On the drive shafts the part numbers are the same. Every single one is going to have a different serial number that identifies it specifically.

You can't go off the serial number. The part number is what you go by. If the part number is the same, they're using the same parts. The serial number is that specific item.

The whole point of serial numbers is to be different for each individual part made. That is literally what separates it from model numbers.

The max payload package is independently available. The rear axle rating is spring-limited, the basic axle is the same. You can also get the dual tanks with or without max towing, regardless of payload capacity. The drive lines, frame, and axle housings are identical. A little research on the Ford website, as well as the dedicated forums, will tell you all of this.

For gearing choose the ratio that gets you somewhere around 2000 rpm for your desired cruising speed. Since I tow heavy equipment (forklifts & such), I run 60 MPH so the 4.30s would be fine for me. I have no business going any faster than that for the weight I pull. Your situation would most likely be different.

You are making valid point. Problem is, you don’t need max towing in Hot Shot. Money is in light loads. I’ve only been over the road driver for 14 years and a tow truck driver for 10 year before that. But what do I know. Now the graph you pointed out from Ford is completely BS marketing. I figured that out 4 years ago on my Ram 5500. Ask any gear builder. 4:10 - 4:30 is not near enough difference to change the tow capacity that much. It’s literally only a few teeth. Such a marking joke.

Go for the gearing with the limited slip.

The axle tag is different because the gearing is different, the drive shaft tag is the same as the drive shafts would not need to be different if they build them all to handle max weight they do not need to stock multiple types of drive shafts. The springs could be the same but that still does not give the weight limit increase, if you have an accident over the vehicle weight you will have issues even if you swapped the axle to the max tow axle, unless the truck is certified for max weight from the manufacture it is not legit to max tow. It doesn't matter if you are happy about it or not but you need to stay within the manufactures tow rating for insurance and liability. When I was younger I had a heavier license plate on my vehicle because the state just weighed the farm truck and if the license plate covered the weight they let you go, now they will check your VIN for the weight it can carry and you will have issues if you are over on the vehicle or license plate weights. Be safe and stay alive.

if you are going to pull commercially you might as well pay for a tractor, you have a bed, you have a higher tow capacity, the state fees are the same you still have to get your authorities, and I knew a guy that was towing with a regular truck and switched to a tractor, and he liked the tractor better, when he hit the brakes he knew he was going to stop where with a pickup if your trailer brakes go you take your life in your own hands if you haul heavier than the weight of the truck

Max payload (gas engine single cab short wheelbase) vs. max tow (diesel and such) depends on what your after

Regarding frames... at 12:55 you can see the Max Tow frame has what appears to be an extra layer of frame steel rivited onto the frame.

You should look up the SAE J2807 towing tests. The vehicle get certified by the weights they can safely tow in the test. They stop on a steep hill and need to start again to get to a required speed on the hill, gearing matters in the tests. What ever you do you cannot go over the max weight the manufacture labeled the vehicle as with out risking problems down the road. There is a pretty good video on the SAE J2807 on TFL truck.

Why would serial number be same on both trucks?

I encourage you to drive a non max tow f550 while pulling a load not just empty with the bed on it. I watched your video test driving the f550 with aluminum bed. That’s not what these trucks are designed to do. They are designed to be hooked to a trailer 24/7. I just purchased a 2024 f550 lariat 4.10 limited slip. I’ll tell you coming from owning 2019,2021,2022 pickup truck f450s. And daily driving and pulling with them. This 550 is a completely different animal the performance comes from the stiffness of the frame and leaf pack while towing the stability is out of this world. With the gooseneck pulling 20klbs through the mountains in Colorado and Utah on 7% grades and windy roads I can’t even feel the trailer behind me in 45 mph cross winds. I don’t even have to put my hand on the steering wheel it’s so stable and planted to the road. The 4.10 are perfectly fine for towing heavy like I said - climbing 7% grades in Moab passing semi trucks. You’re fine bro. Get whatever truck is available. These are not pickup trucks they are a completely different class. You gotta hook a trailer to see the difference !

It's all about your particular application, and target speeds. It's literally less than a 5% difference. If your target speed allows for it, run the 4.30s. If it doesn't, get the 4.10... or whatever suits your application. The main thing is to have your target speed at about 100RPM above peak torque with overdrive engaged.

