4x4 Shopping Help at UJOINT

[JohnandMandi]

We have been full time for 7 years in an 01 7.3 poptop 5.5” 4.10 on 33s with a semi-float D60, our van was de-quigleyed by Ujoint. We are right at 9,500lbs when full of fuel and water. Chris said we’d be fine with the semi-float and he was right. We are travelers and not off roaders. That doesn’t mean we don’t drive off road as it isn’t our sole intent but it is necessary to get to where we want to sometimes. We’ve driven 100k miles during our travels and have averaged 14.8 mpg.

Our van has Aluminess front and rear bumpers but if we didn’t need the storage space we’d prefer to be shorter. With the bumpers we are right at 20’ or 6.1 meters. We’ve scraped our rear hitch more times than we care to admit but we’ve been fortunate to never catch the rear bumper on anything…except a muddy embankment where we managed to perfectly scoop a 4 ft pine into the drivers corner like a small running flag. We don’t have lockers but have a set of MaxTrax which we have used many times.

On brakes, it’s one of the areas we’ve had quite a bit of maintenance and issues. Personally we’d get the best available but we did drive a lot of our miles in the mountains. We think we crossed the Andes 3 or 4 times in Ecuador and 6 or 7 times in Peru, many of the passes over 14k feet with several over 16 to 17k. Knowing what we do now we recommend only getting the best with stainless caliper pistons. That’s probably overkill for the US but when we pull off the road it’s on our todo list.

Not sure if any of that helps but it’s our experience.

[motovan_mn]

Originally Posted by JohnandMandi

We have been full time for 7 years in an 01 7.3 poptop 5.5” 4.10 on 33s with a semi-float D60, our van was de-quigleyed by Ujoint. We are right at 9,500lbs when full of fuel and water. Chris said we’d be fine with the semi-float and he was right. We are travelers and not off roaders. That doesn’t mean we don’t drive off road as it isn’t our sole intent but it is necessary to get to where we want to sometimes. We’ve driven 100k miles during our travels and have averaged 14.8 mpg.

Our van has Aluminess front and rear bumpers but if we didn’t need the storage space we’d prefer to be shorter. With the bumpers we are right at 20’ or 6.1 meters. We’ve scraped our rear hitch more times than we care to admit but we’ve been fortunate to never catch the rear bumper on anything…except a muddy embankment where we managed to perfectly scoop a 4 ft pine into the drivers corner like a small running flag. We don’t have lockers but have a set of MaxTrax which we have used many times.

On brakes, it’s one of the areas we’ve had quite a bit of maintenance and issues. Personally we’d get the best available but we did drive a lot of our miles in the mountains. We think we crossed the Andes 3 or 4 times in Ecuador and 6 or 7 times in Peru, many of the passes over 14k feet with several over 16 to 17k. Knowing what we do now we recommend only getting the best with stainless caliper pistons. That’s probably overkill for the US but when we pull off the road it’s on our todo list.

Not sure if any of that helps but it’s our experience.

Great to hear about at least one semi-float not exploding on the road!

In all seriousness, I'm sure the several accounts of people having their semi-float axles fail are the minority, but we never hear from the people who have used and abused their semi-floats for years. Because why would they log onto the forum to tell us about that!

[Lilnuts2]

Originally Posted by MaineWildlands

Sorry for confusion, somehow I got that backwards. I'll clarify, I get better mileage at high speed with the GV overdrive.

Without overdrive engaged, the 7.3 will be turning about turning 2200-2300 RPMs, at 70-75, it gets roughly 13.5 MPG

With the Gear Vendor overdrive engaged, the 7.3 will be turning about 1700-1800 RPMs at 70-75, and it gets around 15 MPG.

I tested that on a trip down to PA and back about 10 years ago, and it was around 1.5 miles per gallon improvement. I should test again sometime, but I almost always use the secondary overdrive on any long distance where I get over 65mph.

Ok, that makes sense. I didn't realize the GV reduced the rpm's that much, that is impressive. With a heavy van having only 4 speeds in the auto tranny, makes having the proper gear ratio crucial. Unless you have upped your HP fairly significantly, if you gear for a low rpm at highway speed you will be overgeared everywhere else and your van will be a pooch that shifts way to much.

With my 7.3 I felt Ford did a very good job with the stock gearing in relation to tire size, weight and use. Any mods should try to preserve that same final drive ratio.

[Vanimal]

I am running 4.30 ratio up from 4.10 with a 7.3 E350 on 35's. Really glad I swapped up except at 80-85. If you stay at65-70 then I get great mileage, not so much higher than that but great on grades as well.

[maxswasser]

Thanks all for the input and advice. I think I'm just going to send it with the Sterling and front brake upgrades.

I have the 3.55 right now, and with 30's I am doing about 1800 rpm at 70 so I think 4.10 should be fine.

[maxswasser]

Originally Posted by MaineWildlands

I have a 7.3 with 4.10s, running 34" tires, and I can tell you that you won't be under 2000 RPMs at 65. It won't hurt the engine, but the fuel mileage will drop going over 2k RPMs. I have a secondary overdrive from Gear Vendor that allows me to cruise at 1700 RPMs at 70. It allows a half step on each gear from the transmission, which can help with hauling, but I primarily use it when cruising the interstate.

This is very interesting option. How much are these? Should I get this done when they have my transmission out?

[Twoxentrix]

I had looked at this couple years ago when it came up in topic on this Forum:
https://www.gearvendors.com/4x4f4s.html

[MaineWildlands]

Originally Posted by maxswasser

This is very interesting option. How much are these? Should I get this done when they have my transmission out?

https://www.gearvendors.com/prices.html

I want to say it works flawlessly after 17 years with just oil changes. I don't use it much for the lower gears, but it offers a half step on each of the OEM gearing, and can be used if hauling very heavy loads. I absolutely love it when I am traveling 65+ on the highway.

Hit 65, let off gas, step on the GV floor switch, it swaps into the overdrive, and then accelerate. If you slow down, it will kick out of overdrive gear automatically, or you can step on the button to switch the overdrive off to get more power on hill climbs.

My one complaint is that the overdrive can switch out when coasting down hills when the automatic transmission solenoid releases the clutch for better fuel mileage. Sometimes you have to kick it back in.

[MaineWildlands]

Originally Posted by Twoxentrix

I had looked at this couple years ago when it came up in topic on this Forum:
https://www.gearvendors.com/4x4f4s.html

Oh, that's a better link on their site. Thank you!