Ford 350 Diesel Mileage

[judyuk]

Hi,
This is a question for the Ford owners.
We're looking at buying the F350,Crew cab,4x4 DRW LWB. We are also looking seroiusly at the Montana 3400. There are 3 axle ratios available on the truck - 3.73, 4.10 & 4.30. The first two have the same max loaded trailer (5th wheel) rating of 15,600. However, the 4.30 has a rating of 18,100. We are considering the Tow Boss package - a $700 (list)option which will give us the 4.30 limited slip rear-end so that we aren't 'pushing' the limits of the truck if we wind up with something other than the 3400. What we don't know is the affect on mileage/performance going from a 4.10 to a 4.30 rear-end. It seems a lot of the (newer) used 350's we see advertised meeting our needs have the 4.10 rear-end.

[HamRad]

Judyuk,
I can't give you any info on the 350 but I have a 450 with the 4.88 gears. I debated some time before I opted for the higher ratio. But I decided I didn't want to worry about exceeding the various weight restrictions. I had expected that the higher ratio would decrease my fuel mileage. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover I get about the same mileage as I did with my 250.

I would opt for the same type of thing when and if we ever trade.

Good luck.

HamRad

[David and Jo-Anna]

You can pull the 3400 with the 3.73 just fine--it will be less than 15,600# towing load.

The bigger question comes in terms of stopping the 3400 when panic braking or going down a steep hill. And when it comes to stopping the 3400, the higher axle ratios don't help with braking, so again not much to be gained by going with the higher axle ratio.

[CampingCrazyShirley]

We have the F350 dually longbed diesel. We have 4:10 gears. We pull a 33' Travel Supreme...heavy rig...never a problem. Much heavier rig than you would be pulling. We have a 3500RL on order. Dry weight on our Supreme is around 14,000. Our mpg without pulling is about 17 and when pulling a solid 8. Hope this helps. We like the 4:10 gear ratio as it seems to be the right ones for the amount of pulling we do vs regular driving. That is also something else to consider. Good luck.

[Wrenchtraveller]

I would go with the 4.30s for the extra engine braking you will gain as well as the higher tow capacity which will give your truck a higher resale as well as let you load up your 3400 with no worry. Fuel useage will not differ that much.

I had a 95 PSD with 4.10s and a 2000 PSD and 2004 PSD with 3.73s. I liked the 4.10s much better and the 95 was the best on fuel of all three but it also was a lighter truck.

This is one of the good things of going dually, you can get a real towing rear end like the 4.30s . Go with the Tow Boss and have a real towing brute. Ford only offers the 3.73s in the SRW models and that is a pity.

[Bluegill]

This probably wont be real helpful info, But I'll speak anyway.
We chose the 3.73 gears because we wont be pulling the trailer a whole bunch. And I would rather have those gears on my truck for daily driving than the DeeeeeeeP 4:30 gears. If I had planned on doing a lot of pulling than I would choose the 4:30 gears and be satisfied with what ever my mileage was.
With today's technology...I cant see where the mileage would be as bad as it would have been 15 or 20 years ago.
Again, This is only my opinion and I can not speak from experience. Maybe one of the more experienced deisel guys will have the right answer for ya.... I'm gunna go away now.

Blue

[JH Sechelt]

We have the 3.73 gears, and pull the West Coast Mountains all the time. No problems yet. ( 2nd F350 with 3.73's).
definitely nice to get the higher fuel mileage when not pulling the trailer.



J&D

[Fordzilla]

Mine has the 4.10 gears and I get 16-17 driving back and forth to work, and got a little over 10 pulling the trailer 150 miles each way for our furthest camping trip since we got the DRW. We will have a better update after the Rally as we plan to keep good records on the trip out and back. I opted for just the 4.10's because of the extra weight of the Monty over the previous trailer and because the DRW weighs a little more than the SRW as well.

[adelmoll]

We have the 350 extended cab with the 3.73. It has pulled us through Hell and High Water without any problems We get between 10-13 mpg when we are towing which is most of the time. By all means, get the tow boss package. We love ours.

Helen

[Broome101]

4:10 here and get about 12 MPG towing about 15-18 empty.

[richfaa]

If your budget allows it...get the biggest, toughest, Highest tow capacity Truck your budget can support.

[Wagonmaster]

I have the same truck you are talking about. I have the 410 gears and get 10mpg with the trailer and about 15 to 16 solo. But we are retired and don't do much driving except to the doctors and camping. We are waiting to sell our house before fulltiming. Jack

[pud2]

We have the 4:10 gears. I had the 3:73's in my 99. I think the 4:10 will do you just fine in what you pull. We get 10.5 pulling and around 16-17 empty but only have 2500 miles on it. Can even tell the RV is back there.

[richfaa]

Now I have the 05 Ford V-10 and I am doing almost as well as the diesel towing, depending on conditions 8 to 9mpg with a occasional 10mpg..Not towing is a different story with the diesel doing much better.There is a thread on another forum on fuel milage with the diesel and I am surprised at how close the numbers are between gas/diesel.. We were looking at going to a diesel in 08/09..don't know???

[SKOOBDO]

I have the 4:10 gears, but wanted the 4:30 gears, but I would have had to order the truck and wait. I checked many dealers including the internet for in stock trucks, but either the color was wrong or the options so I went with the 4:10...and I didn't want any after market retro fits. I would suggest going with the 4:30. I'm getting about 15mpg (combination city/highway). Good Luck! Allison

[judyuk]

Thanks, that gives us a better idea....sounds like it's not a big issue, unless we're hauling a heavier 5er than the Montana.

Judy

[Wrenchtraveller]

Rich, on your comment about the new V10's towing mileage, I too am very happy and in the Spring my brother has an 05 Cummins and was pulling a unit about 4000 pounds lighter than mine. When we compared fuel useage, the Cummins was better but not nearly as big a difference as we both thought. I will be keeping this V10 for as long as it takes the diesel engines to get over the emmission growing pains and I am sure that will be a minimum of 5 years.

[richfaa]

WT..I took a gamble when I went with the V-10 instead of the diesel.Based on the data we were getting here from Ford folks there were just to many unknowns but the general feeling was the new standards were going to have a significant impact on price, efficiency and MPG . Now IMO there is still another shoe to drop with the big Gas motors but it looks like just about all of the predictions on the diesel are proving true. We knew we would no doubt have a need for the diesel in 08/09..By that time the Numbers will have fallen out???

[Old GI]

I have the F350, DRW, long bed with the crew cab. I opted for the tow boss package which includes the 4.30 rear end. I wanted to be able to tow whatever 5er we wanted. This beast hauls my 2955RL like it's a toy, we are now awaiting our 3400RL. Ford built this truck to tow and tow it does. I have 11,600 miles on it and am getting between 12.6 and 13MPG, my mechanic son told me that it hasn't finished it's break in yet and the mileage will get better as time goes on.

[Fordzilla]

Old GI, I have been told that before as well and noticed an improvement after 10 thousand miles or so. I am just over 9k now and hoping it improves some over the next 10k or so