Okay, I did my research and knew I would have to make a few changes to make this work and have an idea of what I want to do but thought I'd run it by those that have been there done that before doing it. I have the setup shown in the below photos. The trailer is an 03 Wanderer Wagon and my truck is an 03 F-250 V10 2WD, shortbed crewcab with a 3.73 axle ratio. I never really understood that lame ratio, but hey, apparently a lot of people ordered it. So, I knew I would change that and instead of the tow option of 4.30 offered in 03, I was thinking of going with 4.56's. I don't have a lift and don't intend to get one. I'm running stock size E rated tires on it (265/75R-16 Firestone HT's) and may go up to the 285's with a 2" front spacer, but no more than that ever. I also have a Hypertech Power Programmer III (not installed yet). So, my question is, should I go with the 4.56's, or should I go with the 4.30's?

Secondly, what do you think about adding airbags? The manual says I will be under weight though I intend to weigh it to be sure. Right now it seems to pull fine. I have stock shocks so it's a little bouncy when the raod is rough, but smooth otherwise. I plan to change those out soon anyway. The trailer GCVR is 13,200 and I only haul a couple quads and a bike along with 100 gal of water and 30 gal of fuel.

Last question is about the hitch. Right now the front of the trailer seems to sit a little high and I have the hitch on the highest set of holes. I'm thinking I should lower it, but I had the hitch professionally installed from the previous owners truck to mine and thought that they would have set it up right. In my eyes, it's not right. Normally I do this kind of work myself but as I get older I tend to have less time and more money, so I let somebody else do it. Now I get critical of someone elses work. Anyway, do you think I should go ahead and lower the hitch? I haven't measure the bed rail to trailer clearance yet though and I know I'm going to get asked that. I meant to, but forgot before taking it to storage. The hitch is an 18K Reese slider and came with the trailer (and installed too!!!). I'm just worried that I may be placing too much load on the rear axle of the trailer. Should it be completely level on the bed of the truck, or is there a variance from front to rear that is acceptable i.e 2 inches from front to rear (example: 7 inches of clearance at the rear of the bedrail and 9 inches at the front)?

Thanks for the help so far from this forum, it helped me make the right decision on a trailer and definately opened my eyes to towing bigger trailers and all the things you need to consider when doing it in order to be safe.

Oh, and Happy Holidays to everyone. Santa was good to me this year!

Trailer looks from the pictures to be sitting really nice. I would add the air bags, best money I ever spent when it comes to towing!

I wouldn't go lower than 4.10 if you stay on stock tires.

The big advantage to changing the hitch height is that if the trailer is level when connected to the truck you don't have to disconnect the truck to level the trailer when you stop to camp. If you have the clearance, I would do it. You might check the hitch first as some of them have up/down adjustment. The trailer looks good in the pics and if it's just off a little and you don't notice it in the trailer you may be fine. The other reason for leveling the trailer is to keep the trailer weight even on the axles saving wear on your tires.

I think the 3,73 will be fine with stock sized tires and air bags will be a big plus !

I agree about adding air bags! I added the Firestone Airbags that I ordered from Arizona trucks.com and they made all the difference in towing.

I've already towed it empty for a test run up some similar hills to those I will see on the way to Ocotillio and can say that the 3.73's are a no-go. The truck is okay if you have a run at the hill, but if you have to stop and then go again, it's not much fun. This is without the water in it or the toys. I asked 4 wheel parts about the 4.30's and they said they don't have them and I can have either 4.10 or 4.56. I'm going with the 4.56's. If it proves to be too low then I can always go with bigger tires to bring it back down a little.

Are you saying it takes 20 minutes to get to 30 mph from a dead stop? Are you sure you don't have a tranny slipping? On stock tires the 3.73's shouldn't be that bad. If you put 4.56's in that truck you'll be turning almost 3100 rpm's in third to run 60 mph. Your truck has 425 ft.pnds. of torque and shouldn't struggle too much with that trailer even with 3.73's.

