towing with a V10

[NetComrade]

if you had a choice between a 2005 e350 HD base van with 14K miles and 3.73 gear ratio and 2010 e350 HD van with 4.10 gear ratio with 130K both V10, which would you choose if you wanted to tow a 29ft 7K trailer mostly in the mountains (4500lb dry) occasionally. The rest of the time van would be used as people hauler (potentially a kayak business and a relatively light trailer)

Towing capacity is 8K with 3.73 and 10K with 4.10

the 2010 has other goodies like break controller, navi system and backup camera, but these are relatively minor considerations.

Other than year and cost (2010 is actually cheaper), what other considerations would you have? Other than body, are the vans mechanically practically the same?

For example, I've read that the transmission starting with 2005 should have been torque shift. The code under transmission says "T" on the sticker.. I tried to google that and found reference to four speed (on ranger)

​​​​​​​crossposted with ford-trucks.com

 

[sightseers]

Not all V10s are the same, but they are all pretty good engines.

there are 2 valve ones used in the E350 chassis and then the 3 valve motors used in the larger 450 chassis and later chassis.

Plus there are some improvements in the engine and transmissions made over the years.

IMO..  the 2010 with 130k miles may be better towing and cheaper but that millage is about all an automatic transmission that was used for towing can do.

If you save enough on the deal for a $4K trans overhaul job.  the millage is ok on the engine.

 

[NetComrade]

I used to think most cars have a chance of transmission problems past 100K (partly why our cars are all MT), but I didn't think of 'wear and tear' by towing.
I would have hoped HD vans have HD transmissions, but maybe I hope too much..

Unfortunately you can't buy a van with a manual transmission easily (hard enough to find a van that can tow well) but if it goes it's certainly something we could consider (I can hope MT off F-series would fit)

The current price difference is 2k

Another thing we could consider is used car powertrain warranty. Dealership quoted that at 1-2K (6 month to 2 years). I can ask them to throw 1 year into the price.

 

[Seilerbird]

I used to think most cars have a chance of transmission problems past 100K (partly why our cars are all MT), but I didn't think of 'wear and tear' by towing.
I would have hoped HD vans have HD transmissions, but maybe I hope too much.

They do have HD transmissions. The problem is that people keep on overloading their vehicle way beyond the safe limit and then tow something up steep hills as fast as they can go.

 

[sightseers]

Even the transmission the mighty Cummins Ram pickup truck only get about 125k out of their older automatic transmissions.

trucks are tools and even good tools wear out.

 

[NetComrade]

Apparently Chevrolet 3500 are a lot easier to find and they tow 9K+
Unfortunately only after year 2012, so $ goes up
I'll include those in my search..  as there seems to be rather few Ford V10 vans 2005+

Thanks.