Brandon587

Depends on current gears, I'm pretty sure no truck of this generation had 3.73 gears, it goes 3.55 to extremely uncommon gearing for the half ton 4.10 gears. 3.55 is the lowest, numerical highest gears commonly available on these trucks stock. You need to know what you have now. I wouldn't count on 4.10 gears increasing fuel economy, but it could by getting that 302 revving a little higher and getting closer in its power band better. Most of the people who see an increase in mpg however, had bigger than stock tires. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

Brandon587

Gearing done by a shop can be quite expensive, expect 5-600 for parts, and another 800 or so for labor, but it is a very good mod. That 4x4 drives up the price some lol, it has to be done twice. I would save and do that, better than k&n filter and cai and throttle body spacers and chips ect. Most of these do nothing to very little to help performance, out of these a k&n is probably best, unless you have obd2, then maybe a chip. I'm considering one down the road for better power management however. Have you bumped your timing yet?

unit505

Everybody forget about the E-Fan Swap? By far the most true hp gain for the money. Less than $50 for a factory fan setup from the parts yard. Less than $150 for a set of factory e-fans and controller retail. The K&N doesn't come close to the e-fans.

Also, here are the axle codes -

http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/i...de_Chart_.html

http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_cata...s_it_posi.html

A walk through of your local salvage yards might land you a find if you spot the right axle code on a door jamb.

Klinux13

Sixliter tune (below) and efans to start
http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/show...ht=timing+bump

Brandon587

I did forget about e fans, I've never done it though. How much does it help and how reliable is it? And are they ok for towing say 7000 lbs on a 105 degree Alabama summer day? That's why I stayed with the belt driven fan, just unsure about the e fans. However, my moms 05 Honda never had issues with the ones on it, and my dads 98 Honda had one go out at 210,000 miles. And the ole 98 cummins has a belt driven fan that never failed and is still going at 280,000 miles. Kinda why I just decided to stay with my belt driven fan, but I could be convinced otherwise. Just don't want to overheat because of little fans. Summers here can get nice and hot.

unit505

If you overheat with e-fans set up at the right temperature, you've got a cooling system problem. I purchased a set of stock electric fans with their built in shroud off of a Chrysler 300 for $24.00 at the salvage yard. An external probe fan controller from advanced auto parts for $17. A couple of relays from the salvage yard, $1, some heavy duty wiring from the salvage yard wrapped around the fan shroud as if they came with it, FREE. I had some 2" bracket metal roll that I mounted the e-fans with top and bottom. I do not have mine wired to come on with the AC yet. The controller is set to come on at 210 and off at 190-195. At highway speed, 45mph +, the fans never run. Only at idle or bumper to bumper traffic.
https://www.f150forum.com/f10/electr...152094/index7/

How much does it help? Take into consideration that my fan clutch was seized up and the HD fan was running at 100% all of the time, it felt like I had taken the 5.0 from my '94, rebuilt it and replaced the 4.9 in my '95. The 4.9 runs cooler than the V8's, at least every one I've seen. It took three times as long to warm up with the stock fan. Even with the HD Fan locked up, I had overheating problems. After the e-fan, I got a big bump in mpg and freed up some hp. Best mod by far without swapping in a V8 or turbo. Reliability? The fans rarely turn on, which in turn, is a fairly light load on your battery and alt. You need to consider a 130a alt if you plan on running one of the twin fans with the ac on switch. After removing the factory ford shroud, I believe under hood temps dropped as well. I did make a cover for the fan controller to guard against water, but the worst that has happened was after a power washing, one relay got wet and hung up causing the fans to stay on. I keep a half dozen relays in my tool box. 5 minute fix after smearing the relay with silicon to better protect it.

sdmartin65

If I towed regularly I'd definitely stick with the factory setup for cooling. I haven't really seen anyone on here do the e fan swap that tows alot.

unit505

???? I can't agree. Sorry. The E-fans cool faster and are less load on the motor giving a bump in power and running cooler. I've seen allot of HD trucks with e-fans. I just Googled E_Fans on HD Trucks and found allot of users.

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/sho...ic-Cooling-Fan

Brandon587

So how beneficial is it for my truck with a fan clutch that isn't seized up, is it worth 50-100$s, then another $150 or so for an alternator. I would probably need a bigger alternator, with a/c, stereo and sub going ( yes I tow with the radio blasting on the interstate, not so much in town or heavy traffic) and truck lights and trailer lights, it would be a strain on the 18 year old 95 amp alternator lol. Right now it does fine though.

sdmartin65

I'm not saying switching to e fans won't work well. What I am saying is that it's hard to replicate the cooling power and quality of a factory system, be it e fan or belt driven. You tow 7k in 100 plus heat I'd just as soon have the factory setup. Maybe in our trucks an e fan add on.

Edit. I myself really looked into the e fan swap last fall. I'd read about mpg claims and such. I ran a test in Sept of 12. I pulled the clutch fan off the truck for the entire month. The engine was quieter but my mpg stayed the same. I drive the same route daily for the last 10 years. Trust me I was a little let down, I was hoping to see some mpg gains.