Helllo all! So I am now in the last stages of dealing on a new ford F-150. A BIG change from my old 86 chev.
Lots of questions, someone here I hope can help. Maby after turkey and football!
I'm looking at the 150 with the 1200 dollar payload package upgrade instead of a 250 because I want the new caband motor.
My last option is a 4.10 or if I can get it a 3.73 rearend. I pull a 4000? pound trailor daily but good roads here and no real mountains. Just short jumps up the ridge roads LOL.
I am wondering if I might get better milage with the 3.73 and still have good power. I can always down shift.
Well thanks and Happy Thanksgiving

 

Yes, you'll get better mileage with the 3.73. The 4.11 only adds 400lbs to the max payload.....

 

I don't think you can get the 3.73s with the heavy payload package anymore - IIRC, you have to get the 4.10s. I would expect the truck to get 14-15 mpg if it's a 4x4, more if it's a 2wd.

LK

 

Thanks LK! That is what I am hearing. It's a 2 wd and if it's a real pig on gas maby I can find some different gears?
I wonder who would have something?
O course 15 would be a 50% increase!! LOL

 

I'd think you would get perhaps 15-16 mpg with a 2wd with the 5.4L V8, and maybe a bit more on long highway trips. I'd ask someone, but I don't know anyone with that combination. My '01 was a 2wd with the V6, and it got about 17mpg in 'normal' driving and up to 20mpg on trips...so 1 or 2 mpg less than that seems like a decent guesstimate. My '02 (7700 gvw, 4x4, 5.4L) got about 15 mpg in summer and 14 mpg in winter...and because you're looking at a 2wd it should be a bit better.

The 8200gvw heavy payload package uses the 10.25" semi-floating rear end - and I'm not sure what gears are available for that though the aftermarket. I'm pretty sure you could get 3.73s (since that's what my truck has with that rear end), but I don't know what other gear ratios might be available. I think you could order 3.31s with that rear a few years back, but I'm not 100% sure.

LK

 

LK I use these trucks for work and for me that means pulling a flatbed trailor that has about 3 to 4 thousand pounds of equiment on it. We pull this job site to job site and always back home at night. Our trips are 60 to 100 miles round trip.
I was hoping for 3.73 but have to go with the 4.10 for now.

 

Can these new f-150's handle 2.5 yards of soil in the bed? That is the only thing holding us back from buying this great truck: payload...right now we have a 93 F250 and it does a good job of holding weight..not sure of the "smaller" F150 though...

 

LK I use these trucks for work and for me that means pulling a flatbed trailor that has about 3 to 4 thousand pounds of equiment on it. We pull this job site to job site and always back home at night. Our trips are 60 to 100 miles round trip.
I was hoping for 3.73 but have to go with the 4.10 for now.

 

I don't think the "heavy" payload package is worth it on the new trucks. Seems to really limit the choices. I haven't looked in great detail, but not a huge increase and you have to deal with 17" 7 lug wheels!

 

The heavy payload package adds about 1,000 pounds of payload over the 'normal' F150 trucks - I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think you get a payload of around 2,500-3,000 pounds depending on model (less for the extended-cab longbed, since the truck weighs so much). However, you can only get it with the 8-foot bed (which makes sense) and you can't get it with as many option packages. The 7-lug wheels are annoying - you can't buy aftermarket ones, which limits your choices. Plus, the 7-lug wheels on the '04s are pretty ugly - the wheels on the '03s weren't all that attractive, but the wheels on the '04s are quite a bit worse. I'm not sure why Ford doesn't offer a decent-looking 7-lug wheel...or at least something wider, so that you could mount larger aftermarket tires. Maybe some aftermarket company makes 7-lug wheels, but I searched quite a bit and never found any.

Deividas93GT - As far as hauling 2.5 yards of soil, the short answer is no.

