lifting and towing

[Bradley3054]

Hey everyone, I'm sure there are plenty post about this but i wanna see if you guys who have already first hand experienced this help me make the right choice. Here is the plan, im going with a 8" lift kit with 38's, my truck currently is e99 f250 extended long bed truck 4x4 and open rear im almost positive. Im not sure what size gears im guessing 3.55 because im getting 18-20 mpg as it is and so does my poppas 350 dually and it has 3.55 open. Current mods are diy intake, gauges, wildman 6 position chip with tow tunes. From what i read im gonna loose 1 mpg and i can deal with that. I live in delaware so alot of flat ground around here and country. so what do you think i should do to improve towing power so im able to cruise overdrive down the hyw with a heavy load? Also i would like a locker in the back but its expensive to get someone to install that unless someone here can show me how lol i am a mechanic just never done gears before so love to learn new and im sure i can do it just dont wanna mess up the correct setting.

[tubular031]

towing something heavy is enough of a chore, but then to lift it 8 inches and add big tires? Bigger tires = harder to stop the truck because of leverage, then the weight is higher which makes the truck handle worse plus the trailer needs to be higher to sit level so it does not buck and chuck.

If you go 38s and stock gears your truck will have to work harder to get moving (gear ratio will go down) and it will have to work harder to pull that load. most guys running big tires will put high gears in to get the truck back to stock like power and get the speedometer back in line. Remember you need to gear both axles too since its a 4x4


If you plan to pull anything more than a little cargo trailer, leave the truck stock height. It will result in a MUCH more enjoyable towing experience.

I pull a 36 foot 12k 5er and a 24 foot gooseneck 4k-14k depending on what is sitting on it that day.

[SuperCrutyPS]

How heavy is "a heavy load?"

I agree with tubular031, doing those mods will affect how the truck handles by itself, but then adding a load will affect it even more. If you're going to tow a lot, I'd say leave it stock or, at the very least, consider not going that far up in elevation.

Something to consider.

[Bradley3054]

heavy to me is having two tractors on the trailer which is around 12,000lbs

And yes i know there are higher risk with pulling and being lifted but also im not a beginner with towing and ive seen diesels lifted that high pull heavy loads all the time but i wanna know the best solution with gears or other products and millage expected with those changes for example gears.

[7.3550Duty]

Well if your gonna run 38's, i would go with a set of 4.56 gears front and rear, you may even get away with 4.30's, maybe alil better mpgs on the highway but lack alil bit in takeoff power to get up and going. Totally on how you want it to be. I put 4.56's in my truck with 37's, wishing i had 4.30's thou, so it just depends. Good Luck

[7.34ever]

Definitely change out the gears. 4.30/4.56 depending on the speed and rpm range you want to be most effective in. A 12k trailer is nothin for your truck to tow with that lift/tires but it has to be setup right. I highly recommend a set of traction bars. That will help to keep the axle wrap in check. Some larger brakes would probably help out in the long run too(wish I had done that).