Hello all. I am looking to join the group of the 6.2 Super Duties. My reason for posting is because I need some help deciding what to do. I have several options to choose from, but I’m looking for a supercab shortbed F250 4x4. My choices are these: 2014 Lariat 3.73 with 150K miles, 2015 XLT 3.73 with 98K miles, and a 2013 XLT 4.30 with 80K miles. Now I’m looking to use the truck to feed hay and cattle cubes. It’ll have a flatbed spear bed and a cube feeder. I’m planning on this truck to be used for myself and not the family. It’ll be my tow rig, my daily driver, and my feed truck. It won’t be a family vehicle. So with that being said, what should I choose? Should I go with older, higher miles, and higher trim, or should I go with newer, lower miles, and a lower trim? How much of a difference does the 4.30 make compared to 3.73 with mileage, towing performance, rpm ranges, etc.? I’m planning to keep the truck until it quits or it becomes just not worth fixing. The lariat is really nice and drives well, but I don’t know how I feel about the mileage on it. It’s been taken care of better than either of the other two. It’s nice and clean with a straight body. You can tell it’s been in a garage all it’s life. The XLT’s are both in good shape with only minimal cosmetic issues and one has a small tear in the seat. That doesn’t bother me though because I’m planning to buy some really nice carhartt seat covers. In my opinion all three trucks would do the job fine, but what kind of longevity are we talking about with the 6.2L? What kind of towing performance are we talking about? How comfortable are these trucks to drive long distances in? I want to know everything you think about the 6.2L Super Duties basically. Thanks for reading!

 

Assuming the 2013 is in good shape, no rust or anything, that's probably the truck I would prefer. I have a 2016 350 with the same body configuration and 3.73 gears. I love the truck. Handles a load great, plows snow really well. Only thing I'd change is the gearing. The 3.73s are good, and get the job done, but 4.30s would be better, especially for towing. Also, when buying used, I always like to find something with the lowest miles in my price range. The 6.2 is a great motor. I own 2 trucks with this mill and really enjoy the simple service routine. Good luck. Hope this helps.

 

I would post your questions in the 6.2 sub forum.

 

No experience with the 6.2, but plenty of experience with feed pickups here - If you plan to tow ANYTHING, opt for the lower gear ratio. Flatbed & feeder already add a LOT of weight, plus a stock trailer will equal a gutless tow rig with 3.73 gears. Just a guess, but I'd bet peak torque on the 6.2 is fairly high on the tach.

 

Yep, 4.30s all the way. My '11 is an XL. I appreciate the rubber floors but I've still got everything we woulda considered "loaded" back in the day: pw, pdl, a/c, power & heated mirrors, keyless entry, cruise.

I prefer the front bench w folding center console over a dedicated console.

Bonus points if the 4.30 truck has a manual t-case (SOOO glad my '11 does!!!) or the driver-selectable rear locker.

The only 2 things I wouldn't mind having: power telescoping mirrors and heated seats (the latter is more for the gf but I'll use heated seats if they're there)

The ONLY thing I hate: Ford's stupidest, dumbest "toggle on/toggle off" turn signals. ****-eee-blay those things are.

The 6.2 is allegedly the new "half-million-mile motor." I imagine that's a stretch but I've seen 2V's hit 350k or more and supposedly the 6.2 is on par with that. I've only got 150k so I can't say. If it makes it just another 8000 it will have outlived my V10 3V abomination, so if we're setting the bar low......

The 6.2 loves bigger numbers on the tach - I flog mine all over Colorado in the summer and hold 5500 on climbs with a trailer and 4.30s. Allegedly it's just as happy at redline of 6k but psychologically I feel like staying a touch off redline is a good idea...no science to back that up, just personal preference/superstition

I rarely pull more than 10k -- if I were going to pull more than that at altitude I'd still go diesel. I feel like the 6.2 pulls about as well as my stock '97 7.3 (pre-intercooler), albeit at higher RPM's

 

I would go with the 4.30 with the lowest miles. Easy choice. I don’t think there was much difference between 13, 14, or 15, except the year it was built.

 

I would get the one with the 4.30 ratio. We have a '15 with 4.30 gears and it does just fine feeding cattle. It has a bale bed on it and also pulls a 24ft stock trailer. The 6 speed matches up well to the 6.2, and you can lock out gears, or run it manual.

