Signing Papers on my 09 F150 tonight but I noticed a problem

[BlackRaptor]

The truck I found (picture in my closed thread) seem to fit all my needs perfectly well last night while looking it over I went to see what gears it had in it just to be sure it had 3.73's in it and it didn't. it's got 3.55's now is this going to be a problem? should I back out and find one with 3.73's or for the load i'm hauling (JD 2520 FEL MMM) or 4 atv's 20" landscaping trailer are these gears going to cause me headaches?
Thanks guys.

 

[LD1]

What is the difference in tow rating between the two gears, everything else being equal?

Personally I would opt for the 3.55 gears as it will get better fuel mileage when not towing and I dont think you will have any problems when towing, you just might not have quite as much power as if you had the 3.73's.

I dont know how much your tractor/trailer combo weigh, But I have a 3400, and with loaded tires, bushhog, and FEL, it weighs in at about 4500lbs. The trailer is a 7K that weighs 2700lbs which is about 7200lbs and I don't have any problems with a chevy 1/2ton with the 5.3L and 3.5* gears. I have also towed a 6000lb truck on the trailer before(not very far), for a total of 8700lbs, and it had pleanty of power. I think the tow rating on my truck is like 7600lbs, and the newer F-150 is probabally a little more, so if you have a 7k trailer, it will probabally be just fine.

 

[nmu98]

You would most likely be ok for minimal towing. I had an 06 F150KR that I used to tow my open station 3720 on a 7K car hauler. It had 3.73's and it towed it, but not great. That was the only 1/2 ton truck I have had since 2002, so in some people eyes it might have been ok, but for me, I would not have taken it on the highway because it would hunt gears all the time.

It comes down to how often and how far you tow. If its easy to find the truck you like and want, I would get the 3.73. If its not easy and you need this one now, you will survive with it. I added an edge evolution to mine before i sold it. It helps a little towing.

 

[Hematite]

I don't have a 2009 Ford Towing book in front of me but I have a 2008 so it will give an indication of the differences. I believe that you were looking at a 5.4 Crew Cab. With 3.55 rear the tow rating is 8200#. With the 3.73 rear the rating is 9200#. If that truck has 20" wheels you have to deduct another 500# of tow rating.

If the towing is the primary purpose of the truck it would be better to have the 3.73 gears. If the primary purpose is highway driving, you'll see a slight increase in mpg with the 3.55 gears. Notice that I said slight, the F150 is VERY heavy, fuel mileage will never be the forte of a large truck. Really depends on what you intend to do with the truck.

 

[sak778]

Me Personally, I would wait. The right gears will make the difference between enjoying a truck and never really being happy with it. YMMV Sean

 

[MarkV]

Do you have to tow on many hills? If mainly flat land and occasional towing I think you will be fine. If you live in hill country you might want to think hard about it.

MarkV

 

[Reg]

What you DON'T know is the difference in the transmission ratios that go with the different axle ratios.
Just about all 5th (& 6th where applicable) gears are indirect (less than 1.0, they are "overdrives") and it is my guess that they are paired differently with each axle ratio.

Here's how to tell;
Take a test drive in each and (where legal) get it up to EXACTLY 2,000 RPM and hold it there, note the speed - on a GPS if you can. Divide by 2, this is your speed per 1,000 RPM and represents the effective overall gearing, including tire size. I doubt that you will see much difference between the 3.55 and 3.73 "overall" gearing.
Without the trailer you would almost certainly notice the higher BUZZ at highway speeds.
I also very much doubt that you would feel a significant difference when towing, unless you are close/at/over the rated capacity.
Tachs are typically not as "optimistic" as speedometers.

It probably comes down to how much towing you plan to do (will REALLY do ?) close/at/over rated capacity vs how much unloaded highway and commute driving you will do.
I got the lowest numeric ratios I could on the D_Max and have never regretted it, although it is used over 95% for towing, but that IS a D_Max and you're only talking about a F150.

EDIT:
PS No "facts" should change your bargaining position with the dealer.
THIS truck doesn't have the specs you thought it had, doesn't have the specs you were looking for, etc.
Therefore it isn't worth as much to you as you thought it was....
{line of reasoning}
:END EDIT

 

[BlackRaptor]

I held off on buying this one. I drove it again and compared it's get up and go to my GMC with 3.73's and the truck didn't feel as strong.
it had 20 inch rims on 3.55 gears I figured this isn't a good combo for a towing truck so I asked them to find me that same truck with 18 inch rims and 3.73 gears.
Thanks for all your help guys.

 

[Builder]

You made a good choice. You should get what you want, not what they want you to have.

I think the 3.55 rear truck would have easily towed your load. I've towed a backhoe with my F-700 with 185HP 6.6L diesel and it did the job, just did it slowly.

 

[RollingsFarms]

just me personally but i've never owned, nor will own a truck with anything other then 3"73 or 4:10 gears. unless it's a diesel in which case Ford seems to like to put in 3:55 gears in their reg cab 4x4 trucks equiped with the diesel(built one the other day and this was the only ratio availible in this configuration). when i bought my truck i didn't care about the Z71 package, but it was the only way i could get 4x4, 5.3 engine, and 3:73 gears so i had no choice but to get the Z71 package to get what i wanted.