thedoghouse
Tennessee
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Joined: 09/07/2008
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Been thinking of upgrading from my 99 f350 srw to a 08 F450. Ive heard all the bad and some good. Can anybody give more info on the F450 to help me decide to buy or not. Im over weight with my current combo and would like to have the rite equiptment
thanks
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JIMNLIN
Big Cabin, OK
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Joined: 09/14/2003
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having the right tow truck requires knowing how much trailer your towing. What is the trailers GVWR ?? having the rite truck means not to little or to big.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" Will Rogers
'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach Linex
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er with two slides 16" BFG Commercial LTs
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thedoghouse
Tennessee
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Fiver weight is little over 16k.
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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The 450 chassis-cab give you all sorts of new choices with what type of bed you want to put on it. The possibilities are as wide open as your imagination and wallet will allow. The down side is the mileage, being an '08 with the fuel guzzling new motor.
92F350 CrewCab 4x4 351/C6
LoadNGo service body
69Bronco ATC250R CR500
20' BigTex flatbed carhauler
B&W TurnoverBall g-neck Curt Magnum rr DrawTite ft
HD springs Rancho9000s Bilsteins poly sway bushings
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hotrod4x5
Southern Calif
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Joined: 07/19/2003
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Would the F350 with Tow Boss option be enough? I think it has a GCVWR of 26,000 lbs doesn't it? What is your pin weight?
Rodney 2005 Laredo 29GS 2002 F250 V-10 Hughesnet Satellite Internet
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kmh3212
Georgia
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If your talking about the '08-'09 F450 pickup they are very nice and quite an upgrade from a '99 F350. I traded a '99 F350 for a '08 F450. This truck has bigger brakes and the 4x4 with the wide track front end will seem to turn on a dime compared to the old F350. You will use about 5% more fuel if you go for the 4.3 rear end and all the emmission controls on all new diesels. Lots of power and torque with the 6.4 and 2 inline turbos. you will be trading a fine truck but it is 10 years old. Time for a new ride!
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HarryWM
Wherever we are parked this time.
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Joined: 08/23/2004
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It's a great truck with a couple issues. Requires ULSD fuel so I can't go to Mexico for a couple of years or until ULSD becomes widely available down there. Second, the pickup truck configuration is badly undersprung. My 5er lowered the bed some, my truck camper (around 5,300 pounds loaded) sunk it down 3 inches, had to put air springs on it. Engine is excellent and is transmission. Fuel economy is bad, especially with the 4.88 rear end I put in it. My 5er has a GVWR of 17,000 pounds and this is the truck to haul it with.
Harry
With wife Carole 11 yrs fulltiming
Retired U.S. Army
2002 Carriage LS 37' 5er; 2006 Lance 1181truck camper
2008 F-450 King Ranch 4x4 fully loaded 5,000 lb air springs
2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
SKP # 54751
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Dieselgem
Northeast
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Joined: 04/07/2005
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The 08 F450 is a great towing truck. Like all the 08's they do have the emission equipment. This is problematic so far as getting good fuel mileage. You can find a number of posts good and bad on the dieselstop forum. I like mine and would buy another.
08-KZ Escalade 41'CKS Escalade
2008 F450 Super Duty Truck
2003 FLSTS
2003 FLSTC (Wife's)
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ib516
Up here!
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Upside? Great towing ability in a heavy duty truck.
Downside? Poor mpg as a trade off for the capability.
If you need a 45 series truck, then the F450 is a good one.
2004 Cougar 301 BHS
2007 Dodge/5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel/3500 SRW/ Megacab/48RE/4x4/3.73
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Previous Trucks:
2002 Dodge 2500, 4x4, Cummins Turbo Diesel, 3.55, 47RE
2001 Dodge 2500, 4x4, 360 gasser, 4.10, 46RE
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marvmarcy
Polson, MT, USA
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The heavier frame and rear axle will help a lot over your current F350. I had a 2002 F550 w/7.3PSD & 4.88 axle w/Keldermann air ride pulling 20,000#, but was right at the truck's GCWR (30,000#), so had some problems. I would not get the 4.88 ratio if pulling no more than 16,000#- a 4.3 should get much better fuel economy.
If Ford still uses the Dana 135 axle on the F450/550, it will ride very rough bobtail because of the huge unsprung axle weight. My Volvo rides better than my F550 did and gets better fuel economy towing - but I'm not recommending an hdt. As someone already said, if only towing 16,000#, a new F350 w/tow boss would work acceptably to most folks.
Marv
2001 Volvo VNL42T420, ISX450/1650, super 10sp w/GearMaster
2003 Newmar Mountain Aire 38RLRK (20K GVWR, tandem duals)
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RVing since 1979 - Fulltime since 2000 (mostly CO, MT, NC & Key West)
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