I have a F-350 crew shortbox dually now and am ordering a new truck. I am pull a 42 Tiger, is anyone using the 450 now as a tow veh. I want a box which I have looked into and Fontain builds the best ( box and tail gate 12K + link air ride on a 450 is another 4K ) Hard to justify the extra 16K ???

What year is your truck? I'm looking to buy soon.

I have a "03" F350 Short 2wheel drive with the 6.0. I love the truck except for the rear end diff problems. My 02 F350 and my 01 F350 also had the diff. issue. The truck gives the most bang for the buck. I had a 42 Fountain before and it didnt have any problems no matter how steep the ramp was.

450 is great for a local dump truck ! Problem is:
1) the gearing is too low, it will suck fuel like no tomorrow.
2)rear is too big and heavy along with the entire drive train so it takes all the power you have just to turn it .
3)wheels and tires are heavy and very expensive . rides like a tank.
4) still has the same motor and trans as the 250 -350 so it will have no power to turn all those extra large parts !

In short ,the truck is under powered and too stiff. if you want to "chip it " then it will bring back the power , but will still scream down the road with the low gears and burn a ton of fuel . MY last one got 10 mpg. That didn't stick around too long......

My opinion is beef up a 350 or jump up to a 650 where you can get a real motor . Just my .02

Also ,the gears in the 450 -550 if you get the best ones, will top out , WIDE OPEN ,at around 70-75 mph ..........And at that ,about 8 mpg wide open !

your 350 could go that fast BACKWARDS !!!

When you get ready for either truck, let me price it for you. I will try and save you some money. www.sandersford.com

Mat Raymond III
910-330-1911

Boot;

What power options are there on the 650?

I made the jump to a 450 from a 350 a few years ago and I love it. If you go with the 450, just order the higher gear ratio. The factory offered 4.88 and 4.30 when I ordered mine in 2002. I went with the 4.30 and have not had any problems with it. My unloaded mileage averages right around 16-18mpg, but it drops to 11-13mpg when it is pulling the boat or the big car trailer. My top speed with no engine mods is 95. This is without a load, of course! If you need to go faster than that, install aftermarket gears or buy a sports car!

Boot is right that the acceleration is not as quick as the 350, but the increase in braking power more than makes up for it. Any truck can get a load rolling, but stopping it is the big issue. That's why I stepped up to the 450. Without a doubt, the 450 stops a load much better than my 350 did. The 450 has the advantage here simply because of the larger brakes.

Also, if you go with a 450, be sure to get the aluminum wheels. This will save on rolling weight over the steel wheels. Something else to keep in mind about the larger wheels. The factory 19.5" wheels on the 450 may weigh a little more than the factory 16" wheels on the 350, but they also help offset the lower gear ratio because of a slightly larger tire diameter. The 450 with the 4.30 rear end does wind out a little more than a 350 with a 4.11 rear, but it is not really that big of a difference.

Overall, I would buy another 450 in a minute. This truck is an absolute work horse! If you want the best of both worlds, get the 450 with the larger brakes and then call Boot for some engines upgrades to make it go!

I didn't mention it above, but the Gladiator weighed right around 8000 pounds and the Top Gun weighed right around 9000 pounds. These weights are for the boats only and do not take into account the weight of the trailers. This truck did not have any trouble at all with either of these boats, but the true test will be when we finally bring the Apache home from Florida. That boat weighs right around 12000 pounds and the trailer is just shy of 6000 pounds. This will certainly test the trucks capabilities!

Mat, any word on when you'll be getting the 2005 Mustang? (sorry for the thread hijacking!)