2015
Gdetrailer wrote:
Not EVERYONE wants or needs to go 80 MPH up the side of a mountain..

The difference from 3.73 to 4.30 is about 14%.. For one that is not hauling for a living that 14% difference is not going to be all that noticeable even at 6,000-8,000 ft..

Might make a difference of running 55 instead of 65 up a mountain.. Not worth the worry in my book..

Good point....BUT somehow a lot of guys have it in their heads that a 14% reduction in overall gear ratio equates to a 14% increase in towing power. This might apply to a launch on a very steep hill, but pulling a highway grade at the speed limit the gear ratio may not make any difference at all, especially with the wide range of gear ratios available in the transmission. Both trucks might run 60 up the mountain, only difference being one might be in 3rd gear and the other in 4th. It's the engine that produces the horsepower.
Learjet
Explorer
Apr 18, 2015
towing fully loaded signature rig. 12,000 lbs 5th wheel (including full water) with 3.73 ...no issues, happy.
Dave_H_M
Explorer II
Apr 18, 2015
I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I would be better off with the 3.73 instead of the 4.30 diffy I have.

I could run 5th gear towing and 6th when not.

It seems to get kinda thirsty when running down the road empty with the R's past 2000.