This truck impressed me. Just came back from 1665 miles of towing from Massachusetts, through Pa to stay off of 95 to Virginia and back. It was amazing pulling the hills through the Pocono mountains in Pa.

I was surprised when I weighed in at a Cat scale in Maybrook NY. Dry weight of my truck is 8,700# total Gross was 25,350# making my tow weight 16650#. No wonder my 99 V10 use to strain. Going up hills I was able to keep the speed limit with no problem. Going up the hills in cruse control it would drop from 65 to 62 then accelerate to 67, you could really feel the torque pulling up the hills. On the way to VA I used cruise control. I liked it on flat or rolling hills, but on steeper hills it would come up to the top a little too fast sometimes, normally where bridges are or curves. On a section of alternate 17 in Va. trailer trucks are not allowed, it is curvy, up and down, a little scary in cruise.

On the way back I left it out of cruise control and felt more control and could keep my speed at where every I wanted. At the bottom of a hill I would bring the speed up a couple of mph over the limit and let it drop a little at the top, you could really feel the transmission well if you did not want it to down shift. Got fuel on the way back in Port Jervis, NY $2.69.

Coming out of there it is about a 2,000’ climb in 2 miles. This is the first time a floored it to get up to speed from the entrance ramp, Wow did it pulls strong. The first time going through the hills in the Poconos heard this winding sound near the top of the hill. It was the extra cooling fan kicking in to keep it cool during 90* heat. Never during the trip did I ever feel it go into Regen, so I do not know if it did. Empty in the past I have felt it, but not towing. Very impressed how quiet it was normal driving, just a little noisy when it down shifted on the hills.

Very pleased with the 4.30 gears, always felt very strong at any point, just a little lugging at 50mph in overdrive hitting a bit of a hill. It really felt strong at 60 to 65 mph. Had to be careful out of cruise it would creep up to 70 mph if I weren’t paying attention. The tow mode is fantastic, really helps slow on big down hills. Even at 65mph tap the brakes it will downshift to help slow you down and very nice control on exit ramps slowing down. Once on a long steep down hill a car spun out and had to slow down in a hurry, Amazing between the brake controller and tow mode could not believe how well it controlled the stop.


Used tow mode 99% of the time, except sometimes near the bottom on the hill I would want to pick up speed for the next hill and I would kick it out to up shift sooner to get up to speed faster. Air conditioning in my 99 f350 was not up to par, but on the new truck; the only problem I had was after 3 hours in the seat my foot would get a little cold in 95* heat. Tow mirrors extend out far enough that I could see the sides of our 102" fiver. Seating support is perfect, never a tired back. The climate control was very comfortable. Now the big question everyone might have?


Fuel mileage: 190.83 gallons for 1665 miles all towing, the computer showed 9.1 and hand calculated 8.73. Usually drove up to 5 mph over the speed limit under 60 and tried not to exceed much over 65, except in W. VA where it was 70 mph and kept it lower than the speed limit on some really rough roads and bridges. It also surprised me coming off traffic lights in heavy traffic, ¾ throttle had to look behind me to be sure the camper was still there (well almost) it really pulled strong and had no problem staying with traffic between lights.

If you want fuel mileage go with a 250 standard cab with 3.73’s, If you are going to tow heavy go with either the 350 4.10s, 4.30s if heavy or a 450. From what I have experienced the 4.30’s will have no problem even over 20,000# towing. I wouldn’t think you would need 4.88’s unless you are towing 22,000# plus. A little tough finding ultra low sulfer fuel sometimes. Went on map quest to find diesel stations and called 1’st. BP and Amaco pretty much always have it.

Over all I would not be happier with the job Ford did on the F450. Now after towing with it I am very pleased with the 6.4 too. Ford built the real deal with the F450 when it comes to towing.

 

Im lovin what im reading!

 

Nice post fire. Glad to hear that others are very pleased with their truck.

 

Thanks for the post firehawk198, you just made my day!!

