I recently bought a 2011 F150 5.0L and just now realized that it only has 3.55 gear ratio. I will be using it for towing a Travel Trailer, and am now concerned about its capability. I am thinking of changing out the gears, to 3.73, or should I go to 4.10's. Any help is appreciated.

 

I would get the trailer and try it before you go changing gears on your brand new truck. The 6spd has a low 1st gear to get you moving as well.

 

Just worried, that the Tow capacity shown for 3.73 gears is 9300# and 7700# for the 3.55 gears on the truck.

 

How much trailer are you looking at? Switching to 3.73's isn't going to make you towing capacity go up.

 

http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/towing/

According to this, my Supercab 4x2 5.0 with 355's can tow 9500.

There's no way just going from 3.55 to 3.73 is going to give you nearly 2k more pounds of payload.

How much does your trailer weigh?

 

I am looking at a trailer that weighs 5000 to 6000# dry, and 8000# loaded.

 

Not sure why in the specs it rates the screw with 3.73 at 9300#, and the screw with 3.55 at 7700#'s then. I don't think there is any other difference between them.

 

go to the FORD TOWING SPEC page

http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/g..._F150nov18.pdf

The 4.10 should give you the max towing but also consumes the highest fuel.
The 3.55 will give you least towing capicity but the best gas mileage.

Most people like the 3.73 gears...

Towing my 4200lb OFF RoAD POPUP I get the same 18-21MPG whether I am towing the POPUP or not - I credit this to no wind drag..

Depended what your Truck setup is the 8000lbs IMO would close to the max point. I have the 3.73 gears in my 2004 F150 with the same setup as my new 2010 F150 and I had big problems towing a 8800lb fifth wheel to the point I finally chickened out on towing it anymore. Not with my family aboard. It wasnt the climbing up the big hills but the coming down on the other side. I would think after that experience somewhere in the 5500lbs to the 6500lbs would be my max loaded towing limit for me... This must be just me however as I see alot of big trailers being pulled by the newer 2010-2011 F150 1/2-ton trucks. Too chicken I guess... Ive forgotten what the spec says for my 2010 F150 with 5.4 gas engine, towing package, supercab, FX4, 3.73 gears, 6'6" bed, 145-inch WB, etc but I think it is 9300lbs.

 

You cannot legally increase the towing capacity with a gear swap. No matter what you do, you are going to be over.

Even with the max tow package, a 8000# tow will probably put you over one of the other ratings when you put anything in the truck besides your butt and 1/4 tank of gas.

 

Agree with GLC. 8000 pound TT is about 1000 pounds of hitch weight, up to 1200 pounds. Check your Tire and Loading driver's door sticker for how much weight you have left for you, family, and anything in the bed. For a 5.L Screw, I expect less than 1500 pounds. This is why I highly recommend the Max Tow package with about 300-450 pounds more payload.

RVers tend to add about 1000 pounds of stuff over the mfr dry weights, without water. So, 5000 dry will be closer to 6000 ready to travel. I recommend staying under 6000 pounds dry to a pleasant, if not probably overloaded, towing experience.

As for power/gearing, you have better gearing than an old 4-spd truck with 4.56 gears. You'll be able to tow 4th or 5th gear, which is perfect. The very short 1st gear makes up for the slightly taller axle ratio.

 

These are things you usually check out BEFORE you buy the truck...

 

Yeah, I 2nd the above statement..if I had known my STX had 3.55 open diff, I orobably would have shelled out the extra $3K for the SuperCrew 2008 FX2 with the 3.73s three trucks down...or had them regear the truck before driving it away, and tacking it onto the price.

But hey, you live and you learn. Once I do my Flow Through console in my truck, I'll almost have an FX2, anyway lol

 

What is the difference between the Tow package and the Max Tow package. Why does it add over 300# more payload?

 

Higher GVWR, up to 7700 pounds. For a crew cab 4x4 5.5' bed, 7200->7650 (+450 pounds, but equipment takes that down to about 400. For the crew ca 6.5' bed, 7350->7700, about 300 pounds more actual payload. Springs and receiver are the upgrades. And you get the elephant ear towing mirrors and integrated brake controller too.

 

The max tow package is not available with a 5.0 - just the EB or 6.2.