Hey All,

I'm about to pull the trigger on my first pick-up. The usage will be:
1) Hauling race car(s) w/ trailer, to and from track(s).
Total approximate max weight = 15,000lbs.
(two cars and a 24. ft. toybox with potential motorcycles, spares, etc.)

It will be used one to two weekends a month, approximate distances of 1200 miles a weekend.

I live in a major city and am torn between a dually or standard F-350 Turbo Diesel, 4x4. What are your thoughts? What would you get and why?
It's not a primary driver but want a vehicle that has some flexibility.

Also, what are your thoughts on:
1) Manual Transmission?
2) 4.11 Diff?
3) Is limited slip important? (4x4 model)
4) What tire option do you recommend?

Thanks,
B

<<<SORRY, WRONG POST AREA.. QUESTION MOVED TO HEAVY DUTY>>>

 

The dually will make towing much smoother and is nice when towing long distances. On the other hand, some people don't like driving them in the city. I would go with the dually, but thats just my opinion. If you have never driven one before, test drive one to see if the extra width would be a problem for you on a day-to-day basis.

 

That's a good distance in a weekend... The current 350 Dually I have is way more stable than the 250 srw I used to have and my buddys 350 srw. I drive my 350 as a daily driver in town, it can get tight everyonce in awhile but if you look in your mirrors at all you should be fine. And I just like being bigger than most others on the road. So I say dually if it won't break the bank.

Manuals are fun but after a while in heavy traffic, no thanks...
I have 3.73's and wish I would have gotten a steeper gear.
Don't have a posi and wish I did.

 

I should probably clarify. 1200 miles is probably the greatest distance we would drive exept for an occassional long haul. Living in SoCal, we are a relative short drive from a number of great tracks.

My concern with the dually route is, will the vehicle become dedicated to hauling as it is impractical for any other local usage?

The teamate (and brother) wants to go the dually route with an 8' Bed. The thought being, we can go 5th wheel down the road.

My thoughts are, go SRW with 6 3/4 bed and it can still tow, still have a 5th wheel and can accomodate the weight we want to tow. And, the vehicle can also be used for our frequent runs to Pep Boys, can be comfortably parked on the street in a regular parking spot, etc.

B

 

If you're worried about the stability issue, you could also change the wheel and tire set up on a SRW. I use a 19.5" wheel with 4100 lb rated 12 ply tires. It will take a lot of the sway out associated with light duty tires. that way you can use the SRW as a daily driver and still haul with confidence. There is no substitute for a dually, but this comes close. (see gallery for pictures.)

 

I went with the dually crew cab long bed and have never regretted it. I lived in upstate NY and now central NY, and the roads can get pretty narrow. Once you realize that your mirrors stick out farther than the rear fenders, you will never stress over vehicle width again. I haven't had any issues with parking, but I have to back into most parking spaces - it's way easier.

As far as everyday use - it is my daily driver even though I don't tow as much as I used to. When I do tow, it is very smooth. When I hook up to the trailer, I need to drop the tailgate (can't see around the fenders!). I was getting around 16 - 17 mpg with stock size tires and the 4.10, but I upsized to 285's or something like that, recalibrated the speedo, and now I get almost 20 mpg and can cruise at 65 mph and 2000 rpm (anything over 2000 kills your mileage). When I did the tire swap, I figured the effective gear ratio to be around 3.90, which works out really well, but I never tow over 10K, and your situation is a lot different.

Hope that helps, throw any more questions my way, and I will do my best to help you out.

 

Well dually will be defintely nice if you tow a lot more stable than single rear wheels automatic you can tow more and they can take more abuse so i hear but manual will do its personal taste if you get 4x4 limited slip aint a big deal 2wd is a different story but you can get it sideways easier with limited slip rear gears probably 4.10 would be good for towing

 

B-Line,
I had two F350s with the torque shift automatic. I didn't like them at all. They were constantly shifting up and down. When I ordered my 06 I got the manual trans with 4.10 Limited Slip. I am very happy with this combination. The fuel ecomomy empty or loaded is better than the trucks that had the auto and 3.73 gears. I haul a slide in camper (3000 lbs) and tow a 3000 lb boat and would not go back to a single rear wheel pickup. Just my 2 cents worth. Jim

 

I'd go with a dually for sure. When you think about it, the rear fenders aren't much wider than your towing mirrors anyway.

 

Either the dually or SRW F-350 will work well. The DRW will tow better but I think an SRW will be a better daily driver. DRW will have a higher towing capacity and a better resale value, but higher costs up front.

By all means go with the automatic. The Torqueshift Automatic is awesome. Some (as stated above) complain about it shifting too much, but when you think about it the computer is better at monitoring your engine and knowing which gear you should use.

 

What I like about parking my F450 with an 11 foot utility bed is parkung. I usually back in and the bed fills up the parking place. Since the cab is narrower than the bed it's easy getting in and out. It's fun to watch people try to squeeze in their cars when I'm parked next to them. Go ahead, hit my truck with that door, you'll do more damage to your car than my work truck. When I pull in next to a car, the mirrors hang over the top of the car. I saw a guy walk right into the mirror one time. That's one reason I back into parking places.

 

15,000 is a lot of weight for a 24' trailer

I had a 2001 SRW F-250 CC 8' bed Diesel and it towed my 24' trailer quite nicely , trailer grossed about 7500 loaded to the max
I also used it to tow my 36' gooseneck and I added air bags to keep the truck level that trailer had dual 7500 lb axles
Last I used it to tow my 44' gooseneck triaxle trailer, the truck still towed very nicely and never lacked power.
I towed all three trailers long distances and never had a stability issue
Now I have a 2005 DRW f-350 CC 8' diesel it tows great and I find parking spots that are easy to pull in and out of

 

I'm using mine as a daily right now. It isn't bad. Some parking spots require two spaces and some dont. It takes maybe a week to get use to the way it drives. The rear feels like it does the steering because the truck pivots from the back. Mine is a crew cab long bed and I think it is more difficult to turn because of the length than the width. The newer models have great side mirrors and it will help you see where your truck is riding in the lanes. The only con side for me is the extra expense of tires, less fuel mileage, and making it into a real large lifted truck.