Ten weeks to the day after placing my order, she was delivered to me on Friday afternoon.

Here are a few observation: Everything works as it should. All panels align. The 3" receiver came with one reducer sleeve (to 2 1/2") and a hitch pin. Like most everyone else reports, the cab lights don't sit flush on the roof. That should be easy to fix and I don't know why Ford hasn't done it. The gasket is visible and they appear to be well sealed. The ride is somewhat firmer than the 2016 F150 I traded in but tons better than the lifted 2005 V10 Super Duty I recently sold. It is very quiet in the cab at freeway speeds especially. The Dark Marsala interior is stunning. It actually appears to be darker than it did in the 2018 trucks that I looked at before placing my order.

Because of restrictions placed on me by my employer's car allowance policy, I had to order a F250. They do not allow Class 3 vehicles to be purchased using the allowance because of DOT regulations. I tried to get an exception but the policy is set in stone. Buy a F250, they add $700 to to my monthly salary. Buy a F350 and they add $0. F250 it is!

An F250 Platinum Ultimate Long Bed, 6.7L, High Capacity Trailer Tow Package, FX4, 5th Wheel Prep, spray in bedliner, supplemental cab heater and a number of other boxes checked makes for a very heavy truck. So, in spite of the fact that my truck is literally one leaf spring shy of an F350, I may have set the record for the lowest Super Duty payload sticker in history; 1643 pounds! I think that is 150 lbs. more than the F150 it is replacing which goes to show just how ridiculous and meaningless (from a mechanical standpoint) that payload sticker is. This is twice the truck of the F150.

I knew exactly what I was doing when building this beast. If you choose to add actual capability to a truck you will always loose capacity on paper. Capability adds weight and the GVWR is imposed to fit trucks into a certain class. A Class 2 maximum 10,000 lbs. GVWR minus my truck's weight equals a very low payload on paper. Because of the restrictions place on my purchase I chose to build a truck with the maximum actual mechanical capability instead of trying to achieve a higher number on a sticker at the sacrifice of real world capability. I would love to have the actual capability and paper capacity but that wasn't an option for me this time.

Anyways, the truck is gorgeous. The faint rattle of the 6.7 is more intoxicating than I ever would have imagined. At startup, I get excited! I am absolutely dying to hitch up my trailer and drive up a mountain!

 

 

Sweet rig. Yeah 700 a month or 0 is an easy choice, any day of the week lol.

 

Congrats on the new truck. I see you bought it in San Diego. For 30 years I used to live just a few miles to the east of the dealer you bought it from (I'm now in Colorado). When I lived in San Diego I never would have considered owning a diesel as I never towed anything very heavy and diesel is not at all gas stations like it is here in Colorado. Do you ever find it a pain to find a station with diesel fuel?

 

Beautiful truck. It makes me happy to see you guys getting your trucks. Mine should be here in 2 weeks.

 

 

Great looking truck! Enjoy!

Joe

 

Really sharp. And you all might think everyone in California is freaking nuts, and there's no shortage of them out here, but there's a lot of us "normal" people as well and no, finding diesel is not a problem

 

As a former San Diego resident, you know what this county is like. You can travel a short distance to the north or east from the city and you are in a different world. I live in the eastern part of Poway. We have goats, chickens, 25 fruit trees and a huge garden. Heck, we're even on septic! This is also horse country. Lots of folks have a horse trailer and a diesel pickup to pull it. All the local stations have diesel. Shell and a Mobil stations are less than a mile from my house.

This is the view from my deck:



We are 25 miles from downtown San Diego and 16 miles from the Pacific Ocean. 30 minute drive to downtown, 25 minutes to the beach, 60 minutes to 6,000 foot mountain peaks and less than an hour and a half to the desert. All of that is still in San Diego County. Pretty amazing place.

Anyways, lots of diesel trucks around and finding fuel is not a problem.

 

I spy ..Michelins. Nice truck.
That 3" receiver is good to see.

 

 

Nice view! I remember when Poway was waaaay out in the sticks. I lived just down I-15 in Tierrasanta (moved there in 1972 when they first started building it). I guess things have changed in reference to diesel availability in San Diego since I left in 2002. But diesel vehicles and pickups are far more popular now than when I lived there. So it makes sense there are more stations selling it now. That's good to know as I might be hauling my 5th wheel trailer out there next April on vacation with my 2019 F350 I have on order.

As soon as I saw the picture of your truck on the dealer lot, I immediately recognized the buildings in the background. The white square one used to house medical offices for Kaiser. I remember that dealer being built in the 1970's. It was named Center City Ford originally. I used to buy parts there for my 1970 Mustang and 1994 Bronco.

 

Very nice rig. Im in California too I was stationed in San Diego while in the Navy such a great place. Where do you work that gives you such a great perk 700 a month adder for a vehicle payment that's awesome!

 

You can get a Class 2 and 3 vehicle at the same weight capacity, 10K.

Your payload cargo would not change, just a beefier rear axle.

 

For years I had a company car. They paid for the car, maintenance, insurance and fuel. A couple years ago they switched to the allowance program. Trust me, they made the switch because it saves them money and relieves them of liability but it works out better for me, too. No more Tauruses and Chrysler 300s. I've been with the company for 30 years so I've earned every perk I get!