Towing Differences Between 3.73 Gears And 4.10

VeeMax · September 7, 2011

It is confusing, my '09 F250 cc diesel with 3.55's had a trailer weight rating of 10,000lbs. My '07 1500 6.0 with 4.10's has a trailer weight rating of 10,500lbs. Go figure.

Ransom Proctor · September 29, 2011

It is confusing, my '09 F250 cc diesel with 3.55's had a trailer weight rating of 10,000lbs. My '07 1500 6.0 with 4.10's has a trailer weight rating of 10,500lbs. Go figure.

well i towed my toy hauler fully loaded with the family down to arkansas to ride atvs last weekend. we took hwy 65 south from springfield MO thru branson (which is extremely hilly. we drove hwy 7, from harrison arkansas all the way to dover ar. if you haven't driven hwy 7 its a hilly curvey mess. the truck pulled everything great. even with the sections that were 7% slope the trailer brakes and transmssion, plus truck brakes slowed everything well. the bad thing, is that the truck got 7 mpg, but it could have been worse. the trailer had to be grossing 10,000lbs and the truck 7000lbs. needless to say i was impressed.

old-chevy-dude · September 29, 2011

20500 - 16000 = 4500 according to my math.. (not 3500 as stated in post #1)

just sayin'

Ransom Proctor · September 29, 2011

20500 - 16000 = 4500 according to my math.. (not 3500 as stated in post #1)

just sayin'

i didn't have my calculator!

APT · September 29, 2011

Glad to hear the tow went well, despite being over the GCWR and tow rating.

what speeds were you traveling?

Ransom Proctor · September 29, 2011

Glad to hear the tow went well, despite being over the GCWR and tow rating.
what speeds were you traveling?

depends on what part of the road i was on. driving hwy 65 to branson i could stay the speed limit accept pulling the larger hills. on hwy 7 curvey sections any where from 25mph to 45 mph. their are areas where you'll have straight stretches that you can stay the speed limit of 55. i watched the tranny temp and the hottest it got was 195. i had an 08 suburban with a 4speed tranny and pulling my 18 ft trailer with 3 atvs it would hit over 215. i'd stop at a scenic look out spot to let it cool. i was pulling a max of 5000lbs, probably less.

Ransom Proctor · September 29, 2011

hwy 65 to branson's speed limit is 65 mph. i'd put the tranny in manual mode and drive with it in 4th or 5th with the tow haul mode on. driving hwy 7 which is a slow drive even in a car, i usually left it in 4th or 3rd.

APT · September 30, 2011

Thanks for the feedback! I an in process of buying a 3/4 ton Burb with 6.0L/3.73. Trying to judge what FE I'll be getting towing my 6500-ish pound RV at various speeds. Most of my towing is interstate, 65-70mph (I know about the speed rating of the tires). I think I'll be using tow haul mode and limit to 5th gear.

Ransom Proctor · September 30, 2011

Thanks for the feedback! I an in process of buying a 3/4 ton Burb with 6.0L/3.73. Trying to judge what FE I'll be getting towing my 6500-ish pound RV at various speeds. Most of my towing is interstate, 65-70mph (I know about the speed rating of the tires). I think I'll be using tow haul mode and limit to 5th gear.

yep, on flat interstates 5th would work great. i like the 6 speed far more than the 4 speed in my 08 suburban. but it was a 1500 with a 5.3.

Homehauler · September 14, 2017

Buy what you can afford. 4.10 is obviously going to tow better from 0-60. I had a 1500 silverado, great truck , but couldn't tow very much without really straining itself. Had a gas excursion with a 3:73 rearmed and was very disappointed while driving throughout the Kentucky bluegrass mountains. I have a 33ft. Travel trailer that empty weighs 8k. This year bought a 04 silverado HD 6.6l with 4:10 rearmed and couldn't be happier. Of course one I load my trailer with 100 gallons of watet, and all the other items we like to take with us. I know I am pulling about 11k. The trans shifts frequently while going up and down the mountains but causes no concerns. The trailer has its own breaking system so I don't worried about stopping too much. The electronic break control will allow you to manually override the settings and apply full breaks at the trailer, when this is done, it will actually stop the vehicle you are towing with.

TexasMidnight · September 29, 2018

What were GM thinking as for a 360/380 GMC 2500HD 4x4 6.0L from the past to 2016 definitely a poor engineer design of a motor you could surely get better mpg on that motor. Should have been a 384/402 engine to get 13 mpg from the same headers that came with the truck out of that 6.0L. Stronger motor vs a 360 16V but why does it burn cleaner and save more fuel for the the amount of power from an engine? Unreal for me on a 4.10. This tell you that much of how of gas GM motors as powerful they are with gears low ratio at a high RPM. Although we wouldn't know how much towing of weight that it can't do. Any added modification could improve it ability. This tell you that a 360 on 4.10 vs a 2500HD 6.6L on 3.73 but the axle gears are larger in the wheel diameter of a dana of gears from that 10.5 axle to 11.5 to tow the same amount of weight from the drivers manual out of both 2500HD? I am betting that 6.6L surely can tow another 8,000 more weight compare to the 6.0L as far is pulling and towing and def save you 16 to 19 mpg vs that poor 6.0L high RPM. Even adding improved stronger leaf springs and suppression system.

When you buy a truck remember lets not rely on manufactured engines. Go build a new engine on it some great body-styles.
My dream is to have a good all around motor. A 427 LS1 32V 6.2L gas that gets 24/25 MPG on a 6 speed 4.10 gears maybe 3.73 is 28mpg? I would love to have an 8 speed tranny that is able to reach a higher speed on the highways and running a 11.5 axle on a 4.10. But a lot of towing ability for any reason. Maybe it will out preform any duramax as long as you take care of it and change oils on time and by 7,000 miles vs on all units on the trucks every 55,000 miles including the steering fluid, breaks, axle gears, transfer case and tranny just as much saving on fuels.

To me the 3.73 is an all good around gears as long as you got a bigger engine you could pull lot more if under towing. If you are under from a large enough tires and rims the 20 to 18 inch that are using tires is the 285/60/18 and 285/55/20 it just perfect for fuel millage and towing ability. A lot of times the the amount of gas 360 is already under a large RPM and the teq vs pulling under a huge stress. For a 360 should have been 11.5 axle with 3.73 gears for any reason. Reason it all depends on the size of the equipments.