I'm scanning the markets for a sweet heavy duty hauler. This truck will be nothin but worked. I plan to have a a large in bed camper in this thing most all of its life and I hope to see many miles loaded to the max with a mobile garage on the hitch. I will also use a 10,000 watt inverter to power camper and trailer 110v so this truck will be working even at idle, which it will do A LOT.

I have no idea what the maximum combined weight for these trucks are, which is one reason I'm here. The other reason I'd like opinions on which trucks would be best for this over say 500,000 miles. I'm only looking at 6.0 and 6.7 powerstrokes.

I wish for creature comforts and and all, but I see that F450s and F550s aren't available in king ranch or other trims alike, so I've decided on function of fashion and I'll just build the truck of my dreams if need be.

I do realize I could get a new top of the line F350 and probably tow all this with a 40,000 lb gross vehicle weight but I don't plan to spend more than $40k on this set up.

I'm the first in my family to get into hitching anything or diesel trucks and I look forward becoming a super duty owner to enjoy the many benefits being this truck.

 

if you dont go dually, you will wish you did. aside from the load carrying plus's, the dually is very stable with less boating and swaying with large in bed campers.

 

Dual rear wheels are definitely in the plan.

 

I'm not worried about efficiency, I just wanna get there safely and reliably.

If I go about getting a F550 Crew Cab over a F350 Crew Cab to tow the same load, will the ride be more stable in the F550?

And I noticed in my search that most F550's have mechanical 4wd engagement, is that a better system than the SOTF 4wd ****? I won't have a truck without 4wd.

Thanks

 

The 550 will have much higher load ratings and would not ride as well completely empty, but might be better suited to what you are looking for. The manual 4wd is dead reliable whereas the ESOF has been known to have issues ranging from electrical gremlins to vacuum leaks to stuck hubs. I specifically ordered my current truck with the manual 4wd. Sounds like you have a fun project ahead of you.

 

You will need an alternator that puts out over 800 amps (at idle) to keep up witha 10,000 wat inverter. To carry 800 amps you will need some huge primary wires also. A big generator might work better

 

maybe get a truck with a PTO, and then attach a generator to that?

 

He will be more money into that than a generator. A gen will also keep engine hours off the truck, in addition the gen will be cheaper on fuel.

 

The cost to run the truck is worth it to me and I'd actually prefer building my truck for the inverter over a generator for a few reasons. For one, a generator is more weight and space taken up. They are also a louder if we are talking about all the ones I've seen, and especially 10,000 watt ones (if we are comparing them to a 6.7L, of course). And knowing me, I probably will end up with a generator in my mobile garage, but will never have it when I need it because I left it somewhere. I can't forget to bring a power source if it's bolted to the truck.

And as for expenses on fuel, if what I've heard before is true, the average power stroke at idle consumes about a 1/5th of a gallon at idle, so 5 hours of idling is 1 gallon.

If I park and run this for one week straight or 168 hours, that's 33.6 gallons of gas. A full tank of gas at $3.00 is about $100. So for the price of one night at the holiday inn, I can live a week in the comfort of my truck/camper.

Fuel costs don't bother me, I'd feel honored just to have something that nice consuming my fuel/money!

 

You may not be able to generate 10kW with your truck at idle...

You definitely have to research all this stuff fitting together before buying anything.

I would expect a standalone generator to work more efficiently [use a bunch less gas/diesel] and do it quieter than doing what I described [power a generator off a PTO].

 

Oh yeah, another question. Can I also put a mild lift on my truck to give me more confidence off-road, without sacrificing hauling capabilities greatly?

 

Here was a quick search and the one thread is a couple years old but the price of the generators are not cheap by any means. But if money is no problem that would be a nice set up.

Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com - Anyone use their PTO for a generator

Ford F-Series 2011-2015 | Real Power

 

That F550 was loud! And I'm surprised that in this day and age even with engines that probably put out over 300 ft lbs at idle, they can't make a gearing system that turns a generator at adequate speed without raising the idle. Looks like I'm putting a custom generator in the trailer

 

Unless you plan to delete, the 6.7 will not treat you well if you plan to idle for long periods of time. The emissions on a modern diesel need to be driven and worked while being idled little to perform correctly and not cause premature failure. I'd use a stand alone diesel RV generator in your garage trailer to power your TC.

 

I'll do whatever is necessacary to have my truck running in top shape.

And I think that's a good idea, I like the idea of diesel power for my work engines.

I wish they would let me use a diesel excursion for my transportation job.

I can do a delete to end buying the blue junk you have to refill all the time, right? Are there any benifits to running a straight piped exhaust 6.7L's?