Yeah! It's so negligible that all brands of trucks use multiple axle ratios, resulting in different ratings. And often, the ratio is the only difference.
Do you really think that Ford would go thru the added expense of stocking multiple axles, if it didn't make a difference? It's not like they make a lot of money on tow package upgrades.
Like I said, I'd recommend the OP try the rig as-is, since he's within the limits. But the above line of thinking is what gets people into trouble and/or wearing out their vehicles prematurely.
Sigh....
I don't want to get into an argument about this, but let's put this into perspective.
What does having lower gears really do?
1. For one, it allows the truck to pull better from a dead stop, stopping the Trans fluid from heating up as much through the torque converter
2. It allows the transmission to turn more rpms for a given speed, increasing the fluid pressure in the Trans keeping it cooler.
3. It allows you to hold say, 4th Gear longer for more comfortable driving.
I think we can agree on this right.
Here is my point. Would you want to take 7k pounds on a v8 3.55 geared explorer and travel all across America... NO! if your going to TOW ALL THE TIME at max loads then get the right set up or don't do it.
But, for someone who tows let's say 4x a year maybe 500 miles total and is towing say 65 00 lbs on that same explorer I created above then Yea.. Why not.
With one caveat.
There is a relationship that is the NUMBER ONE PROBLEM WITH TOWING
Transmission temperatures. Higher gears will bring the temps up so get a bigger cooler than otherwise needed and you will be just fine.
Also, there are thousands of lifted pickups with big tires and stock gearing that are towing near or above full capacity that are perfectly fine. I know they are different, but the principle here is exactly the same.
Hell, putting 245 70s on an explorer drops your axle ratio to a theoretical 3.60. And that isn't that much bigger of a tire.
So when a pickup has 30in tires stock and people bump up to 33s that is like putting 3.55s in their trucks basically. Hell, I personally know of multiple people that have and still successfully tow with out of stock configurations. It is a common thing and as long as you don't go to extremes it is perfectly safe.
I'm sorry to sound so condescending here but there is not that much of a difference as long as you compensate with the proper sized trans cooler and maybe some bolt on power mods If you really want to get into it.
I never said that it didn't make sense that ford puts 3.73s in the explorer.. It makes perfect sense.
In a perfect world e ermine could afford to trade in their truck and buy one with a tow package or to pay to swap diffs but this world isn't perfect. For the rest of us, we do the best we can to compensate and use what we have safely and make the correct modifications to compensate for what we lack and if you can't see that that is my point then I'm sorry...
Again, sorry if this was condescending I'm just trying to get across a point here that it isn't perfect, but it is safe if done right.