They need to bring back two speed axles

One other thing about the max tow, when optioning that package the 4:30s are where it starts, with the 4:88s as an option.

Defiantly add the max tow to every truck!

We have two exact Ram 6.4 3500 4x4 regular cab single rear wheel trucks. The truck with 4.10 walks away on the take off from the 3.73 geared Ram. Going to do a highway run yet.to.see what happens? Also back in the 90's on the original Ford Supernduty F450's there was a 5.13 gear option

Look at the frame on HD. In the middle of the truck the HD has extra steel member on top that wraps around the outside.

We have 2 F450 Chassis Cab trucks one with the 4.30 and one with the 4.10 both are 2023 MY. I honestly couldnt tell the difference and this is with a reefer box out back.

It's a no brainer! Max Tow is the way to go!

I would like to see hd trucks without the fuel tank behind axle . The fuel tanks subtract from tongue weight .

hi bro can you make a video on freightliner M2 112 or 106

My 1955 Ford in my driveway has 31,000 GCVW. 14, 000 rear weight max. 2 speed Eaton with 6 spokes. 8.00 / 20 rims.

Depends what your doing with the truck. DOT will look at that GVWR on truck and on rear axle if they think you are close on weight at a scale. Seen a truck with a gooseneck pulled over at a portable scale pulled off to the side last year by the DOT

The serial number is specific to the exact part it is on. That's like that parts VIN. 2 identical units off the exact same line on the same day will have different serial numbers.

Great comparisons now what about a F600 thrown into the mix for towing either a Luxe or New Horizons? Agreed always err on the side of payload for multiple reasons, least of all would be economy.

I personally would get the 4:30 with max tow! I believe this gives you more cooling for transmission which is so important to protect! Run the tires off it and then next set would be 245s instead of 225s that should put gear ratio around the 4:10 mark. Look up tire gear ratio calculator to verify exact number? Why is axle diameter?

What do all those packages mean. What do you get for that price

thing I hate about those 225/70/19.5 is they are so short, you can put 245/70s on the max tow with the 4.30 and it will help some they are 2 inches taller i drove one with 4.88 gears and that 6.7 was screaming and it didnt last long doing it either

Nice truck

Serial # is going to be different on every drive shaft made. Srl # is unique to that one drive shaft or anything that is serialized. Your VIN which is a serial number is different than any other vehicle made.

Both are fine

F550 have 4.88 gears that’s great for working flat beds but reduce power compared f450 and below

I would go 4.10 gears for highway hilly mountainous areas or local only 4.30. They should offer the max tow on both versions.

rpms are to high on 4:30 rear for highway use. 4:10 is perfect for 6.7s

They’ll both pull like nobody’s business. The pickup doesn’t know what little numbers are printed on the sticker

For every person who buys _a little MORE truck than they need, 50 people convince themselves, they _don't need_ what the manufacturer recommends.......

I would buy the one with 2 tanks.. these trucks only get 6 mpg horrible on fuel.

2024 and they still aren't giving you 4 aluminum wheels on the back and LED tail lamps? Hate to say it but RAM gives you both of those.

It may cost $80k The brake lights are still from the 1970s era

4.30 rear end helps take strain off your transmission and engine when taking off and climbing mountains witch will help make your transmission last longer especially since transmissions cost as much as they do now its well worth the 1 to 2 mpg your gonna lose now i cut and demo concrete we have 2 4500 rams 1 has a 4.10 the other has a 4.40 rear end the truck with the 4.10 gets 9 mpg and the truck with the 4.40 gets 10 and the pne with the 4.40 is at 22k everyday and the 4.10 truck is at 17k yes one is a little over loaded but its not according to dot also the truck that has 4.40 rear end is on its way out it has 400k on it and a 5500 will be replacing it

The difference in rpm is not going to be that much between a 4.10 and a 4.30. So I don’t know that the fuel mileage is going to be a factor. I guess it just would depend on if you need the extra GCWR. Also you are thinking like a consumer owner and not a commercial owner when you mention being sluggish. Again, the performance won’t be much different. Probably a slight advantage for the 4.10. But loaded with the kind of weight you’re talking about is going to put these trucks in the 40 mph range on steep grades. Which is good because a max loaded semi truck is going to be in the 20s. In my part of the country with some of these grades we have they are in the teens. So again, that is irrelevant. They are not going to fly up a grade like we all do with our weekend warrior loads.

