GearVendors OD in my truck

[ttyR2]

Thinking about dropping the coin for one of the GearVendors OD units. List price is around $3k. I have a 2000 Ford F-350 diesel dually CC dually longbox with the 6spd manual.

I don't drive the truck much unloaded on long trips because the engine is singing pretty good at 70mph.

Do any of you guys have experience with one of these GV units? I intend to keep this truck for a very long time, so sinking the money into it doesn't bother me if it would make a difference in fuel mileage when unloaded.

 

[gwcowgill]

It really depends on your final gear ratio. If you have 4:xx gears in the rear, you would probably benefit from the OD unit.

 

[ttyR2]

Yep. 4.10 gears.

 

[Chet18013]

I had a GV on my Dodge 4x4 3500 diesel, which had 4.1 rears. When driving the truck while not towing, I could go down the road at 65 mph at about 1650 rpm. I would get 22.4 mpg when on a long, steady drive across PA on the turnpike. The truck weighed in at 8800 lbs. The 22% overdrive you get with it sure makes the truck a joy to drive and slows the engine down to a reasonable rpm when on the road. Shifting is simple, provided you read the manual and follow the GV instructions. Towing a 16,000 lb. Teton was sure simplified having the extra gears. Hills became a lot easier to pull.

The only problem I had with it was finding a drive line shop who could properly balance the 3 universal drive shaft as a single piece.

Go for it. I certainly considered mine worth having.