Wanting to buy a new truck (wanting is key here) I am looking at the F 350 vs F 250. I am going with the lariat and SRW and long bed diesel 4x2! Don't need 4x4. Gearing is what I am concerned about, I can get 3:31 or 3:55. I need ADVICE, before I pull the trigger.
I pull a 5er with a weight of about 10k. I have a 99 F 250 V-10 with less than 82k miles on it, in mint condition. It pulls it just fine.
I may up grade the Rv to a heavier model. The gross weight on the new truck is about 14k.
The price difference between a 350 and a 250 to me is minimal!
This will be a special order truck since I don't want 4x4 plus I don't need all the add ons, i.e.. up lifter switches, lights on the roof, etc. I will load it with other things....
Thanks for any help you can give me...

bruce

 

relaytoad, welcome to FTE.

Either gear ratio will easily pull your load.I would specify the 3.55 ratio if you spend more time driving and towing in the west.

 

Redford,
Thanks for the info. ONLY gear for a F 350 with the diesel engine and 4x2 is the 3:31! No, other option.

Thanks,

bruce

 

I would go with the F350.

 

dualwheel66
This is not a dually! I may upgrade to a heavier 5er. About 14k. Color is really the only thing holding me back!
Have heard horror stories about the diesel engines, never had one, won't live to put a 100k on it.
Any words of wisdom for me?

bruce

 

He didn't say anything about a dually. He just recommended an F-350, which also comes as a single rear wheel truck.

The difference between the 3.31 and 3.55 gears is almost negligible as both are rated to pull the same weight according to Ford's specs and towing guide. The only difference you may see is a miniscule amount of difference in MPGs between the two. Either one will pull a 14K fifth wheel. The biggest difference between the F-350 and the F-250 is the GVWR which is higher in the F-350. The higher GVWR will allow you a higher payload capacity on paper which translates to being able to handle more in the form of occupants, gear, pin weight, etc. before approaching the limits of the rated gross weight of the truck.

 

Thanks John! Never having a diesel makes me nervous! Especially after hearing horror stories!
Looking at a New Horizon 40 fter. So, wanna make sure I have the power!

Thanks again

Bruce

 

the newer diesels aren't anyhting like the pre '04 diesels, but Ford really hit a home run with the new 6.7. I haven't talked to anyone who had anything negative to say about theirs. And everyone talks about how much power the 6.7 has.

 

If you are going to upgrade to something 40' long, then I would get the F350 dually. The F350 SRW might not be enough depending on pin weight.

 

I haul similar trailers to RV between 26' and 42' almost every day (over 10,000 km in one month) with a 6.7 f550 and also 6.7 f350 dually I also own an 02 7.3 f350. So here's my thoughts. Anthing under about 28' anything goes tall hears single wheel no problem but you may have a tendancy to bounce a bit more with the f250 due to softer springs. If your going to be hauling where you will be prone to cross winds I strongly suggest a dually anything over 28'. Having the extra stability at the back end will be worth its weight in $100 bills. If you will be hauling in mostly mountainous areas shorter gears will be an asset if you can get them as with my 550 but they do almost seem too short anything over 55 mph (90km/h) when it comes to fuel economy there is no other way to put it than they suck and I hate them. At the 14000kg mark it is nice to have the 550 and would prefer not to have anything smaller. I hauled a trailer today that I will guess was 10000kg with the dually 350 with taller gears and had no problems in the mountains but probably would not have been very fun with my single wheel 350. Well I don't know if that made the water any more clear for you but its my 2 cents.

 

Bruce, New Horizons are heavy fifth wheels. Regardless of whether you're looking at the Summit or Majestic, I'd say you definitely need to be looking at a dually. Looking at the Summit, it appears their weight starts around 14k before slideout and option weights are added. Pretty soon, the Summit is up around 16k - 17k. You really don't want to be towing that much with a single rear wheel truck....or at least I wouldn't anyway.

The F-350 dually is going to give you 3.73 gears as well as more stability. I don't think you'd need to look at the F-450 unless you're looking at a 40 foot Majestic. With the 350 dually, you're also looking at a higher rear axle weight rating and a higher GVWR....14,000 GVW versus 11,500 GVWR in a single rear wheel F-350. This is going to give you more payload capacity for occupants, hitch, pin weight, gear, and etc.

With the 6.7, you're not going to be lacking any power at all, but you definitely need to get an accurate weight on the fifth wheel you're looking at. One other thing to keep in mind is that you're easily looking at roughly 18 to 20 percent pin weight so you could realistically have a pin weight of around 2,800 pounds, or more based on that 14k.

 

Please note my weight measured in kg. 2.2lbs = 1kg

 

Yeah, I caught that.

 

I had a 2009 F250 6.4L KR 4X4 SRW with Firestone air bags that I used to tow our 2013 Keystone Fuzion 375 (Dry weight of 14,160 lbs). Although the F250 would tow the trailer, I was concerned as I was over the max rear axle weight rating of 6100 lbs. (truck curb weight is 7500 lbs and trailer pin weight is 3250 lbs). Other big concern was stopping the trailer if I needed to in a hurry.

As much as I loved the F250, we upgraded to a 2012 F350 DRW 6.7L KR 4X4 the other day. We wanted to ensure we could tow that big trailer SAFELY!

Bottom line, IMHO, is you need to take a look at all the numbers for your truck IRT what it is rated for, the trailer (the one you currently have and the one you may want to get) weights, and make that decision yourself.

I have no regrets upgrading to a bigger truck! I love it!

 

Just don't really want a dually! I have a 3 car garage and a long bed truck will certainly be on the side walk as I can't park my short bed in the garage either.. Now I can't put my truck in anyways, wifes car is in one side and my bike in the other?
I will make sure my truck is within range of the weight specks before I buy another one. Right now my trailer is 38 ft. I have NO problems with my V 10 pulling it.
I really appreciate your advice and help as I am having a hard time, deciding what to get. This would be a special order since I don't need a 4x4.

again Thanks

bruce