the ride was not as bad as i thought it would be, it seems the longer wheel base helps a little bit.its my daily driver and i think it rides a little stiffer than the 350, but the added benefits makes you forge about the ride. i really have a piece of mind when towing with the bigger breaks and better towing capacity. i have a 8 ft pick up bed on the back which needs a spacer, you cant even notice it as mine was done correct... the wheel base is larger than a 350 so hence the reason for the spacer.. all in all, i think if you are not towing a 10,000 ft boat, its over kill. i love the truck and would not change anything i did to it. i also got the truck from mcraymond on the board, he gave me a great price, and he was great to work with.. i love my truck, a 450 is a great way to go if you dont mind spending the extra coin for that piece of mind and waiting for it to be built.. if you have any questions pm me, ill be happy to answer them.... stecz
ok lets set it straight, stecz head is so big he needed a 450, it leans to one side so he has air ride to adjust for it. His french cafe has 599 hp per doggy and he wants to think he is big time. think back to the old hertz commercials..." see yall down the road jack"...thats stecz
Depends on if it's a daily driver and how fast you need to go...
We had a 550, and I have driven several others... Top speed is 82mph..
Cruise is about 60-65...
You make the call. Try to cruise at 75 and you're deep into the turbo and getting 6 mpgs.
It's a hell of a lot more truck than a 350...
Real brakes, STRAIGHT frame rails, big rear axle, and big springs.
OK on power due to the 4.?? gears.
The 350 will pull a top gun no problem... but you should be into a 450/550 for a 46... know what I mean???
450 and 550 are the same truck except for an added overload spring on the 550. You'll never need it for a trailer tower..
Take a look at the mid size GMs... 4500/5500 trucks are nice.
Same weight as the Fords, but a little bigger and drive a bit better...but they are bigger.
You can't beat the f450 if you want a real HD pickup.
But.. Don't get silver. The word is that silver is gay.
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a friend of mine had a 550 with the manual trans pull like a biotch, but top speed was low and if like stated 70 -75 mph your killing the fuel, you could do a rear gear swap on one or try to see if they offer a more friendly highway gear form the fact.
Depends on if it's a daily driver and how fast you need to go...
We had a 550, and I have driven several others... Top speed is 82mph..
Cruise is about 60-65...
You make the call. Try to cruise at 75 and you're deep into the turbo and getting 6 mpgs.
It's a hell of a lot more truck than a 350...
Real brakes, STRAIGHT frame rails, big rear axle, and big springs.
OK on power due to the 4.10 gears.
The 350 will pull a top gun no problem... but you should be into a 450/550 for a 46... know what I mean???
450 and 550 are the same truck except for an added overload spring on the 550. You'll never need it for a trailer tower..
Take a look at the mid size GMs... 4500/5500 trucks are nice.
Same weight as the Fords, but a little bigger and drive a bit better...but they are bigger.
You can't beat the f450 if you want a real HD pickup.
But.. Don't get silver. The word is that silver is gay.
FunHome - You're already off the F350 shortbed band wagon?!?! Most of what is being said here is correct. Let me clean it up a little.
The wheel base of the F-350 and 450/550 are different, but just by a few inches. All of the 450/550 "pickup trucks" I have run across do in fact have the spacer if the front of the bed, if they are a quality conversion.
The GVWR of the 450 is lighter than that of the 550 by some 3000 lbs or so. The 450 and 550 have entirely different rear ends. As you may have guessed the one in the 550 is larger. That rear end is up to snuff with what you might find in a medium duty. It's a real nice unit and a must for someone towing serious weight daily.
The 450/550 sports 19.5 tires. The are harder and give better service life. They are also more expensive if you run quality tires and not junk.
For 2004 and 2005 the axle ratio options became more limited. The F-450 offers a 4.30 or 4.88, the F-550 has 5.?? ratio. Not sure of exact gear, sorry. The farther back to the 2000 model year you go you may even see a 4.10 in a F-450. If you are serious about this make sure you know what gear is in the truck. Door tags don't mean anything. One of my trucks, a 2000 F-450 is labelled 4.88 open, I put a 4.30 limited slip in it. Drive the truck on the highway and note the engine speed with relation to the ground speed.
Are you pulling this boat from KS to Lake Ozark every weekend? How long is it and weight? Will the truck be a daily driver?
Take my word, I have driven F-250's, F-350's, F-450's and an Excursion as daily driver for over 10 years and finally got fed up with the piss poor ride and lack luster mileage. I bought a 2005 Acura RL as a daily driver instead and couldn't be more happy. Don't get me wrong, if it was me and 382 I wouldn't consider anything less than a F-350 DRW Longbed, Powerstroke, but that just me.
Good luck in you quest.
No I haven't given up on anything yet!! The reason I was thinking about the Ford Shortbed Dually is that I use this truck as my daily driver. As for what I tow it is a .38 Special (9600lbs dry) + Eagle trailer (3500lbs?) + Fuel, water, crap, etc. (1500lbs.)=14000lbs or so..... No I don't tow it every weekend, I now keep it at a Marina at LOTO, but I still bring it back for trips to area lakes and so I can tinker with it!! (Cough, I don't keep it in Missouri longer than 60 days because it's registered in Kansas)
Here is the deal, I'm thinking of replacing my truck because mine is a 1998 and (heck, it's my turn!) The truck I have now 1998 4x4 Chevy Crew Cab, 454 auto - the wife thinks it's too big for her to drive, so she won't even try. Also, I have seen everybody getting great fuel econ. with a diesel, but I have never owned one. I would like to have a new Chevy/Gmc or even one a couple of years old, but they are $$$, the fords seem to be a little more reasonable. I want something that is comfortable, yet has the balls to tow my boat when I want to!!! It has to be 4x4 because some of the ramps around here are Crazy!! and I've been the 2wd route before.
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