First off thank you very much for all the great help and wisdom shred in here. I've been lurking around for over 2 weeks ever since iI decided to buy a 2016 f550 turbodiesel.
I live in sunny so CA with ford dealerships in all directions. But I'm having a bit of a struggle with what wheel base to go for. Here is an email l just sent off to the builder of the box going on my new chassis.
I've been racking my brain trying to determine what wheel base I should go for. I'm going send you a pic detailing the skid Mounted trailer that's going inside.
Pay no mind to the van as that's going to be a Ford F550 turbo diesel.
The blue box represents the big heavy 50 hsp cat diesel engine.
The black box represents the 300 gallon water tank.
The green circle is the heavy rotating reel.
The red line represents the skid this is on.
For scale purposes this is how it would fit on a 15ft with a 189 wb or a 16 ft on a 201. If I did a 15 ft on a 201 the axle would be 1 ft closer to the back of truck.
The bulk of all the rest of my cargo would go forward and along one side as I'm putting in the machine to go up against the curb side. This is OK as the engine then will be in the middle. And we can assume that I will be driving around with no water in tank as a 300 gallon water tank equals 2400 pds extra.

So what axle?
I'm really excited to get my new truck as I've been wanting one the past 30 years but vans have allways made better sense. But with the jetter I need. (want) more power.

 

Truck will be fine either way from what I gather. Personally I'd go for the longer wheelbase, rides better that way. But if your going into tight driveways or urban areas greater maneuverability of a shorter wheelbase may be preferred.

 

Thanks very much for the reply.
201 wheelbase are not plentiful, 189 are?
I don't mind sacrificing a foot of space if 1 ft of wheelbase one way or the other makes that much of a difference. As the pros for shorter are attractive. I just have no idea if 1 foot makes that much of a difference.

 

Southern CA? Orange County area? Long wheelbase.


LA county, Long wheelbase so you can put some armor plating on it.

 

haha, your just jealous, especially with the winter coming around the corner.
Going with the 189 with a 15ft box on a regular cab,,, I want super cab but can only go with a maximum 12ft box.

 

The truck should come standard with the Dana S130 axle. Should be more than enough.