To be legal, you'd need an F-450 to haul that kind of weight - unless soil in your area is really light, and then *maybe* you could do it with an F350 dually. I don't know the exact weight of a yard of soil in your area, but a yard of dry sand weighs 2,700 pounds - so 2.5 yards of sand would weigh 6,750 pounds. 2.5 yards of water would weigh 4,200 pounds - so unless your soil floats, it has to weigh at least that much. Either way, nothing with single rear wheels is rated high enough to haul that kind of weight - F150, F250, or F350. Even if you could get a truck rated that high, you would have a heck of time finding tires for it - even E-rated (80psi) tires aren't rated high enough for that weight.

Hats2wt - how well an F150 would work for your needs would depend on the kind of trailer you're using - it is an equipment trailer, or a 'normal' flatbed trailer or car hauler? Equipment trailers tend to be pretty heavy, and I'm not sure I'd want to put that kind of load on an F150 on a regular basis. However, if it's a lighter dual-axle trailer or car hauler it'd probably be okay - but I think you're going to be at the upper limits of what the truck can handle comfortably (at least, and do it every day for that kind of miles). I've towed a lot more weight than that with my 7700gvw F150 - when hauling hay I pull a 10,000 pound trailer and have 1,500 pounds in the bed of the truck - but that's only a few times a year, which makes a huge difference.

Either way, I think you will want to give the 4.10s a try before switching to other gears - I think they'll work out pretty good if you're towing a trailer that often. As far as mileage while towing, I really have no idea - I got about 10mpg, but that's towing a much larger load. Perhaps you'd get 12 or 13 mpg when towing, depending on how easy the trailer is to pull.

LK

 

LK Thanks for your response. My trailer is tandem with 15inch 235 tires.
It is custom built or rebuilt starting with an old travel trailer frame.
I haul on this rig a 100 cfm smith air compressor and a 250 gallen tank and 2 hose reels and a small pumping unit. The tank usally has 50 to75 gallons of product in it. Never weighed the dame thing but am going to do that tomarrow.
I pull this now with an old 86 chev. 3/4 ton and it is really worn down.LOL. I have to belive that a "NEW FORD" should have no problems? I mean to say 300 horse and all that low end tourk?

 

Weighed the trailor today and suprised myself. 4560lbs. Was a little light on product but that would only add to hitch wt.
So then also add 1000 lbs cargo in truck box and there you have it!
All the real wt. is on the trailor and that is pulled wt. so I think I'm right on adding the payload package if for no other reason than bigger brakes and such.
I don't think the current F-250 would give me anything more than I am getting here? And I give up:
1: The new motor!
2: The new style standard cab with the extra room I want.
3: The better frame and ride.
Of course I am paying dearly for my wants. LOL As I could buy a super duty 03 for a lot less.
So Merry Christmass to me!
Any other thought you have would be welcome.
Ordering end of Dec

 

It sounds like the F150 would be just fine for pulling that trailer, as you'll probably be 4,000+ pounds under your GCWR (I believe GCWR is 15,000 pounds on the heavy payload trucks with the 4.10 gears). The heavy-payload trucks have stiffer rear springs, which means the truck/trailer combo will pull a lot better and with more control - I've found that my 7700gvw '02 F150 was a *lot* better for towing than my non-7700 '01 F150 was.

You should be able to find a few of the 8,200 gvw regular-cab 2wd trucks on lots, in order to be able to test-drive before you decide to order yours - I've seen a few regular-cab longbed 8200 trucks around here on lots. One easy way to see what trucks are available in your area is to go to Ford's site -

http://www1.forddirect.fordvehicles....ory&partner=fv

enter what kind of vehicle you're searching for and your zip code, and then you can search the dealer inventories in your area without having to drive around to all of them. That's how I ended up finding the supercab longbed that I test-drove two weeks ago...I would never have gone to that lot normally, but found out through Ford's site that they had a truck like I was looking for. Then I called them to double-check that they really had the truck on the lot (sometimes the Ford site inventory list is a couple days behind).

I'm not sure if you've test-driven a 2wd truck with the 8200 package, but I'd definitely recommend it before you place your order - just to make sure it's what you want.

LK