Re: [A/S] Towing

["Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer" <geraldj@xxxxxxxx>]

3.73 or 4.10... I did that to my 4.6L F-150 with manual transmission and
it tows my Caravel super. Your 31' is a lot heavier. I'd vote for the
4.10. Cost me $480 in Iowa installed in a hot rod performance shop.
Don't forget the speedometer drive gears too. They were harder to find
than the axle gears. Start at a dealer parts department, then search for
a dealer in stock car parts for racing. Dig into Trucking magazine for
vendors of gears who might have a lead on speedometer gears beyond what
the factory can supply.

There is a company in Arkansas who makes an electronic speedometer
corrector for computerized vehicles, also one in Australia. The
Australian one is cheaper, but might not be as versatile.

Another possibility is a drastic change in tire size. Its hard to find a
low profile tire as wide as your original tire but your tires are
probably about 29" o.d. changing to 21 (really drastic) is like changing
to a 4.25 axle gear. And helps the brakes to be more effective at the
same time. Won't go over a dead raccoon in the road though and still
needs the speedometer gear change. 24" diameter drive tires would give
the same thrust as going to 3.73 gears with the stock tires. Around here
a set of tires isn't that much different from the gear change. And the
super low profile tires are uncommon.

Gerald J.