F450 New Gears...488 to 373

[yobie]

Is this possible to do. I have 488 right now and I tow a 16k trailer 1000+ miles every 3 months. In between this truck is a daily driver and i'm getting screwed with the MPG's. Is it possible to go to 373 and what would this entail? I'm just looking to get better mileage. Thanks for any helpful info!

1999 450 4.88
4x2
stock

-matt

[Zaairman]

I think 4.10s might be a better choice for towing that much?

[yobie]

what would the mpg's be with a 4.10. I'm not sure 4.10 would be worth the expense if im not getting a good enough bump in MPG.

[bruce51d]

if you're just drivin it unloaded maybe you should get a little beater car that gets like 30+ mpg. i've read that you can't go any lower on the gears in the 450's but i'll have to research

[yobie]

We travel in our 5th wheel and can't tow another car.

[E'sStrokr01]

Originally Posted by bruce51d

if you're just drivin it unloaded maybe you should get a little beater car that gets like 30+ mpg. i've read that you can't go any lower on the gears in the 450's but i'll have to research

He doesn't want to go lower on his gears, he wants better mileage- lower rpm's at speed - so he wants to go "higher", or opt for a set of "highway" gears, which means anything higher than 4.88's.

And I could be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure my brother's box truck has higher gears than 4.88's. Maybe like around 4.10's, so I think you can run a higher gear set for you truck.

Do you have auto or manual? If you are manual, and you can find 3.73's gears then I wouldn't think twice about it, but if you're automatic then I'd probably go no higher than 4.10 if you're gonna pull 15,000 + lbs.

[yobie]

im auto, I guess i will look into the 410 I just need to figure out if the cost is worth the extra mpg. thks

[E'sStrokr01]

Well I'll try to help you figure if it's cost effective. What is your average mpg now?

[yobie]

I appreciate your help, a lot, so thanks. Right now i'm around 8-10 mpg towing and empty.


Would a 410 be a plug and go type thing or would I need to do other modifications.

[WD40]

Yobie, your fifthwheel catches a lot of air because it's so tall. My fifthwheel is a HitchHiker and it's about
13.1 high and my truck is a 06 F-350, 6.0 pulling 16,000 + with the 4.10 gears and I get about 9.9 to 10.5
pulling, if that helps any.
Doug