Questions on 2016 F250

[tcartwri]

With a double overdrive there really is no penalty in going with the 4 series gears. However your pulling power from a stop is greatly improved.

 

[GManBart]

But the added cost upfront, plus fuel and maintaince for them will never pay for themselves to the average person, which is what I catorgize myself. Also, I love to hear about the "great fuel mileage" new diesels get these days, but it's not possible.

What do you mean "plus fuel"? Right now diesel costs the same, or less, than unleaded regular around here. I saw the local station had regular unleaded at $2.19 tonight, and diesel was $1.95.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I've heard that insurance can vary significantly from F250 to 350. I plan on confirming this. Surprisingly, 4.30 gears might be a little hard to find arround here. :confused3: I don't have time to order one. Going to dealers tomorrow but everyone Ive looked at online has 3.73 on the online PDF window sticker.

Not true. I owned 3 at one time in the mid 2000's, a 99 F350, a 04 F250, and a 06 F350. All Diesel and all 4x4. I bet there wasn't $50 a year difference between any of them but that had to do with them stretching over a 7 year period.

Chris

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Anyone have a pro 3.73 ratio opinion? I'd like to hear it. 4.30s are prob only 1/100. The rest are 3.73.

If they tow that much better with little GPM penalty then seems like Ford would make a lot more.
:confused3:

 

[Snobdds]

If it was the diesel with the 3.73, I would say go for it. I think the 3.73 is too high of a gear for a gas truck hauling over 10K loads.

There are some great gear calculators on the web through google. Might play with them to get a better idea what your dealing with.

 

[coobie]

Anyone have a pro 3.73 ratio opinion? I'd like to hear it. 4.30s are prob only 1/100. The rest are 3.73.

If they tow that much better with little GPM penalty then seems like Ford would make a lot more.
:confused3:

I had 3.73 gears in my last 4 trucks.My current 2016 dodge 2500,my current 2006 F150 super crew cab,my 2011 ford super crew and my 2004 dodge 2500 quad cab diesel.All towed very well with 10,000-12,000 lbs.Grant you I do not live in a hilly or mountain area.If I did I would opt for the 4.10 gears.

 

[Labrat]

Is there any difference in the O.D. of the 17" vs 18" wheels?



Not sure of the OD difference but when I was searching for truck tires last year I found that the 18" tires available had a higher weight rating than what was available in the 17's. Some tires were over 300lbs more per tire.

Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Anyone have a pro 3.73 ratio opinion? I'd like to hear it. 4.30s are prob only 1/100. The rest are 3.73. If they tow that much better with little GPM penalty then seems like Ford would make a lot more. :confused3:

They do it for 2 reasons. MPG and to make you eventually buy a diesel truck.

Het the deeper gears!

Chris

 

[Fordman1981]

They do it for 2 reasons. MPG and to make you eventually buy a diesel truck. Het the deeper gears! Chris

Dealers are the ones that have the most input about what's on their lots. Sadly the salespeople that order them usually know very little about trucks and order the (higher - lower numerically) gears because they have a little prompt saying higher gears give better mpg. Most people know they aren't going to get very good fuel millage from a truck and they'd rather have one that can do more work. It's like the bigger fuel tank option is usually around $50 why don't they order all the trucks with the bigger tanks? Have you ever heard anyone say "Yes I'd like to stop more often for fuel"?

 

[dodge man]

It might be hard to compare my truck since I don't know how the transmissions are geared in Fords. My Chevy is a 6.0 gas with a 6 speed auto. 5th and 6th gear are both over drives. With my 3.73 rear gears my truck will barely get into 6th gear at 55mph and it doesn't take much of a hill to make it downshift. This is empty. I drove an hour to a nearby town on interstate recently and was going 70mph. The tach was near 2000 rpms and it seemed like the sweet spot for my truck.

I don't tow often or heavy, so the gear choice doesn't matter much to me. If you did a lot of interstate driving empty, the 3.73 might be a good choice. I doubt the difference makes much difference on fuel mileage since mine was showing 13.2 mpg when I got home. If you tow a lot and don't do a lot of interstate, I'd want the digger gears.

Rim size? Often if the rim is bigger the tire is a lower profile resulting in the same overall diameter. If you look at the tire sizes, you can usually tell.