Shoot me an email. I have a suggestion.

t mcguire at cymbiant dot com

 

Don't they do fancy trim packages in the SD trucks? The contractor down the street who owns a construction biz has a crew cab diesel 350 (I think he's on his 3rd or 4th one). Always has tons of tools in the back, pulls trailers with Bobcats, plows snow in the winter, etc.

What is the problem with a contractor actually buying a work truck like a 250 or 350? Who do you imagine the SD's are targeted at?

I think we've established that the F150 supercrew is mostly a large passenger car in a gigantic pickup truck costume that can do selective work tasks but not many at once.

George

 

Not everybody needs a 3/4 or 1 ton. The cost of operating a 3/4 or 1 ton is quite a bit higher than a 1/2 ton.

 

George, as usual, you are correct. The SD has a very plush line - up and will do the "show off" job just fine. I'm simply advocating for those that don't want the SD for a variety of reasons. I think the current SD is the most awesome and awesome looking truck Ford has ever built.

If Ford wants this to be a very large expensive heavy duty car, then I may as well spend 1/3 of the money and double my MPG's and get a Focus or Fiesta next year instead of a truck.

I'm actually getting to the point where I can't justify getting a new truck let alone a SD. My '88 capably handles all my needs and the AC still blows cold. In yesterday's VERY RARE South Eastern Virginia snow storm, my old girl was back to yanking the unfortunate ones back onto the road. But, my inner kid says I need one, the fuel pumps may decide otherwise.

Tim

 

Absolutely right, but if you *need* a 3/4 or 1 ton (for instance if you want a Screw with 2000+ lbs GVW), you should buy one. Or if you want big capacity in a 150, give up the back seat and go with the high GVW regular cab with the 2600 lb GVW like Chris's.

If cost of operation is *that* important, people who need light duty trucks should buy 4-cylinder Rangers, but should not expect them to do the work of a larger truck.

It's a continuum, and I can't imagine that the cost of operating a basic F250 SD is gonna be that much higher than a high-GVW 150 (assuming both have the 5.4 engine, etc). It all comes down to buying the truck you need, and the 150 is simply not the answer for 100% of truck buyers.

George

 

Even it Ford is targeting Families with the screw 150, good luck putting a family of 4 or 5 with camping gear, food etc. in it with out going over the weight limit. Everyday I see trucks "overloaded" according to what they are rated at from the factory, in the city and on the interstate and no one gives the a second thought. Just the other day I had the 88 F150 laded to go to the dump and I can grantee it was over the limit but you couldn't tell from driving it. I have hauled an 85 T-Bird with a 94 ranger std cab 3.0 V6 5spd with 3 people in the cab. The truck stopped just fine handled well, but I could have used more power. My point is like has been made on here these trucks are rated WAY WAY below what they will safely handle. It is smart of Ford and the others to do this with the current state that Automakers are in. We all know none of them could afford to have a major lawsuit on their hands. I have never seen anyone hassled about the weight that they are towing or have loaded in the bed of their truck. But that is in Florida where it is not that big of a deal since we have no hills, or mountains to deal with. I can say that my truck will be loaded over the factory rated weight at times but I am not worried.

 

An "overloaded" F150 is still much safer than any minivan or mid-size SUV towing anything... And they're all ovrweight. Fill a minivan with 7 people and gear and go weight it...

 

How do You figure a F250 operating cost's are 'Quite a bit higher'?

Similarly equipped trucks get about the same fuel mileage.

IF You look at the weight posted for a reg cab 5600lbs VS a Screw 6.5 6200lbs, the SCREW carries 600 lbs more.

1500lb payload -Minus the extra 600 lbs for the SCrew = 900 lbs

I dunno??

Seem right?????

 

Your missing the main point.

Say Your driving , and some dingbat runs into You.
Come to find out that Your 400 lbs over the designed weight that is POSTED on the truck. YOU better have a damn good attorney, it the other party finds out.

It wouldn't matter if they hit You. You'd still be up the creek.

 

[quote=fonefiddy;7216207]How do You figure a F250 operating cost's are 'Quite a bit higher'?

Similarly equipped trucks get about the same fuel mileage.

quote]



No way off. There is no way a 5.4L F250 Screw will get the MPG of a 5.4L F150 SCrew. Its not as aerodynamic and its heavier. Never happen.

 

Well the diesel right away will have higher operation cost.

Now the 5.4 and 6.8 will not get as good MPG as the F150. There's no way. But other than that, it shouldn't be too much more.

Mike

 

The 5.4 F250 gets 16-17 real world MPG, just as good as a F150?

 

F250 owners with the 5.4 are happy with 15mpg highway. The 2009 f150 owners are happy with 18-19 highway. THere is a difference between the 2009 f150 and the f250. But there is not much of a difference between the 2008 and earlier f150 and the f250. The new tranny makes a difference in the mpgs.

 

I'm rather impressed by that. The F-150 will get 1-2 mpg better than that...not a huge difference.

This thread is about payload, and yes as far as payload is concerned a F-250 with the 5.4 is a pretty good jump over most (not all) F-150's. However, the maximum tow rating for an F-250 with the 5.4 and 3.73 gears is 10,200 lbs (2wd, reg cab). If you look at one equipped more like what most people drive (4x4 Super Cab) it drops to 9500 lbs, less than my F-150 (9700 lbs). If you switch to 4.10 gears, the rating goes up to 11,400 lbs, but I am sure fuel economy suffers quite a bit.

I guess my point is that you really don't gain a whole lot of overall capability over the F-150 by going to a SD with the 5.4, which is why most people who buy them get the diesel or v10. When you compare one of those to the F-150, operating costs are definitely much higher (speaking from experience).

 

Bullcrap. Not sure why your hellbent on defending a F250 w/5.4L, you must own one. I guess Ford sold one of them?