Please check my numbers before I go buy a new truck.

[atsah]

An F-250 dually? How did you pull that off? What engine did you have with the 3.73?

F250 and 350, both diesel..

 

[prichard]

No doubt about it!



The towing capacity might be higher, but you'll still have a 3,900 rear axle that will be exceeded. When you start reading towing capacities, that's a maximum. When you add any options, down it goes. Like you've done, you have to look at all the ratings involved. I always tell folks to read those ratings as "less than'" in stead of the more common "up to" that marketing uses. A weight distribution hitch might buy you a little margin, but you'll always be walking on the edge.

Thanks for actually looking at weights. People put way too much faith in "Towing Capacity".

 

[atsah]

I use to tow a lot up and down the turnpike, tractors, cars, equipment just about anything really and I saw many half tom trucks in the ditch with campers and trailers with to much weight. it's so nice to hook up and not hardly feel what you pulling behind you.. My dually was a F-350 CC diesel, big heavy truck, nice pulling truck, the F-250 was fine but the F-350 took the cake..

 

[atsah]

I kind of figured it was two different trucks, and diesels to boot. The 3.73 would be a better match to the diesel because of the rpm range and torque peak. I'd still vote for the 4.10 in the gas engine.
A 250 dually. Hummm, I had to wonder about that one. :dance1:

4.10 are pretty stout, maybe in a gasser but he will suffer fuel economy.. The Hemi would probably be fine matched to 3.73 for what he is doing.

My vote goes to 2500, Hemi and 3.73 gears..

 

[prichard]

4.10 are pretty stout, maybe in a gasser but he will suffer fuel economy.. The Hemi would probably be fine matched to 3.73 for what he is doing.

My vote goes to 2500, Hemi and 3.73 gears..

Got a dealer quote on that equipment on a Laramie at $47k. Looks tempting.

 

[atsah]

If you get the opportunity, try driving something with a 3.73 and a 4.10. When you put an additional 8K behind you, you might appreciate a 4.10 a little more. I've used 3.73, 4.10 and 4.56 axles, and I would far prefer a 4.10 with today's trucks. You're going to loose more fuel mileage by going to a 2500 over a 1500 than you would by going from 3.73 to 4.10. I've pleaded my case concerning weight, hills and altitude, so maybe a few others will chime in.

It is very possible that the 8 and 10 speed transmissions there putting in trucks these days matched to 4.10 gears aren't as bad as they once where on fuel, OP might want to drive one of those if you can and check the sticker for the listed MPG, it may surprise you, I haven't looked at trucks in a few years so I'm a little behind on new ones..

 

[prichard]

No mpg listings on heavy duty trucks.

 

[atsah]

No mpg listings on heavy duty trucks.

How many speed transmission is the 2500 these days?


Just looked it up, 6 speed with lockup and overdrive so kind of like an 8 speed..

 

[ning]

6 speed with lockup and overdrive so kind of like an 8 speed..

In the old days, overdrive was an additional gearbox which would reduce engine speed further. Gear Vendors is an outfit that has sold these for RVs, and they can be used to "split" gears too.

Typical usage now in US is that an overdrive transmission has gear ratios such a 6-speed transmission with ratios 1st=4.2 2nd=3.4 3rd=2.5 4th=2.0 5th=1.2 6th=0.9 (fake numbers chosen for illustration). In this case, the 6th gear is an overdrive gear, because the ratio is less than 1.0; there's no 7th gear due to it being "an overdrive transmission".

Lockup usually means that the torque converter will lock up so there's no slip. Also not another speed, though while it's not locked up it briefly acts like an underdrive transmission would (and my older E40D seems to have 5 speeds until the transmission warms up).

 

[dodge man]

Payload is often what is used up in a half ton truck. My F150 has 1940 lbs of payload based on the door jamb sticker. This sounds like a lot until you put 4 people and some other stuff in the truck. This woukd kick your allowable hitch weights down to a 1000 lbs or less. There are a lot of half tons with a lot less payload then mine.