4:10 to a 3:73

[f350 FF]

Hey all
I dont really tow a whole lot of weight yet (bought truck for future use towing) My truck has an E4OD and 4:10 gears. In the quest to get some higher highway speeds and better fuel range would swaping the 4:10 to some 3:73 be worth while? Will i loose anything power or capacity wise? Will the truck turn into a dog on the road? I want to do a cummins conversion in a few years and they recommend to go to the smaller gears anyway. so would it be ok to just go anead and do it now? thanks for the help fellas
matt z

[sevenmalards]

I'm actually going to be doing the same thing in the interest of fuel mileage and freeway speed. I also have the 4:10 gearing. I don't think it will lose any pulling or towing capacity, the 3:73 is a good gear too. It's not going to "pull right out of the box" so to speak like the 4:10 but once you get your load moving it will be fine, afterall it's still a dually!

[bigcountrysg]

With the cost of fuel and the cost of swapping gears. I would say no it is not worth it. Your looking at close to 800-1000 in parts, then you have labor of installing the gears. The difference will be minimal and in my opinion not worth the cost of swapping gears.

[sevenmalards]

Originally Posted by bigcountrysg

With the cost of fuel and the cost of swapping gears. I would say no it is not worth it. Your looking at close to 800-1000 in parts, then you have labor of installing the gears. The difference will be minimal and in my opinion not worth the cost of swapping gears.

Holly smokes it's that much?

I just called and got a quote, $1,450 + tax

[TANK'S 250]

yup...and even then it depends on your area....I've seen $800 in parts,...and a garage charge 1K for each axle

Total of $2,800....I think this price was the worse I ever saw....lol....

I ended up changing them myself....kinda

[planeoldguy]

I remember seeing a guy that put an ad to swap axles with another guy, free swap for both parties, I'd give that a thought if ya really want to do it.

[vitalidle]

Yeah you might be better off selling your axle outright and then buy an axle with the 3.73 gearing at a local junk yard.

[sevenmalards]

Originally Posted by vitalidle

Yeah you might be better off selling your axle outright and then buy an axle with the 3.73 gearing at a local junk yard.

man that's a tricky proposition! I'm the kind of guy that HAS TO KNOW how good the internals are, and at a junk yard they aren't going to let me crack it open, plus I wouldn't know what I was looking at anyway

It's more, but I would rather just have mine done, knowing it was done right, and for the length of time I'm planning on having it, I think it will be worth it!

[broncobuyer]

my 97 psd 4x4 had 3.55 and that thing ran liked a raped ape, had tons of power and could tow anything and that was with 33"s under it. if your gonna do it i would just go to 3.55, a 7.3 has more than enough grunt to still light em up with 3.55. heck you might be lucky enough to find a couple axles in the bone yard with 3.55 already in them for a couple hundred bucks. i know a lot of obs psd trucks had 3.55s

[vitalidle]

Originally Posted by sevenmalards

man that's a tricky proposition! I'm the kind of guy that HAS TO KNOW how good the internals are, and at a junk yard they aren't going to let me crack it open, plus I wouldn't know what I was looking at anyway

It's more, but I would rather just have mine done, knowing it was done right, and for the length of time I'm planning on having it, I think it will be worth it!

Yeah I hear ya! Although if you can find one out of a wrecked truck with lower miles you should be pretty safe Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market