i have a 2011 f150 with the 5.0 and 3.55 gears. i see lots of posts on here of trucks with 34 and 35 inch tires. Im not looking to regear as it is on warranty and i dont want to affect it, but i would like to do 34 inch tires and a leveling kit. Does anyone find on highway speeds that the 5.0 shifts in and out of 6th with these big tires? How do your trucks handle towing with the 5.0 and bigger tires. any help would be great. Also did they affect your mpg much.

 

Not sure about the changes in shifting, but it will tow just as good as stock. It won't be as quick to take off as stock, and as expected with any larger than stock tires, you will probably loose 1-2 mpg.

 

does anyone with this setup want to weigh in? just want to know how your 5.0 drives with bigger tires, if its got lots of power with a head wind, towing, etc. if it holds 6th gear on the hwy or is hunting all the time. thanks

 

good question. i am looking forward on lifting my 2-12 5.0 and adding some 33 inch tires with 20 inch rims

 

Lost a little performance and about 2 mpg with the 33x12.5's on my truck. I know a programmer would help but not while it's in the warranty due to a previous engine problem.

 

Do a search…taller tires will have the same overarching impact on gearing on your 5.0 as it does on any other truck/motor combo on here; the end result is the same, like it or not. These are the facts…taller tires will reduce your overall effective gear ratio, which will reduce power, reduce, fuel mileage, reduce overall drivability qualities, reduce towing capability, etc, etc. These are facts, not opinions. The opinion comes into play when you get different peoples perceptions on how great the impact is. You are already at a disadvantage with buying a new truck with 3.55's, so going to 34-35" tire will be more of a negative impact when compared to someone that started with 3.73's. In the end, it will boil down to what you think about the performance impact and what you are willing to tolerate. Sure, not a bad idea to ask the question and see what people say, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter. Just like atr04screw said "it'll tow just as good as stock"…yea…not so much. You may end up with something you don't mind dealing with and you may not. All the opinions posted on here will not answer that question for you.

I'll tell you this from tried experience though…3.55's and trying to tow with taller tires suuuuuuksssss butt! Period. I learned my lesson and also decided at that moment I'll never upgrade tires on a truck again without budgeting for gears, period. Hands down, the single best performance upgrade I've ever done to my truck. After driving with 3.55's and just 33's for years, going to 4.10's completely transformed my truck. It returned life to the truck I didn't even know was missing. The drivability was transformed and even got back a solid 1-2 mpg in all driving conditions.

What's your hang up with changing gears and the warranty?? Pretty low risk of having any problems in that department.

 

Before I did the tune and cai on my truck it would shift quite a bit on the highway unless i was just straight cruising but i also have 3:73. Gas mileage wise I really didnt lose much maybe 1.5.

But a tune and cai will fix everything. My truck is faster now then it was when it was bone stock.

 

A tune is a band-aid for gearing. Kinda like the old saying there's no substitute for cubic inches. For example, if you think it drives good now, imagine how it'd drive with that tune and the proper gearing. But, your discussion is almost apples vs oranges cause like you said, you have 3.73's.

 

Yeah I know. Just trying to help him in out in some way. A tune is a lot a cheaper then doing a regear on 4x4 especially when has of now ford is the only company that can regear these trucks cause of there different bearing size the new rear ends have or at least this what i was told from a few places i have called.

 

That makes no sense at all. Sounds like someone sold you a bucket of you know what! For one thing, the only thing that needs to be changed for gearing on a darn brand new truck is the ring and the pinion, and those are the same as they've always been. I wouldn't replace bearings and seals on anything this new.

 

Yeah thats what i was thinking and its not the bearing its the pinion shaft is larger then the previous years.

 

yeah re-gearing shouldn't be different. as far as i know its the same 9.75 axle that the2004+ trucks had.