Sorry for the hijack.......I am setting up to tow a 35 foot WW fifth wheel now as well. I tow it with my duramax, no issues on power. The one thing is the getting the trailer level. It sits pin high, and my truck is basically stock with a leveling kit and 285 tires. Nothing major. If I flip the axles I think I will be the other way, pin too low. How can I make some minor adjustments to lower the front or raise the rear without flipping the axles?

i think 4.56 will be overkill

I have the basically the same setup, 35' triple axle Ragen, 285 tires, Chevy 3500 long bed. My trailer sits a little nose high also but in all my trips when I check the tire temps on gas/food breaks I have never found a temp difference between them. I could lower the hitch a notch but I like the clearance I have and as long as the tire temps stay close to each other I'm not changing anything. Not saying you shouldn't adjust your setup just relaying my findings.

This is the temp meter I use. I know it's a cheap one but it's seems pretty accurate. I was surprised to find that when you travel with the sun on one side of your vehicle, those tires will run 20-30 degrees hotter.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=93983

after more thought yeah 373 might be a tad high for that big of a trailer! but if you ask me 456 will be overkill , you got a great deal on a trailer now go find one on a diesel pickup you will love it !

No, it's not that bad at all, but I don't want to overwork my transmission on longer trips because I plan to do more than just Ocotillo and Glamis with this. I used a gear ratio calculator and if I had a 1:1 final transmission ratio, your statement about 3100 rpm to run 60 mph would be correct, but I have an overdrive tranny so my theorhetical rpm at 65 should be 2200 (up from 1800) when in overdrive and that's not bad at all. Right now when I'm unloaded and not pulling anything I run into the speed limiter at 95 mph at around 2600 rpm, so there's plenty of room left and I don't drive that fast anyway. My thoughts are that if I change to 4.56's, I'll still run into the limiter before I run out of steam because with 265's, and 4.56 gears 95 mph in overdrive would be 3200 rpm (again, this is without a trailer and purely for arguments sake, I don't even get on the highway on my way to work).

All of this is computed using the published transmission ratio for the 4 speed overdrive of .71:1. I think the best combo at this point is probably goiong to be the 4.56 gears with 285 tires, and a 2" leveling kit on the front of the truck. I know for certain the 3.73's have to go, and if I change them I'm at least going to go with the 4.30 ratio that Ford offered as an option in 03, but if I then increase the tire size to improve traction in the desert the 4.30's would be only slightly better than what I have now. If I go 4.56, then I can always go with bigger tires to offset it if it's too low, but if I spend the nearly $800 to have it done and it's not low enough, I'll have to do it again. The 285's and the 4.56 gears end up being about the same as the 265's with a 4.30 so the logic is that I can always get the 4.30 ratio back just by changing tires if the 4.56 proves to be overkill.

Does that make sense? I probably overthought this, but I don't want to spend money on something that won't end up right in the end.

I checked the chart and you'll be revving just under 3K @ 60 mph with stock tires in third gear. That actually sounds pretty good, a little high but putting 285's on would bring it down to 2700, still good for towing. I think you're right after looking at the chart again. 4.56

Okay, I'm going to put them in on Wednesday and take the trailer out this weekend. I'll let you know how it comes out.

great info most people don't get the rear end thing and end up burning the rear end or trans. Burned up a Suburban going up the grade to Buell on the way to Pismo. Had the heavy duty trans cooler and just didn't catch the rear end gear in time. Cost me a new truck. Wish I had asked the questions you did then.

Got the truck back today and it doesn't feel much different with the 4.56's in it. RPM is up to 2200 as expected at 65 mph and that is acceptable. I don't know how well it pulls the trailer yet as I have yet to hook it up. The guy at 4 Wheel Parts told me I needed to put about 500 miles on it before I towed with it. That sort of puts a real damper on my weekend. Maybe I'll drive up to 29 Palms tomorrow to visit my buddy, that should give me about 200 miles round trip which probably isn't enough for break in but maybe I can get a little more on it before Friday, dunno.

Probably won't notice much at all unloaded except maybe a little more snap off the line.

Towing, should be a fair amount different.

Just got back from Ocotillo and everything worked great. I had no problems pulling it up the hill and holding 55 mph. Trailer was awesome and the family had a great time. All money well spent.

On another note, it was pretty crowded and I saw 5 incidents on the first day alone requiring medical aid and one in addition to those requiring a helo medevac. Got to be careful out there when its crowded...

Glad to hear you are happy with it. Will you be getting bigger tires now, or did the gearing seem just right ?

Gearing seemed right on so I'm probably going to stick with the stock tires. Honestly I was pretty surprised because this was the first time out with it and the setup worked great - no changes really need to be made at all. Sometimes it pays to do your homework eh?

^^^ never said better