 

Also to add in, if you want your seat covers to look like factory seats, go with Shear Comfort seat covers. I got OEM style ones, and they look exactly like the factory fabric. Evan down to the little airbag tag on the side.

 

Get the 4.30s!!

Wish I had em.

 

Definitely going to follow the crowd with saying, since it's purely a work truck, you want those 4.30s and you want low miles. 6.2s are about average on lifespan, so 150k is, depending on maintenance, at least mid-life for that engine. 80K and you've still got another 80K to go before you'll hit major problems with proper upkeep.

 

I appreciate this very much because this is the first I’ve heard of it. I will google these. May be cheaper than the carhartts.

My main concern with the 4.30 is the fact that mileage will be less, although it will definitely pull a trailer exceptionally well. I can feel it from the driver’s seat, just like I could feel the torque the very first time I drove my old 7.3. The 4.30’s are so hard to find in the configuration that I want. I test drive the 13, but they sold it right after I left. So now I’m down to the clean 150K mile Lariat, and the 15 XLT with 98K. Out of the two, the 15 seems to be cleaner and only driven in the city. I don’t think it’s ever seen a soft road in its life. It doesn’t even have a gooseneck hitch or anything. At the moment, the 15 has the upper hand, but regardless of this, they both have 3.73’s in the rear, and they both are manually locked in via the 4wd switch on the dash.

I'm guessing I’ll have 2500 lbs extra just in the bale bed, cube feeder, and ranch hand legend series full replacement on the front.

I tow probably once a month or so. So I’ll probably miss the 4.30’s and such more than I would like to. I’ve had 3 3/4 ton fords and they’ve all been very wonderful to me. I had a 94 with a 460, a 2000 with the 7.3 and an 05 6.0. All three had 3.73’s. I may not even recognize a difference between the 4.30’s and 3.73’s towing a trailer because I’ve never had one before.

Either way I’m going to end up with a super nice truck. Just wish either one of them had overloads, because that would be the deciding factor due to the rear end sag in these trucks.

I appreciate everyone’s’ replies. This is the reason why I can’t NOT come to this forum. Good people like yourselves.

Thanks
-Cade

 

FWIW....I think you might want to keep looking for an F350....I don't thing a 350 would be much more in a 6.2 l, and payload, not pulling power, could be the issue for you.

Anyway, you can't hardly go wrong. .I really like the 6.2 on my 2015. It has so much more capability than the older 3/4 tons that I have had.

 

Ditto on the 4.3, even if you do not tow. When I test drove a 3.73 F350 before I ordered mine, I thought the rpm's were awful low for just normal driving.

 

I agree. the only downside to a F350 (imo) would be finding one. They are hard to find with the 6.2.

 

I ended up choosing the 2015 XLT with 98K. It’s got the 10K payload package, FX4, supercab shortbed, power everything, plus the productivity screen on the dash. So far, I’ve averaged 16.7 mpg on the 150 mile trip home. I am very pleased with the capability of this truck. Even going up hills it won’t downshift to 5th. It’ll stay in 6th and hammer through even with the cruise on 65 and rpms around 1750 or so. The high end power is astounding honestly. You can definitely feel it when you hit those high rpm ranges. Mine downshifted from 6th to 3rd when I put the throttle to the floor. Coming from a 7.3 and 6.0, honestly I feel I’ve made the best decision I could’ve because I’m completely satisfied. I tried to find an F-350 for that extra weight, but everybody in my area only has the 6.7’s and that wasn’t really an option for me due to the price tag that comes with it. Nevertheless, the truck weighs exactly 7K pounds, so I have 3K pounds worth of breathing room. The bed will add 950, cube feeder will add 1200, ranch hand will add 300. So altogether I’ll be 600 pounds under max payload if it’s only me in the truck. I think I can live with that, because my 6.0 was weighing in at 10,600 with the 10K payload package, and I feel it had less power than this 6.2L. The truck handles really well on the road for the weight. Sometimes it gets a little squirrelly on the rear end when I hit a decent size hole, but that’s not new to me. It’s been a while since I’ve driven a super duty that wasn’t loaded with extra weight. But this 6.2L definitely has plenty of power and torque to go around.

I appreciate all the responses. Thank you.

-Cade