When are you people going to learn! A 4.30 will get better fuel mileage because the engine is not working as hard to maintain the speed. This is how you save on fuel. The smaller the gear, the harder the engine has to work to maintain the speed. Work harder=more fuel. A higher RPM has nothing to do with fuel consumption.

I have a 2022 with the 7.3 gas......max tow ........the 4.30 gears with the 10spd are ridiculous.

Low grunt for heavey loads, the max tow.

Find 2 identical spec trucks and the serial numbers won’t match. If the part number is the same, they’re the same. The serial numbers are used for tracking purposes. There isn’t enough difference in those axle ratios to make much difference in actual use, especially with a 10 speed transmission.

I bought a gas 250 and I’m perfectly fine with the 4.30 in that. I lose some mileage but I’ll never need to worry with my current towing needs and it gives me the most capability with the lower torque.

3 year old Semi trucks are cheaper than a used 550.

I run the Dana 80 out back 4.30 gears and LSD on my 4X4 Dually. My truck is also registered @ 33K. aka the little sticker on your license plate

Why does GM call out a Max gooseball or tongue weight on their trucks but Ford and Dodge does not? On my fifth wheel, I am nowhere near the max cargo capacity of my 3500srw but it's a struggle to stay under max gooseball rating. This doesn't make sense to have excess cargo capacity but not be able to use it with GM. Guess next truck will be Ford or Dodge.

Those prices are insane

I had a 4.56 differential . The top speed and Mpg was , guess what.

It takes real ignorance to say I don't care what anyone says and still be wrong serial numbers are supposed to be different

the more gears you have less work that the engine has to do and be more efficient

Ford has different part numbers for the same part.

You said the gross vehicle weight rating on those trucks one was 18,000 lb and was 19,500 lb so legally you can't haul 40,000 lb or even 30,000 lb with those trucks. Now your hall capacity whatever number those were would be considered tongue weight you're not putting 18,000 lb worth of trailer that you're pulling and then several thousand more pounds in the bed of the truck that ain't how that works it goes strictly by the gross vehicle weight rating

Of course, they are available s*** hitting the fan 😢

Buying a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge is worth anything for what they want for them.

You will never find a part with the same serial number.

Just buy a cummins. It comes from the manufacturer already max tow.

Max Tow = Max MPG LOSS ✅

Man. Such a bummer. I like you so much. This is honestly horrible advice. If you hauling those kind of weights in hot shot your spending the same amount in fuel as a tractor trailer. I’m not going to bash on here. The guys in hot shot making the most money out here are Non CDL , under 26,000 k. Why pull 34,000 lbs with an$85,000 truck and no where to sleep. Used tractors are 30 to 60 k right now.

Maybe it's because you need a CDL license with the Max Tow with a full load.

All same the rear end gear is not same

I’d get a 450 over both of those. It’ll haul the same weight and it has a full HP motor! The 550s are very de-tuned.

Woocolm back😂

4.30 with 500hp and 10spd is stupid!! 4.10 is more than enough. So stupid that 4.30 has 8k higher towing ratings. Unless u r max loaded in mountains 4.10 is more than enough.

Woocom back😂

Dude I get it. They are different but some of the parts are the same. Serial numbers…….ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT. You kinda failed on this one.

Give us Max tow with DIESEL GEARS Downspeeding, like 3.08 gears with E Lockers. Not this 4.30 CRAP designed for GASSERS

Good luck finding two drive shafts with the same serial number. Your intellect is leaking.

This is not real advice at all. "Willing to bet on the leaf springs out back" is not real performance advice. You need the actual technical explanation on why one is different or better than another.

You obviously have no clue what you are talking about sir

Get a real keyword not a toy

To me if you are in the market for a new truck of that caliber why wouldn’t you just pay for the extra options because I guarantee that when you decide to sell it the buyer would probably want the max tow package if you decided to gear swap it their is no way you could do it for 1800 bucks