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Hello everyone. I recently purchased a 2018 Ford F-150 Supercrew, 2WD, 3.3V6. Factory brake controller, class 3 hitch, factory trailer 7 and 4 pin plugs. I looked for a long time for this truck. It’s exactly what I wanted. I’m not a fancy person and didn’t want all the bells and whistles. It has all the normal options, back up camera, navigation, etc. it has the split bench seat (I have 4 kids at home still and needed the extra seat). The only thing the truck doesn’t have is the 3:73 gears. I wanted those gears for towing. I tow a 2019 Wildwood FSX 179DBK, dry weight 3200# and loaded its right at 4000#. Towing capacity with 3:55 is 5000#. The truck tows the camper fine but does slow significantly going up the mountains in East Tennessee and North Carolina. Would it be worth swapping to 3:73 gears? I got the truck used with 30k miles for $15k. I couldn’t pass it up.
that motor doesn't have the low end grunt to be towing a trailer like that on anything but flat land. you're fighting weight and aerodynamic drag. The 3.3 is a great motor...…..but not for towing a brick on wheels, unfortunately. Aside from that you mention basically packing your entire family in the truck, that's a lot of extra weight too. The 3.3 just doesn't make torque down low.
3.73's might help, but they still won't get the powerband high enough to maintain speed unless you lock out 5th and 6th gears and stay in 3rd or 4th. That popup is a better option for that motor...………..or the 2.7 ecoboost a better option for that TT.
Swapping gears is gonna cost you about a grand to be done right.
Aside from that you mention basically packing your entire family in the truck, that's a lot of extra weight too.
X2, and I'd just add that you've gotta subtract all that weight from your max capacity to come up with your 'adjusted' max, and I think you'll find that you're scarily close to totally maxing out. Something you really don't wanna do.
I appreciate all the comments and information. The camper is only about 800# more than the pop up. When I scaled it before our trip this past weekend I was at 8253#. The truck shows 9900# gross capacity. I’m a little over the 80% target. I don’t remember the axle weights, but with the weight distribution hitch, the axles were fairly close to being even. The truck pulls well and the camper follows great. I didn’t know if the gear swap would help with hills. Going up through the gorge in NC I started the bottom at roughly 55mph. I was at 50 when I reached the top. $1000 for gear swap isn’t bad.
Gear swaps should be no less than 2 tiers or you're wasting and money. So 4.10/4.11.
Having swapped gear ratios in some of my vehicles, I vote for a 4.10 also. One swap was a 3.08 tp 4,10, some highway MPG was lost, but in-town MPG improved so in daily driving the swap had little negative effect.
Gear upgrade + custom tune. Probably set you around $1600 give or take. You'll notice a big difference towing, even in the 3.3 V6.
I have an appt to get it tuned and intake. They said I should be around 320hp, give or take. Your estimate is close if the gears are $1000. Tuned and intake is $800. I’m not a mechanic so I’m not sure what all that entails.
I get a lot of grief for the V6. But for the price and what it is, it suits my family great! I’ve had it a month and have averaged 25mpg. I get around 18 pulling the camper. How much will the tune and gears affect mpg?
04-15-2019, 06:08 PM
3:55 to 3:73
