Hello. I want to tow a travel trailer about 26' between 5000 - 5500lbs. I have a 1995 Ford F-150 XLT with a 4.9 cyl I-6 engine with 3.08 gears, and I VERY RARELY drive it. The manual says this set up is rated to tow 4500lbs. I was told that I could change gears to a 3.73 or 4.10, and this would really help do the trick. But, then I was told the engine would get really loud and it would suck up ALL my gas (currently get 15-19 mpg). I really can't afford to get another truck strictly for towing. Will changing the gears to a 3.73 / 4.10 do the trick? Please share any similar experiences. Thanks!

Pete

 

Changing gears does not increase the maximum allowable tow rating. You are still chassis limited.

 

What glc said is correct. Technically if everything is not rusted out on the chassis, you could tow it, but you'd be over the limit and I wouldn't recommend doing that if you don't tow on a regular basis. Your engine will be louder and gas consumption will go up because your RPM's will increase as a result of changing gears. Is your truck 4x4? If it is, add changing the gears in the front diff too to the price unless you never plan on going into 4 wheel drive.

 

Actually, I had asked about that sometime earlier before posting this. A guy I had met (an F150 enthusiast) showed me in my trucks manual that my exact same truck of the same year, was also available in the 5.0 V-8 and the 5.8 V-8, and had higher tow capacity's...of course, they had higher gears, too. The point he was making to me was that the truck itself was capable of towing larger loads, as long as the motor & gears were large enough. That's kind of why I wanted to switch to a higher gear.

 

If you swap gears, you should be fine on your 95 F150. With everything else being equal for your drive train and getting the lower gears, you will make any towing experience a better one. You can then compare 'tow ratings' with the lower geared truck in your manual. Even my owners manual will give different tow ratings depending on your gear ratio.

You will still have to respect your trucks current GVWR and front and rear GAWR as stated on the door jamb sticker, but even going to a 3.55 gear will be better all around than that 3.08!

Mitch

 

If you are going to do it, try it with the 3.08's first. The 4.9 has a ton of bottom end torque, and assuming you have a E4OD you have a strong tranny.