It's all good.. I get to drive my carpenters truck daily if I want and we have traded before..change of pace, and give our honest feedback. There is always plus and minus, and the Ford in previous years was the better hauler. GM has really picked up their game, the new 11 GM is extremely close in towing stability, has better looks in my eyes, but lacks the interior materials, egernomics and comfort of the new Fords. Its way closer and Im happy there is competetion. Ive always been a GM man, but Ford gets a slight nod on their trucks.

Oh ya, get with Craig from Gulf Coast Offshore, the Patriot Poker Run is coming up end of this month.. we need more boats..

No problem..Drive them both.. Im also pleased with our11 Duramax. See earlier responses.. We will be working these trucks hard the remaining of the year, and giving a break to some of the older diesels.. I will give progress reports on both..at the moment I prefer the Ford for towing the 12k trailer, less sway loaded and unloaded, way better interior, more room and comfort, and better transmision. On the GMC, looks better, better brakes-lighter, slightly quicker, better traction control...

Great looking truck! Very good choice of tire/size upgrade, the tires seem to be much better proportioned to the truck size and styling than the stock 20's. I'm surprised at how good they look on the stock rims, not bulged too much and from your report they must have balanced out quite well.

Thanks Z06...The stock 20's which are 275's 60 look good on our 250, and on our 350 there is about 1.25" taller due to different springs. The extra opening in the wheel wells looked ok, and then when I added the bushwackers they looked small. The 325's gave me 1.2" more height, as well as a little wider, but like you said not to wide. I am in these trucks all day long, and I need it to function for work, so I wanted something that was user friendly.. I get my info from www.dieselstop.com and www.thedieselgarage.com good info over there. And yes they did balance out great I even went to 85mph and am very pleased. They balanced out to about 95% of what the factory Michelon's were. Thanks Jeff

From the dieselstop site;

"Despite GM having exited the medium duty market, Ford isn't resting on its laurels. It's F-650 and F-750 chassis cabs, which are primarily used for towing and commercial grade hauling work are receiving a few updates. One of the most significant is the adoption of the 6.8-liter V-10 found in the lighter Super Duty trucks (F-250-F-550) for the 2012 model year. According to Len Deluca, Director of Ford's Commercial Truck Sales and Marketing, the addition of the V-10 will be "welcome news to many business and municipalities," while providing a wider range of powertrain options and solutions than Ram, Navistar, Isuzu and Hino (to name a few) currently offer in the Class 6 and 7 truck market.

For use in the medium duty Ford trucks, the V10 will be rated at 362 horsepower at 4750 rpm and 457 ft-lbs of torque at 3250. This enables gross vehicle weight ratings on these trucks to range from 20,000 up to a substantial 30,000 lbs..."


I find this unbelievable, but i guess I have to believe it. No mention of the 6.7 just this weakazz V10. Are they going to still use the 6.4??

Nice truck. Its about time ford pulled its head out and built a solid deisel again. I dont think they could afford another fiasco like the 6.0 which I currently own. I cant buy a new truck but I am going to swap in a Cummins when my extended warranty runs out. (engine already had a meltdown once) I have no doubt that the 2011 is going to be just as reliable as the old 7.3 with more power and effeciency to boot.

I know.. they forgot to mention the word Cummins. Keep reading a few more of their articles.. dig to get the info. The V-10 is a good alternative. Power and Torque has been increased over the years as well as usable Torque at lower rpms. Read a few publishings in 08 comparing the three diesels against the V-10.. it held its own with the exception of fuel economy and it wasnt that much worse due to the diesels having all that smog sh!t on. If you ever drove one you would know what they are talking about. Savings to the consumer is like 6500.00 but is all lost and then some when traded in. The new 6.2 is a fantastic motor. better fuel economy with close to the same power..as the V-10. The 6.7 diesel is self explanatory...and replaces the 6.4

No the F650 will still have the Cummins, but with CAT gone it needs another diesel, not the gas motor but I guess there are idiots out there who would rather die than run a diesel. Too bad Ford can't get a contract for the 12.8L Mercedes diesel. At 450/1650 that motor is super strong!

I wonder what the upcharge on the Scorpion will be...

Jeff,

I run the service departments of both a Chevy and a Ford store and there are plenty of reasons my truck has a blue oval on the front. I plan on keeping it this way as well. Thanks again for the report.

Good call with the Cummins, but it wouldn't surprise me if in a couple years there'll be a swap kit for the Ford 6.7L in the F250-550 trucks. You may not be able to wait that long though...