 

Wow sounded like your truck did good sweet to hear

 

Thank you for the details and experience towing with your F-450. Sounds like a real work horse.


Bob

 

I greatly appreciate your info. I am really looking forward to getting my F450 in the next 6-8 weeks.

 

That was sweet music to my ears!!! I'm loving my 250 also.

 

I have to say ditto on everything firehawk198 wrote. I pull a 5er that weighs in at 14,500 lbs with a F250 4x4 c/c 3.73 gears. I travel mostly in the Pocono area also. The 6.4 definitely outpulls the 2004 6.0 I pulled with. The 6.4 gears down less on upgrades and likes to run at between 70 and 75 on level road. Milage towing calculating at 9.1 mpg for trips witch include 70% hwy and 30% mountain rds. Only 2500 miles on truck so far. My 6.0 would get a little better than 10 mpg on the same trips. Everyday driving is creeping up, truck is now up to 14.5 mpg. I drive consevatively around town and don't mash the pedal unless provoked. The DPF kills the milage. Cleaner air, more natural resources, which is better?

 

I have heard that over the long haul you shouldn't exceed 75% of the max tow rating? Or is that over conservative? 14,000 is the weight of the 5th wheel I'm looking at- Should I be looking lighter?

 

Shark, there are a few factors determining weight on towing. My dry weight was 10,500# for my fiver. So I would say the rule of thumb might be in 10,500 x 125% =13125#. Or in your case 14,000 x 125% = 17,500.Loaded with all our stuff such as extra small refridge under the bay, I carry 300# worth of weights to work out with, etc. My trl axle weight was 13140#. Total weight with the family, dog, wood and everything else was 16,650# that I was hauling. I did this over the past years with my 99 350DRW with 3.73’s. It was rated at 10,000#. No wonder it use to strain. So if your fiver is 14,000# dry total weight might be closer to 18,000# that you would tow. The new 6.4 with 4.10s would probably do the job, But you might want to look at 4.30’s if you are going to do more than a 1,000 miles a year. The trade off is more fuel mileage running empty. Also the factor is if you are in an accident you want to be sure you are legally rated. My 99 was not, my new F450 with 4.30’s is rated 20,000# towing. So in that case you would want to have 4.30’s to be legal in case of an accident. For a 350 that would be about 18,200 and the 450 20,000#. One real big difference I also found with my 450 was braking was incredible in a panic stop with all that weight. Probably the biggest advantage of a 450 over a 350. Any more questions let me know.

 

I need to clarify my situation- The 5-er dry weight is 10850 and max GVWR is 14000. From what I've read I'm pretty sure that the 6.4 can handle the GVWR, but I'm concerned about the tongue weight on the 5-er which is published as 2080 might be too much. Since my truck is an 08 CC 4x4 3.73 Longbed I'm pretty close to the 2280 lb rating which is published by Ford in the 08 max payload table. Got Advice?

 

Very good question, to be honest, I am not sure. You would probably have to put on a helper spring or air bag. When loaded your pin weight would probably be over 2500# I would ask this question in the Forum towing trailers and 5th wheels. A lot of other people like GreyWolf would be able to give use some excellent recomendations. Even some other people on this post might be able to advise you too. I'll ask some fellow campers over the next couple weeks while we are in Maine.

 

Sounds like you have a 250. My 350 DRW has payload of 4,000+ lbs, so a 2,000 pound pin weight on the fiver is no problem for me.

 

I have a comparable rig, '08 F250 C/C LB 4x4 3.73 6.4 auto, towing a 5er weighing in at 14000 lbs loaded and a t/w of 2600 lbs. I chose to install air bags with a auto level kit. Truck sits level and handles well. The prior truck that I towed with was an '04 F250 C/C SB 4X4 3.73 6.0 auto with camper pkg., so it had helper springs. The truck squatted in the rear about 2" from being level, but it handled well. Never a problem towing either way. I would suggest getting one of these in your situation, but the airbag setup is the way to go, IMO. Don't worry about the ratings, truck is built FORD TOUGH!