so this past week i went into the ford dealer ive been dealing with forever
i took the new 08 for a short test drive as they would not allow the only display model on the lot to be gone long

as for the power i wasnt really impressed
i own a 7.3 now with many mods that will easily eat up the 6.0 so with that being said i dont think this 6.4 is much better then what i have for power

maybe the fuel consumption will be better and it does seem to have smoother power right from take off

but the one thing that got me was the gcwr
here in canada the scales go by your gcwr when they pull you in

with my truck i have now the gcw(gross combined weight )is 13500 kgs(roughly 30000 lbs)

so anyways back to the topic here
i priced out my new 08 truck and the price came to 61000(canadian)
then i found the specs on the truck

the gcwr on the new f350 is only 10600kg
for me to get back up to that 13500 kg i would have to go with a 450 or 550

why would ford do this

so needless to say im now shopping for a duramax or a cummins as i really need the high gcwr without spending the big money on a comercial sized truck

i drove the cummins today and was not at all pleased with the power after driving a powerstroke for so many years
but then i took a duramax for a drive
wow very impressive power but such a feminane truck

 

To get to a 30,000 pound GCWR truck in the past you needed to have at least an F450, maybe an F550. The F350 only went up to 26,000 pounds, and that was with the TowBoss option. That has only been available since 2005.

The GCWR on these trucks has not gone down at all.

 

gcwr on my f 350 short box dually is stamped in the door at 13483 kgs


the dealer also thought i was wrong till we compared the 2 trucks
the sales manager was also baffled as to why they would lower the gcw
chev and dodge both have a much higher gcwr then the ford now

 

I've never seen a truck that has GCWR stamped anywhere on the truck. GVWR is there, but the GCWR has never been on the truck anywhere. You need to get that info out of the owner's manual.

 

the truck probably had 3.73's he would have to have the 4.30 rear end to get the higher tow rating in the range of the stock duramaxes.

 

LOL ok duramax guy

 

GCWR of my 04 F-450 is only 26,000lbs. I do not have the Tow Boss package on it though. GCWR of my 06 F-350 is only 23,000lbs. All non CDL vehicles. If the new F-450 pickup can tow a 24,000lbs trailer, the GCWR would have to be 34,000lbs+?? The new ones are expensive, but they are worth it.

 

my truck now is a 2002 7.3 crew cab short box dually with the 410 rear end
it was originally purchased as a cab and chasis with the tow package and the pto off the tranny
was to be used as a tow truck
the stamp inside the door is not a factory decal hwoever it is some sort of dot regulation certificate
when i pass thru the scales it is what they look at for my gcw
it reads 13483 kgs
the original purchaser didnt end up buying the truck so the dealer put a box on it and sold it to me

whe ni was lookign for the truck i wanted somethign with the highest tow rating i could get at the time and this is the truck they sold to me

in the owners manual they do not even list a short box dually to ge tthe tow ratings


so after reading your comments and posts i today went back to the dealer for yet again another test drive and to discuss the tow ratings
compared to even a 2006 6.0 the gcw is still less on the new 08 models

this is a commercial ford dealership specializing in just trucks and the sales manager there thinks this is goign to hurt fords sales
seeing how most people driving f 350s dont actually use them for towing the majority of peopel are not goign to really think twice about the tow ratings so maybe it wont hurt ford sales

however for me im allready towing elegally with a 19500 lb equiptment trailor and just legally with a 14000 lb travel trailor the tow ratings are a huge factor when i buy a truck

i shoudl be going with an f 450 i know but with the price difference in the 450 and even the 550 compared to a 350 i just cant justify the extra cost for the minimal amoutn i tow the 19500lb equiptment trailor

so far the dodge has the highest gcw available but the gmc has much more power
after owning nothing but fords all my life and having a fleet of powerstroke fords i think i may have to rethink my buying decission on my next purchase

 

the all mighty duramax is the cadillac pullin truck now and forever and will be my next one hopefully I wont hit to many scary ery feeling moments while haulin azz along side the big rigs going up and down mountains doing 70 ..
Ford is up to snuff at hairy scary haulin not the HD's the duramax does'nt handle the load a ford truck does though..

 

it is NOT nice to laugh at ford. LOL

i am being serious the only way to get ford's max GVW is to get the 4.30 rear end, you might want to check this out. It may get you a different sticker on the door.

I don't know about the new ratings since no one would publish the stuff, let alone allow for options (like diesels and 4.30 rear end gears) in the comparison.

 

Just as a reminder, here are the '08 SD specs.

http://media.ford.com/products/press...398&make_id=92

 

I will do some checking on the specs tonight. I will find a250/350/and a 450. Will let everyone know what i find.

 

Funny, didn't know that the duracrapper can haul over 18K of a fifth wheel.
You need to actually look at the specs of what the maxipad can haul as compared to the Ford. The comparable rearend would be the 4:10 on the 4x4DWR vers. the 3.73 on the duracrapper.

 

OK. No need to get rude. Let's keep things civil here.

 

Well, just wanted to point out that some people actually need to do some research first before making false accusations.