Hello money spenders

I'm at a cross road in term of making decisions on what truck configuration I'd like to have. Please advice on how to spend money on trucks wisely as I'm pretty indecisive on this matter.

+ Quick overview:
- I'm a general contractor doing about 85-95% kitchen/bathroom/whole house remodel, 5-15% room addition/custom build. All the guys/subs have their own small tools and trucks. I only responsible for bigger tools (ladders, table/miter/tile saws, jack hammers, etc....).
- Currently, I have a 2012 F350 KR CC LB SRW 6.7L to pull my dump trailer (12k gross) about 2-5 times/months - 60-100 miles round trip each time. I have a ladder rack for occasional loads of lumbers - bigger jobs would get delivered. I like this truck a lot for the ride and low noise (for a diesel). Things I don't like are: older - haha; 100k miles (nothing for a diesel yet, but again, it's getting ... old); 2017 is out; not as good cargo usage compared to a flat-bed setup; and the tail gate being abused from folk lift loadings.
- I recently bought a used 2007 Chevy 3500 dually flat bed truck (8x10 steel bed, extra cab). I really like the flat bed set up, but steel is too heavy (very very bad gas millage for being 80-85% commuter) and doesn't look as cool as aluminum. This is one is 234K miles, but brand new Jasper remanufactured transmission.
- I also use my truck to pull boat, take wife & 2 young kids out for camping, biking, etc... So a CC set up is a must for at least one truck

+ My options:
1) Keep the 2012, switch out the 8' bed with an aluminum flat bed set up - maybe a 7'x9' (similar to those from CM flatbed or Hillsboro flatbed - btw, if any one has their recommendation on brands, please let me know). Sell the 2007 Chevy. If I go with this option, it would last me till next year. I can then switch the bed back and trade in/sell it for a 2018 SRW, put the aluminum bed on....
2) Trade in/sell both the 2012 & 2007, get one of the 2017 RIGHT NOW:
a) go SRW for the ride quality (I thought about F450 but I think for my case F350 would probably be better). Being in the heart of the Bay Area (CA), having my job sites at least 45-60 mins from home, driving about 3-4 hours/day, riding quality is very much important to me. This option would let me have a smaller flat bed (for single rear wheel vs DRW), but smaller truck for commute, ease of parking, etc...
b) go DRW for better pay load, bigger flatbed. But, I'm not sure how my ride would be, parking (so far I'm not liking my 2007 dually with the 8' flat bed as much in term of parking).
3) Get just a new 2016/17 basic gas F350 work truck, regular cab, dually, put an aluminum flatbed in for work for ~$35k . Keep the 2012 for towing and camping etc... for now (and trade in maybe a year or two later). This set up would let me have my personal truck work-free with a clean, nice bed cover etc.... But I would have 2 trucks to maintain, 2 insurance payment, 2 registration payments (basically about $120-140/month extra).


Another question: what's the difference between a F350 pickup and a cab & chassis set up? The pickup would be registered and insured as regular vehicle vs commercial for C&C right? What about pricing, and pay load, other technical differences? I'm thinking about just getting a regular pickup, swap out the bed. That way when time to trade in or re-sell, I would still have a brand new bed to put back, and use my aluminum flat bed to transfer on a new truck forever and forever. Haha. in a perfect world!

Thanks for your patient, if you finally read down here. I'm sure I miss some other things in the pictures. So please feel free to chime in.

Nhi

 

I can easily help you spend your money. Just simply send me a check for $70,000.

 

Trade them both in and get a 2017. Less maintenance and insurance. If you spend 3-4 hours a day in a truck you want to be in something nice. Also, I'd expect the market price on the 2012 to plummet in the near future since it is a previous generation.

 

pls provide bank info for wiring

 

I read on some other articles saying we should negotiate on a new buy first before mention the trade-in for best possible value. What's everyone practice here? Would it be worth the trouble trying to sell privately? I just hate the feeling of losing $25-30k value over a 2.5-3 years having the truck . But sure driving a new one is a great feeling on the other hand. It also makes me think about leasing because I always seem to fall for that shinny new truck every 2-3-4 years . No experience about leasing yet though.

 

Read through the posts and do what many are doing, order one using the X plan. You may nickel and dime it a bit, but it is a good deal. Plenty of info here on this forum.
Build truck,
Get X plan,
Bring trucks in for estimate,
Then wait

 

The easiest to park and maneuver of the superduties is the F450, turning circle is much tighter. Just something to add to your confusion.

 

I'm doing a search but nothing come up yet. Maybe the mobile version of the forum has limited search capabilities - or maybe I didn't try hard enough .

But I found some info online about the X plan: can anyone take advantage of it?

 

I thought about it too. What would be the advantages and disadvantages comparing the 2 in a nutshell? . I read some recent posts mentioning a bit about it but nothing comprehensive I don't think.

Thanks.

 

Large trucks take more room to maneuver. Plan ahead, don't try to do the impossible or even the marginal and get out there and enjoy the vehicle for what it is. If you need to whip through the city traffic and the convoluted drive through at lightning speed buy a compact or a Porsche. If you want to handle a load or a trailer with ease, get a real truck. A couple of feet in the turning radius of a "Super Duty" should not the deal break. Park and behave as an outlier and worry about something important.

 

Thanks for reminding. I've been driving my current 350 cc lb srw for almost 3 years so I kinda get the hang of it a little

Question now is when it's time to "upgrade", choices (but not too many) are always fun to filter through. 👍

 

You've got it! Look at them all and then get what you need/want. It is great to have choices.

 

7 year old thread...