sle2115
NRA LIFE MEMBER
Just wanted to post some information on my experience with the gear change...
Drove to deer camp, about 2 hours (longest drive I've taken my IDI on as well) and all went well. Having had 3.55's and 4.10's, both for quite sometime, I have to tell you, neither compare to the 3.73's. At the rally in Kentucky, several of us talked about the gears in these trucks and pretty much all agreed 3.73's were about perfect. I have to tell you, for me, they are! I drove up some pretty steep grades in W.VA. and the truck pulled in 4th. gear without breathing hard or losing speed. I was able to run 60-65 never floorboarding the fuel feed. Even with the 4.10's, I had to work the truck much harder, I think the 3.73's are just the sweet spot for where my particular engine makes power, around 2200-2600 RPM's. These grades with the 3.55's would have required at least 3rd gear possibly 2nd and with a great loss of speed. The 4.10's would have required the engine to work hard and fuel feed to be pushed nearly through the floor.
Now, I need to get a speedo gear for this ratio and my worthless local stearlership says the only thing available is for 4.10's and that's all they put in these trucks. Since my truck was bone stock with 3.55's, I know he's full of cow manure.
The camp is about 2 miles off the beaten path, of course, it's all down hill once you role through the gate, which makes it easy to get into, but not so much getting out! It rained the whole two days we were there, and honestly, having been stuck in wet grass in 2wd prior to the limited slip install, i was getting quite worried! I could just picture the camping trip becoming my new address once I buried a 7500 lb truck! When I topped the hill and made the gate, I have to admit I was all smiles. My girlfriend said she thought I was having lots of fun, and I was! We went through some pretty nasty stuff then up about a 1/2 mile hill that was nothing but steep and mud! Truck performed flawlessly other than one hitch going in. I shifted into 4X4 in the middle of a pretty severe mudhole...the transfer case shifter linkage popped off on the tcase end (Ford engineers and those little plastic bushings...sucks!). And of course, it didn't come off before shifting the tcase into neutral...so before it even got good, I had to crawl in the mud! Needless to say, I'm making a heim joint setup for this POS prior to going back to camp!
Camp is pretty cool. I bought into a limited lease, 800 acres, 12 leasee who are each allowed to bring one guest, so we have 800 acres between a max of 24 people to hunt on. It is bordered by a nice stream as well, so we can fish, etc. Now I'm looking for a low cost camper that I can gut and just park there. There is no electric hookups, etc. so just need something to sleep in, stay warm in and maybe a stove to cook a meal.
Drove to deer camp, about 2 hours (longest drive I've taken my IDI on as well) and all went well. Having had 3.55's and 4.10's, both for quite sometime, I have to tell you, neither compare to the 3.73's. At the rally in Kentucky, several of us talked about the gears in these trucks and pretty much all agreed 3.73's were about perfect. I have to tell you, for me, they are! I drove up some pretty steep grades in W.VA. and the truck pulled in 4th. gear without breathing hard or losing speed. I was able to run 60-65 never floorboarding the fuel feed. Even with the 4.10's, I had to work the truck much harder, I think the 3.73's are just the sweet spot for where my particular engine makes power, around 2200-2600 RPM's. These grades with the 3.55's would have required at least 3rd gear possibly 2nd and with a great loss of speed. The 4.10's would have required the engine to work hard and fuel feed to be pushed nearly through the floor.
Now, I need to get a speedo gear for this ratio and my worthless local stearlership says the only thing available is for 4.10's and that's all they put in these trucks. Since my truck was bone stock with 3.55's, I know he's full of cow manure.
The camp is about 2 miles off the beaten path, of course, it's all down hill once you role through the gate, which makes it easy to get into, but not so much getting out! It rained the whole two days we were there, and honestly, having been stuck in wet grass in 2wd prior to the limited slip install, i was getting quite worried! I could just picture the camping trip becoming my new address once I buried a 7500 lb truck! When I topped the hill and made the gate, I have to admit I was all smiles. My girlfriend said she thought I was having lots of fun, and I was! We went through some pretty nasty stuff then up about a 1/2 mile hill that was nothing but steep and mud! Truck performed flawlessly other than one hitch going in. I shifted into 4X4 in the middle of a pretty severe mudhole...the transfer case shifter linkage popped off on the tcase end (Ford engineers and those little plastic bushings...sucks!). And of course, it didn't come off before shifting the tcase into neutral...so before it even got good, I had to crawl in the mud! Needless to say, I'm making a heim joint setup for this POS prior to going back to camp!
Camp is pretty cool. I bought into a limited lease, 800 acres, 12 leasee who are each allowed to bring one guest, so we have 800 acres between a max of 24 people to hunt on. It is bordered by a nice stream as well, so we can fish, etc. Now I'm looking for a low cost camper that I can gut and just park there. There is no electric hookups, etc. so just need something to sleep in, stay warm in and maybe a stove to cook a meal.
All you really need to do to an enclosed trailer is run some power (don't just use terminal strips), throw in a portable toilet, something to sleep on, some plastic storage drawers from wally world, a microwave, minifridge, and an electric heater. Of course if you are at camp, you may be able to skip a lot of that since electricity probably isn't available.
