The Supercrew presently has a 5.5' bed.

 

Go for the diesel. Its heavier but you can put bigger tires on it and still have plenty of power left to go where ever you want.

 

I was looking at getting 295's also but went with 285's instead since they were cheaper and size wise there is not much differnce. I'm impressed with your mileage with those gears and tires. I have 4.30's also and with the V10/6spd highway rpms are up there it seems. Do you know what rpm your engine is turning at a certain rpm? Say 60 or 65?

 

Russ,

If you had buyer's remorse with the Toyota because you skimped on the options, why tamper with doing that again? The F-250 with the PSD, IMHO, is the best diesel truck on the road. I've driven in Ford, Chevy and Dodge. All are good products and all have the pro's and con's, but the F-250 6.0L PSD is the overall winner. Chevy touts how wonderful the Allison transmission is. From owner's I know, you either get a good one or a dud. No consistency and reliability there. The Dodge diesel is strong, but too tempermental and inconsistent. The Ford F-250 6.0L PSD is quick, strong, reliable and plain ol' "just runs and runs strong".

I would recommend the F-250 PSD, especially if the F-150's bed is too short (though a NICE riding truck; I test drove one). And that's coming from a 5.4L owner. Personally, the 5.4L is fine for me, but then again I don't go thru sand or mud! But honestly, if I had it to do over, I'd get the 6.0L PSD... hands down. Your other two options just don't sound like they're gonna do it for you, and do you REALLY want another case of buyer's remorse?

Obviously, the final call is yours... For me, buying a new or used vehicle has come down to this: 1. what do I want?; 2. Get a pre-qualified loan that has a max monthly payment that's do-able for you financially; 3. go after the truck, tell the dealer "here's how much I can spend on the truck, Can you do it or should I go to another Ford dealership?.

Whatever you decide, have fun and remember: you're in the driver's seat when it comes to buying vehicles right now... Make the stealerships work for YOU!

Best,

 

I skimped once and needed more truck than I had. It is always better to have more truck than you need. My 250 is heavy, but if I keep my foot out of it i average around 17.5 city+highway. Had my foot in it most this week and avg 16.

 

Dodge

 

[Mine gets fairly lousy traction in 2wd as well, and I knew Ford's LSD was sub-par when I bought it. My point is that you can't have everything.

My point. This is a quote from a fellow ford man. Stick with the dodge or GM

 

How many miles a year will you be driving this truck? If it will be alot, go for the diesel. If not that much, maybe the V10 will do better.

I don't plan to put that many miles on the truck, so I went with the V10. So far so good. Mileage bites, but I knew it would (getting about 11).

Good luck.

Bill

 

V10 is real bad on gas milage lol i have 5.4 and its fine so far, untill i supercharge it. I wish i would of got a PSD but 6.0L has problems wait a few years FOrd has a new engine coming out....

 

I think the 5.4 would be a good choice for you. If you're concerned about mileage and don't tow anything too substantial it's hard to recommend the diesel or the V10. I know a lot of folks don't like the 5.4, but I do. I had an Expedition with the 5.4 and it has a lot of low end torque for a small V8.

 

Do what I did, compare cost of ownership of each option. Only figuring gas pricing alone, at 15.000 miles a year, gas is $1.77 and diesel fuel is $1.67 (current prices per gallon here in n/e Ohio), and take in the mpg difference between the v10 and the PSD. In 4 years/60,000 miles your only at about a $2,000 advantage in fuel cost having the diesel. The diesel is around $4400 initial cost, more then the v10. Gas engine oilchange is around $20 every 5000 miles, diesel is around $80. If your not pulling and need that extra torque, for me it would be very hard to justify a PSD. My wife is a service manager for a Ford dealership and says the V10 is the hands down best of all the Ford truck motors. All her mechanics say the same thing also.

 

Well I would go with the 5.4 and not the PSD. Although the PSD gets better fuel milage the $5000.00 difference in cost would have taken me over 6 years to reclaim the difference in fuel economy. That was figuring 11mpg on the 5.4 and 18 on the PSD and that is not counting the difference in maintance.

Mine has the 3.73 limited slip rear end and I tow a 24 LOA center console boat. Has all the power I need. The boat rigged weighs about 6000+ pounds.

If you want slightly more p[ower get the 4.10 rear ends...

This was in no way meant to malign the PSD - but are some of the reasons I made my choice. Not to mention that the 5.4 is much quieter, easier to find fuel when you are out of town and generally less down time when in the shop - and yes, they will all be in the shop at some point.

 

The old model 5.4 doesn't belong in a SD, I've had 2 and will pull ok on the level or down hill, up hill and in the mountains the pedal gets close to if not on the floor and was frustrating. Went to the V10 in 01 and the milleage empty was down about 1 mile per gallon on the highway but when pulling sometimes was down to 7-8 when the 5.4 would have gotten 9-10. But it would do what I wanted - Oh, don't forget a head wind. Solved the problem, now have an Expedition with a 5.4 and an SD with a 6.0 for the heavy stuff. Don't forget that it isn't just paying for the added cost over the life of ownership in the fuel you put in it, there is also resale value to consider that you may get additional dollars out of it, or you may have a deduct in value if the 6.0 shapes up and you have a 5.4. Very few people will look to the smaller engine to do the job they want with the truck. I'd personally only consider a 5.4 for around town driving or running down the road with a load of styrofoam peanuts in the back. That is my experience with the old 5.4 but in the 04 F150's that may be a whole different story.

 

If you plan on running your truck on the sand, FORGET the diesel. Way to heavy for your application. I can't believe the knowledgeable people on this site haven't made you aware of this yet.

My opinion is this, purchase the engine combo that fits your needs best. This is the reason SuperDuty trucks offers 3 distinct engine options. Many in this forum often tout what they own, and for good reason, they have a passion for their setup. You could never justify a V10 to a person who loves their diesel.

If you don't tow often or heavy, want the best possible mpg, and run often in the sand, it would be difficult to argue against the 5.4L.

 

You're right, it is personal opinion, I would buy a V10 again 'cause I was happy with it's performance. The thing I wasn't happy with was when towing (only recreational) the mileage would drop considerably but it was like the energizer bunny and kept on going. I would think the 5.4 in the sand would sometimes be challenged even with a low gears in the rear. When I ordered my F250 I originally was going V10 again, I was going SC short box too, but my experience with my personal use was that when pulling my mileage would sometimes drop to that 8 range so I figured it would be similar in a pickup (original V10 in an Excursion) with 3.73's. With a 29 gallon tank in the truck that would only allow a 200-250 mile road trip between stops and you better prepare the time of day and next town closely or when heading into the mountains you better have extra fuel all the time. So I went to my first diesel thinking I could get 12-13 pulling the load (hope) or 350 miles or so and therefore a cushion between fills. Seemed better but then changed the order to a long box and got the 37 gallon tank so now can cruise 450 loaded and maybe 600 empty. Ya, I know everyone has to stop long before that but I have made many trips out west hunting in the fall with my previous 5.4's and V10's and don't like having to stop every couple hundred miles unless I want too. And one last comment, if you are going to run in the sand, why consider a super duty crew when you are worried about the total weight anyway when it probably gets parked next to the sand where the toys are unloaded. Everyone should get what they want and buying too small or underpowered keeps everyone in business.