I took me just a little over 10 months before I found my truck. That is when I found out about the fleets trading their trucks for tax purposes.
Wife gave me the green light in January, found the truck October 18. The first 6 months were frustrating, to say the least.
Ended up driving almost 5 hours to see it. Then again 48 hours later to buy it. (We have a 24/48 hour cooling off period for capital purchases).
I, to, was very specific with what I wanted. It is just going to take patience and research, with a little bit of luck thrown in for good measure.

 

2011 6.2 owner here. 114K Miles on the clock. I bought the truck in April 2013 with 58K on the clock. This April will be 5 years of ownership. Primary purpose was to the weekend project and trailer puller. It has done both pretty well. Few issues. Just regular maintenance mainly. I really like driving the truck. Good luck finding one.

 

So, I found another one in Alabama. It is 4 hours from me. It has the 3.73 gearing. This is the only thing that bothers me as I was wanting the 4.10 since I have seen several posts where people are indicating that the towing is much better with them. My boat weighs about 6k loaded, so I'm sure that the 3.73s will be fine for that, but If I do tow anything heavier is the truck going to strain because of the gearing?

My GMC had 4.10 gears and a 6.0l gas motor. It would tow anything you wanted to, but also required that you stop at every filling station.

 

I was fortunate to find a loaded 2011 xlt 3 miles away. I have several 250s to compare the gearing. Big difference 4.30s with 17 " wheels and 3.73s with 18" wheels. But the 3.73s is not a deal breaker as they are more than adequate for towing.

 

The towing and driving experience will be better with 4.3 gears, but at a cost. To some it’s worth the cost, to others it’s not. If you ever plan on serious towing over 10k I think gears are a must. For all others 3.73 is good. FWIW I towed 10k across country and through Colorado with 3.73 gears. The truck worked but still exceeded my expectations. 6k would be a breeze.

 

My old 2001 7.3L had 3.73 gears in it, but it also had the help of the turbo diesel. I'm not going to be slapping 10k on this thing on a regular basis, but there will be times that It may end up towing some heavy loads a 100 or so miles. Just want to make sure that I don't need to be looking for a truck with 4.0 gearing.

 

no fear with the 3.73... the 4.30 is very, very hard to find.

I travel 2,000 miles at a time... with 1,500 in bed of truck AND tow 9,000 pound trailer... view my sig.

the 6.2L is a overhead camshaft work horse.. LET HER SPIN.... 4,000 rpm's all day IF NEEDED..
and my F 250 has 156,000 miles...
uses NO fluids or oil..
and has been thru the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina hills with my stuff...

 

I've noticed the 4.30 geared trucks are difficult to find. I think the 3.73s will be fine for what I need.

Still on the hunt.

 

Okay, so I have been looking, a lot. I have almost talked myself into a crew cab just so that I can get all the options that I want. The supercabs just seem to be plain jane with the exception of one or two here or there. My main concern is that I want the technology package. Did it come only in lariat or is there a few configurations with the XLT where I could get it.

 

technology package. is not going to be in the plain jane units... except for very special order. IF then..

most SD's are Crew Cab, diesel, 4x4 and upscale trim packages...
fleet/lease are at the other end.. like mine..
I got lucky...
power window and cruise control... towing and camper package. in a "XL"
Gas 6.2L and E-locker. and 2 wheel drive.

 

Have a '13 SD crew cab with 6.2 and 3.73 33,000 mi. Took her to Colorado last yr., no problems. Kinda like Chuck says, let 'er spin. Got 8.5 towing 10,000lb. TT. Daily driver avgs. 13.5. Happy aas hell!

 

Oh btw, Lariat pkg. It's a bitch getting old.

 

Can't tell ya about the 6.2 as I have a 6.7 but every truck I had (Chevy 6.5 and Ford 6.0) that had 410/430 gears were noisy. The Chevy had rear problems 7 times in 13k miles and was replaced twice including a complete housing assembly. I lived with the noise. The Ford with 4.10 were similar in noise but not as bad.

Someone else may pop up with more info on gear noise but it seems that the lower the gear the noisier they are.

 

I have done more research, and it appears that in order to get the technology package with the frilly gauges and everything else in an XLT, then it has to be a special order, or be the fX4 package. I have found several that are what I am looking for, except the have all been long bed. I don't mind a long bed, but it would be a super tight squeeze on my garage. I may as well just get a crew cab if I even consider a long bed super cab.

I'm still looking though. It appears that the let the perfect match slip through my fingers by waiting too long to make a move. Just waiting on that next one to show up and I am going to jump on it.

 

Well at least now you know what to look for and won't hesitate when it pops up Good luck and look forward to the update.