I'm trying to find F-350 with the 6.2 and 4.30 gears

[La Cajun]

I have 2013 F350 Dually with the 6.2 gas engine and a 4.30 rear end and 2 wheel drive, which had to be special ordered as none were on dealer lots with those specs. Tow a 2017 Jayco Seismic Wave 310W Toy Hauler 41' long - scaled out at 24,500, 8,000 being the truck and 16,500 being the trailer last Sept returning from Tulsa Ok to Louisiana. The new 6 speed transmission is much better than the old 5 speed also for towing. I have no problems pulling this trailer with this gas engine. Had a 2006 F250 6.0 Diesel prior pulling a 14,000 lb gooseneck horse trailer. I had too many problems with the diesel starting around 90k miles, so switched to the 6.2 gas and don't regret it at all. I pulled the horse trailer with the 6.2 gas also and couldn't tell much difference between it or the diesel, noting that the 6.0 PSD was not the best diesel by a long shot. I would definitely recommend getting the 4.30 gears - that makes a world of different with the 6.2 gas engine. I couldn't justify the $8k extra for the 6.7 diesel as I only tow approx. 6,000 miles a year and drive the truck very little when not towing. Truck is over 7 yrs old now and only has 61k miles. I would buy this same setup again if I had to do it over again. Good luck

[goducks]

Gassers are fine on the flats but once you hit the mtns towing heavy it gets old real fast.

[TXJACO]

Originally Posted by goducks

Gassers are fine on the flats but once you hit the mtns towing heavy it gets old real fast.

I agree with the gasser and mountains. I live in central Texas and no mountains, but some hill country to the west. Yes, I'm 100% good on the flats, and it sometimes it downshifts into 4th gear going up the hills. I keep it out of 6th as it performs much better in 5th while towing. I also have found out my gas mileage is MUCH better if I keep it out of tow mode (unless I'm going from a dead stop then uphill.) With that being said, my 6.2L gasser with 3.73 gears for where I live works out AOK pulling my 10k lb. TT.

[67L48]

Originally Posted by niknak

[...] Does anybody have any advice on finding them? I have been using Auto Trader and putting "4.30" in the keyword search bar. I really don't want a diesel, [...]

The only recent Ford diesel with 4.30 gears is an F-450. As long as you're only searching SRW trucks, the 4.30 as a search term will not only include gasoline engines, it will be exclusive to gasoline engines.

Over at the Ford forums, there are quite a few threads about people looking for 4.30 gears. They're few and far between ... a bit like trying to find an F-150 HDPP. They're such a specific, purpose-built configuration that most dealerships don't order them for stock ... they tend to stock 3.73 gears and special order the 4.30s.

[morleyz]

I HAD a 2017 F250 SCLB 6.2 with 3.73. Payload was 3400ish and towed my Eagle TT at 11K just fine. You'll appreciate the slightly better mileage with the 3.73s when your 34 gallon gas tank needs to be filled at every gas station you see (while towing). Mountains were slow, but mileage and range were the worst with the 6.2.

Changed to a F350 diesel earlier this year...I'll never go back, but the gasser really wasn't bad.

[niknak]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I took a break from looking, but started again. We almost bought a 5th wheel camper today, it was a keystone hideout 2018 leftover. They had it makes down to $25k from $40k.

My wife is against buying a new truck, I might go to the dealership and price it out and see what payments will be.

[67L48]

The dealership is the absolute worst place to price out a new truck and/or see what payments will look like. I strongly recommend you figure out both way before you step foot inside a dealership.

[niknak]

Originally Posted by 67L48

The dealership is the absolute worst place to price out a new truck and/or see what payments will look like. I strongly recommend you figure out both way before you step foot inside a dealership.

What do you mean by figure out both ways? Figure out the prices on my own?

[67L48]

I didn’t say to figure out both ways. I said, “[...] figure out both way before you step foot inside a dealership.” That is, long before you step foot inside a dealership, figure out both (1) how a truck prices out and (2) what your payments will look like.

Your time at a dealership should be purely transactional. You should never learn anything at a dealership.

[niknak]

Gotcha, thanks.

[kayakterp]

Originally Posted by niknak

Wow, that's sad about the Tundra. You only get 12mpg empty?

Sorry for the confusion. I get about 12 MPG empty with the Ford (11-12.5MPG) but I also have a heavy foot (esp on my way to work in the mornings)
I got about 16 MPG empty with the Tundra (15-17MPG)
Towing I get about one-two MPG better with the Tundra

[Jay2504]

Being a Chevy guy, I am no expert on Fords by far. I did look up transmission gear ratios for the 2018 Super Duty, with the 6 speed. I did the math and here is what I found were the equivalent gear ratios at 1to1 like trucks used to be in top gear: 5th gear with 3.73 axle = 3.25. 6 gear with 3.73=2.57.
5th gear with 4.30 axle= 3.74. 6th gear with 4.30 = 2.96.
As you can see, the 3.73 truck is very close in 5th gear to the 4.30 truck in 6th gear, IMHO that “quarter step” lower in 5th with the 3,73 might be more likely to stay in that gear on small hills on the freeway, given the fact that the engine we are talking about likes to rev more than a pushrod type engine.
Assume 32 inch tires and 60 mph, the rpm @ 60 mph:
5th with 3.73 = 2048, 6th with 4.30 = 1865. Drop the 4.30 truck to 5th = 2356.
Now start up a hill and need to down shift. In 4th gear:
3,73 truck = 4.25, 4.30 truck= 4.90.
Like the Chevy 6 speed there is a pretty big jump in overall gear ratio between 4th and 5th gears, not so much between 5th and 6th gears.
Bottom line? nicnak might actually do a little better with a 3.73 truck in 5th gear than a 4.30 truck in 6th gear. What would really help is someone who has a 3.73 truck and a similar 5th wheel tell us which gear he goes down the freeway in while towing? Does the truck drop down to 4th gear at the slightest hill? Maybe the truck needs 5th gear AND 4.30 gears to avoid shifting a lot between 4th and 5th on the freeway. Keep in mind that tire size also plays a big role in overall gear ratio. If the OP is planning a big wheel and tire package, that changes everything. Jay