1. I'm looking into purchasing a 95-97 F250 or F350 diesel 4x4. I looking for info on the difference in carrying capacity between the two. I will use the truck to haul a slide-in camper.

2. How well do the auto transmissions hold up behind the ps diesel?

3. Would I be better off with the manual?

Most trucks I'm looking at have 140,000 to over 200,000 miles on them, some as high as 250,000. (That alone doesn't concern me as I have driven all my gas powered trucks over 200,000, but I was doing all the maintainence and knew what I had.)

4. What can I expect from a truck with this type of mileage that has seen reasonable regular service. Thanks for any input.

 

1. GVWR of the F250 is 8800# and the F350 SRW 9900# (at least in 1997 for sure), the same as the 99-04 Super Duty trucks. They can actually carry a little more than the Super Duty trucks because they weigh less (takes away less from the GVWR).

2. The E40D is not as good as the 4R100. That being said, many people are running highly modded trucks behind this auto. Adding a Sonnax valve and Tricumulator springs to firm up shifts will help prolong the life of the torque converter.

3. I have a 5-speed manual and my only complaint is the design of the factory flywheel. The dual-mass flywheel that Ford used is doomed by the design. I replaced mine with a LuK solid flywheel and have been very happy since then.

4. The 7.3 is a very durable engine and 98% of these engines ever produced (since 1994) are still in use. I've seen one with over 1 million miles and many more in the 700K+ range. The key is how the truck is maintained. If you buy a truck with high mileage make sure it was taken care of. CLICK HERE for a great resource for the early PSDs. Scroll down and there's a section on buying a used PSD.

 

Here's some clarification on GVWR and axles on the F250's and F350's from '92 to present:

The F250's are 8800 lbs GVWR when equipped with the full-float rear axle from at least '92-'04. The F350 SRW's are 9200 lbs GVWR from at least '92-'97 (old body). The F350 SRW Superduty trucks, starting in '99 thru '04 are 9900 lbs GVWR. There is no 1998 model year F250HD or F350.

The '97-down trucks used the Ford 10.25" rear axle with drum brakes and the '99-up trucks use the Ford 10.50" rear axle with disc brakes. In SRW configuration the 10.25" axle has an actual axle weight rating of 6250 lbs. The 10.50" axle in SRW configuration has an axle weight rating of 9750 lbs. This is for the axle only. With the tires on the axles, the weight ratings are 6080 lbs for '97-down and 6830 lbs for '99-up.

On 4x4 trucks, the F250's from '92-'97 used a Dana 50 TTB independent front axle and the F350's use the solid (monobeam) Dana 60 front axle with ball joints ('91 and earlier used kingpins). Both use leaf springs in the front. In '99 both the F250's and F350's used a monobeam hybrid Dana 60/50 axle untill about '01 when they both went to a full-spec Dana 60 in the front, both with leaf springs up to '04.

On 2wd trucks, F250's and F350's both used the Twin-I-Beam and coil spring frontend from '97-down, as far as I know. I don't know much about the 2wd trucks from '99-up.

I would stay away from buying any used truck, gas or diesel, auto or manual, of any brand, with 200K+ miles on it, unless I was getting it for dirt cheap.

Look around, if you are patient you can find a nice diesel with under 100K miles on it. You will pay for it, but it will be worth it. You may have to travel far out of state, but it would be worth it to get a truck that is not already used up by someone else, leaving you to do all the fixing-up.

Although my truck is not a diesel, I got my '92 F350 CrewCab 4x4 with 37K original miles on it. Low mileage trucks CAN be found .

I use my truck to haul a slide-in camper. It's an 8' Six-Pac. The F350's from '97-down come factory stock with a rear sway bar and rear overload leafs atop the standard spring packs. Some of the F250's were also ordered with these, some were not. The rear sway bar and overload springs help alot with hauling campers. The extra GVWR of the F350 is nice for being legal with the camper on, especially with the added weight of the diesel engine, 4x4, or crew cab.

You will definitely want a longbed truck if you are planning to haul a slide-in camper longer than 8' or one with any weight to it. The F350's from '97 down are only available in longbed. The F250HD's were availabe with a shortbed in '97 with a crewcab, and both were availabe with a short or longbed with crewcab in '99-up.

If your camper is especially large (10.5' or larger), I would forget about a single rear wheel truck and go straight for the dually. There is no comparison between how a dually hauls a heavy camper and how a single rear wheel truck hauls one. I had a 10.5' camper on my old Chevy dually and that truck hauled the camper beautifully, better than my current F350 SRW hauls my 8' camper that weighs 1000 lbs less than my old 10.5 footer.

As for how much camper the trucks can haul, my F350 weighs about 6500 lbs without the camper and a half tank of fuel, and about 8500 lbs with the camper on it. A diesel will weigh about 700 lbs more than my truck with 351 engine. A diesel crewcab 4x4 with a 2000 lb camper on it would be over the GVWR of an F250 but still within the GVWR of an F350. My camper is considered fairly light as far as slide-in campers go. My previous camper weighed 3000 lbs and it isn't uncommon for big campers to weigh in the 4000 lb range. For a camper weighing 3000 lbs or more, look for a dually truck to haul it with.

If you intend to haul a camper AND pull a trailer, that's even more reason to get the F350 over the F250. The TTB frontend of the '97-down F250 will likely be worn out on a high mileage 4x4, which is another reason to go with the solid axle F350 instead.

Good luck in your search for a truck, hope you get a nice one!

 

My mistake, I could have sworn the 1997 F350 had a 9900# GVWR.

 

Ah, its an easy mistake to make, with how confusing everything is .

 

Thanks for the information. I was up to speed on the later model 250/350 differences, but not the 97 and earlier. The info provide is very helpful. I'll keep on looking. Good thing I'm in no hurry and can travel most anywhere to buy.

 

Are you using autotrader? I used it to find my truck. I coordinated a vacation to Florida (I lived in Connecticut at the time) to check out and buy my truck. Prices were MUCH better than CT and I knew the truck hadn't been exposed to winter weather.

 

Yes, I'm using auto trader. It is a very valuable resource. The only problem I've encountered with it is that everybody there knows what everybody else is asking. Not like finding a deal in the local paper where the owner really doesn't know what the rig is worth.

 

You can also check these people out: www.rodeoround-up.com