E-Fans

[Jackpine]

Yes! DO put the gear PID into your display! Some of what you posted doesn't make sense to me. You should NOT see 4th gear during a passing maneuver! I would expect the transmission to drop probably into 2nd, but at least into 3rd when you are passing at WOT. You'll only see 4th when the load on the powertrain is low, at "cruise", probably above 45-50 mph, depending on how you have things set up.

The low gears and bigger tires MAY keep you in 3rd up to, say 55, but I would not expect it to be much more than that. A lower axle ratio is going to put more load on the powertrain and that will keep you in 3rd gear longer. You INCREASE your axle ratio, or mount smaller tires if you want to get into 4th gear sooner.

- Jack

[Longshot270]

Hey Jack, if he is passing someone at maybe 50-75% APP then he is feeling the 4th gear shift at 80. Otherwise it will be running in 3rd at WOT for the 80s. Sometimes the third or fourth gear shift is so smooth you dont feel it but you do feel the torque converter locking.

[88Racing]

My rational on the gearing was to drop from whatever the truck had down a step more.
So now I see it's 355.
But.
With the slightly larger tire the 33's.
Typical stock is about 31.9".
So the added mass of rolling force may dampen some of the advantages of the larger tire.
That's why I suggested the gear change.
By swapping gears down to say like 308, there's less rolling mass.
Hmmmm interesting concept?

[TTMX911]

Maybe I'm speaking motorcycle when I approach the gearing subject and thats why things might not make sense. Everyone has a different way of explaining things. We'll see if we can clear this up. You would be correct I do use 4th when cruising. I've upped my shift firmness in all gears so I can usually feel them, but when I'm passing I'm guessing I don't feel the down shift to 3rd and then when I'm hitting around 80 mph WOT I feel it shift good and firm to 4th. Long shot......As far as gearing/tires goes I'm seeing what your seeing 50-57 MPH=18+MPG
60-70 MPH=17-17.6 AVMPG
75-80 MPH=18-20 MPG 4th Gear TC Locked out
Irritating isn't it?? My RPMs at Hwy speed 60-70 MPH 33" tires is between 1800-1950. With stock tires RPMs at Hwy speeds were between 1900-2150 if I remember right. It did help a little, but not significantly enough to be worth the money if your tires are still good. Mine were brand new!! and the tire shop only gave me like $40/tire for them b/c they don't sell General Tires!!

Jack: We're saying the same thing.......just differently.
Lower Axle Ratio/Bigger tires= Taller Final Drive Ratio= Longer pull in each gear/less RPM
Higher Axle Ratio/Smaller Tires= Lower Final Drive Ratio= Faster Revs/Goes through gears faster
I don't know about going to a Lower Drive Gear Ratio......I don't think the ROI would be worth it. Honestly I value your opinion and appreciate the input, but I think I'm over thinking this Very interesting concept indeed!
But if anyone wants some first hand experience or has any thoughts on the e-fan setup let me know.

[Longshot270]

yeah....you might be overthinking.
If your tires are bigger but the same weight and width you might see an improvement. But when you increase the tire size you increase the weight which has significant more draw on your mileage.

I was just wondering what your rpms were because I'll be putting on some heavy 32/33 a/ts in a month or two probably.

[Jackpine]

Personally, I think the added mass has only a modest effect on the acceleration when you go to larger tires. Yes, there's more weight to get moving, but that's a small increase. Using my tire as an example, increasing the diameter by two inches adds 15# per tire, 60# for four (about the weight of a child in the truck). Remember, a tire is mostly air.

Of course, there's more rotating inertia to overcome with a larger tire but:

My tires (about 31" with "squish" factored in) spin at about 650 rpm at 60 mph, hardly a dizzying rotational speed. 33" tires spin at 611 rpms and 35" tires spin at 576. So even though there is a small increase in rotational inertia, a larger tire doesn't even have to be brought up to the same rotational speed, there's a "cancellation" effect. Once the tires reaches that speed, it wants to stay there.

But, let's assume you see 250 ft-pounds of RW torque at the real axle. This translates to a "pushing" force of 193.5# at the road contact surface of a 31" tire. If you increase the tire diameter to 33", that force drops to 181.8#. With a 35" tire, you are down to 171.5#. The change from 31 to 33 inch tires gives you a 6% reduction in accelerative force, and a change from 31 to 35 inches reduces the accelerative force you feel by 11%.

Those percentages are significant and are the result of a loss of "mechanical advantage" caused by the larger tire. It is not the weight of the tire.

- Jack

[Longshot270]

Good post Jack.

[88Racing]

To the OP.
Here's a good read on Troyer's efan kit.
Troyer E-Fan - F150online Forums

[BlackSTX]

FYI: As far as the original Motorcraft plugs in your truck being standard fare cheap copper, I believe they are actually using double platinum plugs, not copper. Hence the 100k tune up interval they suggest for plug replacement.

I also do think there are probably better plugs available, but I doubt that they will truly provide you enough of a difference to alter your mileage enough to make them worth it.