96 F Superduty Dana 80 DRW

[Spud Monkey]

Currently have 4:63 ratio in rear end of my truck coupled up to stock tires and has Zf5 transmission my question is would it be that much of difference to go to 4:10 ratio or should I save my money and buy a carrier that will accept 3:73 and down. Will be pulling 8k lb trailer part of time with it or 7k for that matter, I don't know weight of it yet till I'm finished building it. Going for more mpg's at same time want to be able to cruise at 60 to 65 mph with ease not 2400 RPM's doing only 60

[Spud Monkey]

Okay let me rephrase this topic, who has Dana 80 in there truck with a ZF5 transmission and what's the gear ratio you are running in the rear at same time what is your cruising speed and what do you tow?

[glovemeister]

If you are running 35's plus then keep your 4.63 if you tow a lot. If you don't tow heavy often then you can run 4.10s and 35s. If you tow very little then just run 3.55 or 3.73. I run at 2000 rpm at 65-70 with 265 tires and a 5spd. 15mpg and nearly 10k pounds empty.

[Spud Monkey]

Originally Posted by glovemeister

If you are running 35's plus then keep your 4.63 if you tow a lot. If you don't tow heavy often then you can run 4.10s and 35s. If you tow very little then just run 3.55 or 3.73. I run at 2000 rpm at 65-70 with 265 tires and a 5spd. 15mpg and nearly 10k pounds empty.

Well I'm running stock 235/85 16 tires so it seems 4.10 or 3.73 would be right ratio, which then determines if you want to buy another carrier to hold a 3.73 ring. Thanks for the insight of info