Well I am not Sam, but I'll give you my opinion on this one...

Personally in your situation I would get the truck that better suited my needs regardless of price. I, like you will not tow heavy often enough to need a DRW truck, so I didn't want the extra hassle of trying to park one of those beasts all the time. Also the extra cost of tires when it comes time to replace 6 instead of 4.

I could go on and on about why I chose the SRW over the DRW, but that is just me... If your going to spend 45k-50k on a truck you might as well get what you want.

 

Not to intrude, but I just thought I would point out that a well tuned 6.9L can deliver much better than 16 MPG with the right gearing. @55 I'm consistently just over 24 MPG, @ 70 its consistently 20. I can't promise than everyone can get that but if you don't have overdrive right now, the truck would benefit from a transmission swap or addition of a dual range overdrive. I'm guessing the axle ratio is at 3.55 right now so that doesn't have to change.

 

My 6.9l has a 3.73 rear end Dana 70u. It still has the stock 3-speed trany in it. This truck is in good shape, and it has never seen anything north of 16mpg since we got it new in 85.

 

16 with 3.73 is pretty good. My engine was getting 13 on a good day with 4.10s and the same 3 speed auto.

I don't know how much you want to spend on this truck but a swap to a 4 speed auto will put you in range of 20 MPG. A swap to the E4OD and gearing change to 3.54 (3.07 may be possible if your truck has the dana44 front end), will give you a similar advantage I have now. Yours is 4wd, but mine is extra cab so it would more or less even out.

You would end up spending more than the resale value of even a very clean truck of that age if you did all of the upgrades but its still cheaper than the price of a newer 6.4 or an unproven 6.7. If nothing else doing one of those upgrades could give you a measured improvement until you are more comfortable with the new scorpion diesel.

I should also add that 125k miles isn't even the half way mark for a 6.9. Maybe you could refresh the head gaskets and add studs if you ever wanted to turbocharge the engine but that thing is only getting started in terms of longevity.

 

I agree with your evaluation. I got the DRW cause I wanted to be able to pull a gooseneck trailer with TWO cars in it.
and everyone said that the dually stability in that case was worth it.. now I haven't done it yet, and the commercial drivers license requirement for >26k CGVWR might kill the fun (not a camper so can't get the recreational exemption).

we did tow one to Tennessee last month and it was amazing stable..

now.. mine is a 4x2.. and I'm kicking myself cause I didn't get 4x4... (got it stuck in the mud in the back lot in January, and had to winch it out with the suburban as anchor..! funny! not)..

So, if I don't do the dual car gooseneck, then I should have staye with the SRW... My wife would feel better driving it.. and it IS a pain every so often crew, longbed AND Dually all at once..

so, $3000 of diesel is 1038 gallons where I am ($2.89) * 12.5 mpg.. = is only 13000 miles... so, not a lot of savings..

and the SRW can have the bigger tires, lower numerical gearing, and better mileage.. so you'd make up the difference pretty quickly.. go with the SRW

I LOVE my DRW.. it is AMAZING.. and I'm sure the SRW would be too.

AlSO----------------------------- check you state regs on weight and DRW.. In Massachusetts DRW MUST BE commercial license. I think in NY, over 6000 gvwr MUST BE Commercial.

AND.. if you don't NEED the weight carrying capacity of the 350, the 250 is VERY close.. more pin weight for the gooseneck/5th wheel on the 350. raw weight no difference.

Sam

 

I just found a new leftover 2010 F250 SRW CC Long Bed with everything I want on it including the color. Now lets see if the dealer is willing to deal on it.

 

Picked up a 2010 SRW F250 FX4 with everthing on it yesterday (dual alternators, upfitter switches, nav premium package ect.... MSRP Sticker was $58,188. Got dealer to show me invoice which was $52,788. Sold it to me for $51,200 since he still said he was still making about $700 off of it from Ford for move out incentive. Got the 6K Ford incentive and got the truck $45K. Crew cab silver with black interior. 36 miles on it. 3.55 20" wheels. (on 100 mile trip home 79 deg tire pressure 55psi) Dash milage read 20-21 mpg at 55-65. Kept speed bouncing for break in. Did about 20 miles of city driving and dropped to 16.5. On way to work this am (44 miles one way) mpg started to slowly climb again (16.9 mostly 55-60mph) but then at 189 odometer miles, dash flashed regen. Mileage started to drop down to 16.2 and at 204 odo miles stopped regen (based on engine sound). Have done a 1/2, 3/4 and WOT take of for a 4-5 seconds at some stops light so my average will not be accurate until I hand calc it. Also my last 6.0 dash mileage was usually off by minus 2-3 mpg of what it read. So I figure I am getting about 17-18 highway and 14-15 city. Tires are low though since I got the low tire pressure alert. Will air up on my trip back home and let you know what I get.

 

Here is the info on my trip back home. Tires were at 55psi and had to air them up to 65. AC on 99 deg outside with 25% humidity. Average was at 16.2 when I hit highway, and by mid way had crept to 16.6 with a small hill and one stop. 15 miles from home I reset average once I hit on ramp since it was strait shot to home with no stops. Kept it at 60 mph @ exactly 1500 rpms. Average started at 19.9 and crept to 20.5 and was still slowly climbing at the end of 15 mile strech. GPS stated started from 213 Feet elevation and ended at 226 Feet so it was slightly up hill over the 15 miles. Route was east bound on 198 with a WNW wind speed of 10mph base on GPS data. I am down to about 60% of fuel left with 257 miles on the Odometer. It was almost painful to drive it like I did to get the mileage above always hyper aware of being as smooth as possible and maybe making what felt at most 1mm adjustments to gas pedal to keep the needle at exactly 60mph. No one will drive like that in the real world so I am sure real world average is more like 17-18 highway. Co-worker of mine has a prius and swears that when he puts new tires on his car it drops milage by 2mpg before they break in. So I think once the truck breaks in it might improve 1-2 mpg. A Spartan tune with down pipe back DPF/Cat delete should yield at least +3mpg.

 

Well Boys, gotta tell you, I must have gotten a real lemon...just completed a trip from central Kentucky to Elkhart, In. towing an 8000 lb Travel Trailer for repair. Left the trailer and returned home empty. Going with trailer mpg average was 11.9...(one tank of fuel). Filled up for return 350 miles, enroute after 150 miles With A/C on all the time the truck showed 21.5 mpg. This was on two lane road through several small towns, max speed about 60. Later on after hitting I-65 nearing home checked again--22.4mpg. I was astounded. Never drove over 65. Made it home on slightly less than 1/2 tank. I had gotten around 19-20 mpg empty some time back when truck was new and was very happy with that, but now...see this smile on my face? The truck now has 6700 miles on it and it is a keeper. Tire pressure was a little high, 80 for rear and 70 for front, did ride a little rough. PS: the truck is a 2010 F-250 PSD SRW longbed.
Marty

 

and.. any news??

Sam

 

I made an offer on it today, after calculating invoice, rebates, holdback, tax, title, etc. So lets see if they will close the deal.

Otherwise I am going to get that DRW I originally asked about because that King Ranch package is just way too enticing.

 

Well.. good luck.. it would be nice to have another mid fifties friend with a new truck too..

sam

 

Well I don't know if we are friends or not. You beat me up so bad on wanting a Dually and why I wanted it or needed it, that I questioned myself and I hate you for that.

Ah crap, I must have meant to say that to my ex-girlfriend, not you.

 

yeh,, but I can hear it..!!

Sam

 

Well, if they don't sell me the f250 SRW, I will either pause until I find another SRW, or I will go ahead and get the DRW I already found for cheap.