Pristine1

I'd make sure you know what your current gears are for sure. If you have anything above 3.55's it won't make as much difference. I went from 3.55 - 4.10 gears in my previous 05 ram and it did make a good difference. I towed in the mountains daily. Mpg will be affected on the type of driving you do. Drive 80 and your mpg with the 4.10's will suffer. Do a lot of city and 65 mph highway and you will probably see an improvement over the old gears. I did a lot of city and mountain towing and my average mpg went up. If you are not towing this far, very often you might be fine with your current gears though. I pulled 9k when I had 3.55 gears and it still could pull the mountain grade at 60. The 4.10s would have got me to 60 quicker though.

bobby2321

I drive the truck every once in a while to work and out on the weekend just so she don't seat . I mainly use her to tow my popup and my atvs . the ole lady wants to get a bigger camper and I just dont know if that truck would handle it without putting to much strain on the engine.

bobby2321

I usually run around 70 on the expressway. what annoys me the most is when I hit a hill , its like my truck has no power. this must be a older ford truck problem bc my 96 had the same problem.

OhioLariat

I'm seriously looking at going from 3.55's to 4.10's in my '03 5.4 4x4 with 32" tires. The 3.55's are terrible here in the mountains. (My '99 with 3.73's and the same setup was tolerable, but not great). The $2,300 price tag is the only thing stopping me from pulling the trigger. I pulled a 4500# T/T with my '99 with no real trouble, but that was in Ohio. Here in CO? I don't know if my '03 with 4.10's would be adequate. Of course the power loss at 6,000-10,000 ft plays a big part as well.

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OhioLariat

I'd like to have seen this. A 1500, 3.55's and 9000# at altitude? I'm not buying it.

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Pristine1

Very well could be. A 5k travel trailer is going to be a lot for a 4.6. Especially if you hit some head winds. I'd put that gear money towards a better tow rig if it's in your cards. If you truly want to be happy towing. Look out for a descent 7.3 diesel. You wont have to put gears in that, just maybe a transmission. Next best option for a Ford f150 would be the newer ones in my opinion with a 5 0 atleast. When Ford changed body styles in 04 they upped the 5.4 hp but also made it the heaviest 1500 out there. So the extra power didn't really equate to much. The truck could handle a big trailer but you'd be the last up the hill. if your not brand loyal the very first nissan titans might be able to be picked up cheap. I never really liked them overall but they were one of the fastest trucks of their time. Would tow 5k just fine.

Pristine1

Seeing is believing. Imagine if your truck had 25% more horsepower and you knew how to use it. My client had the same truck on stock 20's with 35's and a 6 inch lift. Stock 3.92 gears.. Never dipped under 50 mph towing an old 26ft 5th wheel at 8k. Went through several states and mountain passes.

bobby2321

Yeah I'll probably try to get my wife convinced down to a smaller camper around 3500 mby one of those hybrids. The truck shy handle that weight alot better

Pristine1

Yeah that's not a bad idea. I'm sure there are some well designed trailers in that range that would get the job done. Something not too tall or slightly aero dynamic or both would be good. What ever gets the job done though. I would imagine 3500 lbs give or take with the right trailer and your truck should be fine. If you were doing 5k frequently I bet you'd want to get another truck eventually. Just got to decide what looks better in the future plan I guess. Only other idea I could throw out there is trying to find a similar truck like yours with a 5.4 and better gearing. Might not be much more investment as putting 4.10's in two axles.