Right on John. And add to that, I've been saying for a very long time that the F-250 Superduty should simply become a super heavy duty F-150 with the 8800 LB package and leave the F-3's, 4's and 5's to hell alone. Ford is going to shoot them selves in the foot even worse than with the diesel debacle. People will look at the Dodge and GM's again while Ford goes on a diet.

Tim

 

I like my F250 9600 or so package. It fills the gap between F150 and F350 nicely me thinks, especially considering there is a 10,000 F350 package. I think the F150 should be the 8800 package, the F250 an F350 with a GVWR under 10,000 and F350 over 10,000. The F450 was perfect, in my opinion, the way it was. F550/F650 commercial.

 

BTW, in the states near me the speed limit is 55 mph when towing. Doing anything to the F450 to make is more mpg or speed friendly was ridiculous in my opinion. If you want something that will go faster than the speed limit than why are you weight conscious, buy an F250/F350 (SRW or DRW, whatever you want) and run the **** out of it. If you really want a truck that works and pulls the load appropriately at 55 - 65 mph then why not the F450 as was. I think it's bunk to have de-rated the F450 for mpg or speed. I don't see a reason to de-rate the F450 or the F250. Keep the F250 a de-rated F350, keep the F350 where it is (which is similar to a de-rated F450 or 2011 model) and keep the F450 as a monster F350 for those that want just a little more than an F350.

Ford had it right before de-rating the F450 and I agree with previous posts. If you need an F450 you don't need an F350 so don't worry so much about mileage or speed. Again, in a lot of states you're limited to 55 - 65mph when towing (55 mph wherever I've driven).

 

Um....

If you NEED F or G-rated tires, then you NEED something bigger than an F450.

The Bridgestone R290 steer-axle tires I run on the Freightliner (11R22.5) are G-range, with a 6600-lb load rating.

G-rated tires are designed for vehicles with 80K-lb weight ratings, not 22K-lb ratings.

Get the right tool for the job. Your family, and mine, will thank you.

(and for the record, there ARE G-range 17-inch tires; they're just not common.)

-blaine

 

Agreed. I think some of the capability of these truck plus the marketing of Ford/GM/Dodge are giving a few a sense of invincibility with pickups. I'm seeing more and more instances where a 20k trailer is hooked on an F250 and 24k+ trailers are on F350 DRW's. Just because the truck looks big and Ford says its the toughest thing out there doesn't give you a free pass to throw caution to the wind.

As far as the new F450 pickup, if I need to haul something really big and heavy I'll get a flatbed. If I want a body set up for towing I'll build a hotshot body. For whatever I would want to do with a 450, the bed is just getting in the way. If I want to tow 24k and want to blow 50 grand I'll just get a 450/550 chassis and build what I want and keep the bigger axles and tires. Actually, I'd probably look for a lightly used Pete 330 or 335 and have a truck that will last twice as long and handle a trailer twice as nice.

 

No, the F450 was the next truck in the line up. It was what you need if you pushed the limits of the F350 DRW. Now it's not because people complained about mileage and speed. Those that posted people are using F250/F350 for too big of a trailer, you're right, they are. Then the F450 was equipped with a bed like the F350 but still had the F450 components to make a true/real difference in capacity so people bought them and it's the "right" tool for that job. HOWEVER, there is always going to be those people that want the biggest baddest thing (the biggest tag on the fender) but not really need it. They complained about mileage and speed and got Ford to de-tune/de-rate the F450.

The F450 was the PERFECT tool for the job at hand, but Ford screwed that up. If you need an F550 or a F650 get it. If you need an F450 it's no longer available, it's an F350 with an F450 badge.

 

Yes Ford has pretty much taken away any benefit of buying a F-450 pickup.

I wouldn't buy one myself I would rather have a cab and chassis and put what ever body I want on the back. The F-450 pickup never did have the cab and chassis frame.

Who in their right mind would be going the speeds Ford thinks the truck will be. H*ll I don't take my 03 F-450 more than 100km/h (62 mph) a 9700lb truck starts to float at those speeds.

So Ford decides to get rid of the 110 axle which trumps over the Dana 80 any day. They put 17 inch wheels on the truck now you have light duty tires and smaller brakes. On 2wd F-450 pickups do they still use the mono beam front axle or is it twin I beam suspension.

Did they drop the price on the 450 pick up not a chance even thou the truck isn't worth buying now.

You can't beat 19.5 tires for handling and mileage I wouldn't go to anything else after owning my 03 F-450 flatdeck.

 

Bingo. there it is.

 

what the hell is anyone doing driving and F450 at 80 mph let alone 90mph?

why if small brakes, 17" tires and cheaper lighter axles still gets 33000# GCWR did they build the 08-10 F450 with the bigger stuff?

The whole thing is typical of product guys listening to the wrong people and doing the wrong thing.

The "improved" F450 won't even handle the pin weight of my 5th wheel trailer. Its a POS

 

and by the way weight is not the issue with the F450. I can drive my F450 at 45mph and get 16mpg.

The F450 has two problems.

At highway speeds however, where the majority of the horsepower goes to pushing air and not pulling weight the mileage goes down to 13 plus. the Front of the 08-10 is much flatter and bigger than the earlier body front.

When running at highway speeds it is easy to see average mpg drop 2-3 mpg when the DPF is regenerated. Dumping raw fuel into the cylinders with the exhaust vales open does not improve mileage. And doing every 150-200 miles is even worse.

The fact is the current F450 fills a gap between the 350 towboss and the F450 CC. In 2011 the F450 becomes the towboss and those of us who need the current F450 capability either spend more for a CC with less features or go elsewhere.

Ford blew this one big time.

 

The F-450 comes factory equipped with 19.5 inch F rated tires.

 

They do for the '08-'10 model years. Unfortunately, for the MY 2011 F-450, they're "E" rated 17s....same as the F-350 DRW.

 

the 2008 F450 Pickup uses Continental HSR and HDR G rated tires. I just went out and looked.

the 2010 ordering guide sats G rated

by the way, if you look at the inflation tables the tires are the correct fit. Makes one wonder about the 2001.

 

Its the 2011 that is suppose to be the changes, yeah 2010 still the same...

 

I bought the 08 F450 for the towing and carrying capacities. Could MPG be better.....possibly however one has to realize why they built this truck. It's build for heavy loads. Anything that's built for heavy loads typically does not get the MPG of an economy car or the speed of a sports car. I love my F450....and the ride is outstanding for a truck of this type, IMO. Should Ford have changed it....IMO possibly work towards a increase in MPG but not take away capacities as this is why the truck was designed/built. BTW....heard rumors that ford was going to do a complete rework along the lines of axles and capacities back in 08 on the F450's. Glad I bought one when I did. :-) <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>