I'd take the 97 brub with a V350 over the 95 burb with a tbi 454! Trust me, having driven and owned both, the V350 is better than the tbi 454! both in milege and power. Yeah GM has not updated the tow ratings for the v350, but it shows when you dump a 12K trailer behind it!
With GM look for a 96 or new to get the BEST 350/454's. Even a 2001 burb or pickup with a 6.0 would be better yet! more power than a V454!
GM had some 1500HD badged SB crew cabs from about 01 to 03 or 04 IIRC, do not get scared away from that rig if you see one either. That is a wolf in sheeps skin! Same chassis as a 2500 burb/pickup. Not as heavy as a 2500HD, but still a true 3/4 ton ala 8 lugs, big brakes, etc etc.
Marty
05 Chev CC D/A LS Dooley
92 Navistar dump truck, 7.3L 7 sp, 4.33 gears with a Detroit no spin
00 Chev C2500, V5700, 4L80E, 4.10, base truck, no options!
92 Red-e-haul 12K equipment trailer
3 Single axle utility trailers
John and Elizabeth (Liz), with 3 nutty cats
My beloved St. Bernard, Marm, lost him 1/2/12
Current rig:
1992 International Genesis school bus conversion
Perrysburg Dodgeboy 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab SLT Cummins HO
2005 Keystone Cougar 304 BHS
Chrysler the only one to pay back 100% of their loans from the Government. *The Old Car Company" still owes 1.6 billion. Is that better Chuckles
1: v10's pop spark plugs. Enough so that you need to buy a repair kit for $50 and have it in the truck or be willing to pay someone several hundred bucks to do the work for you. This kit only, no others. (clicky)
2: the front seal on the tranny can be toast if it's the oem, and you wont know it until you get the tranny up over 200 degrees. It takes a pull up over a good sized hill. When it fails it spews tranny fluid and smokes so bad you'll think the trucks on fire. Two ways to cure it, replace the seal with the correct replacement, or never tow.
3: the tranny cooler bypass valve can fail and cause the fluid to bypass the external cooler and cook the transmission. A new pipe is $50 at ford, by a better approach is to just get rid of it. It might have been a good idea on paper but is pretty much junk.
Other than that they are ok. The v10 takes more oil than normal too. The diesel needs it as oil is used in cooling the cylinders more so than gassers.
RVUSA wrote: 1: v10's pop spark plugs. Enough so that you need to buy a repair kit for $50 and have it in the truck or be willing to pay someone several hundred bucks to do the work for you. This kit only, no others. (clicky)
Yeah, they pop a lot of plugs! What world are you living in? As long as the plugs are changed correctly and on 60k intervals instead of the 100k that Ford recommends, you should be good. Most of the plug blowouts can be traced to incorrect installation and people over-torquing the plugs. While I have a newer V10, I get about 7-8 towing our 30' fiver. Good luck with it, I had a 99 that I beat to he!! and back and it never complained.
08 F250 V10 FX4 4x4 Airaid Intake, 5 Star Tuned!Fab Four Full Replacement Bumper, RC 4.5", 37x13.50 Toyo MT's pulling Dutchmen Classic 300
Just a note on the V10
99' 275hp, 410tq
00-04' 310hp, 425tq
05-10' 362hp, 457tq
Also Jeremiah, have you considered an Excursion? When I bought mine I too was looking for a truck. But the Excursion was considerably cheaper than a comparable SuperDuty. Might check into it if the 96 doesn't check out. Good luck, John
* This post was
edited 04/25/12 07:52pm by shadows4 *
There are some issues with it. It really needs some minor work.
The tranny,, ahh, the e4od. It shifted all over the place, maybe not anything wrong with it, but it just didn't feel right.
Plus I am a little ehh on the diesel thing. (3 gallons of motor oil????) This truck will only be driven a few times a week since we got my wife a daily driver car now.
Soo, I am probably going to buy the 99 Dually Crew Cab F350 in the XL package.
Specs,
V10, crew cab, AC, Heat, Cassette player (LOL), Automatic, Power Steering and power brakes. Manual everything else.
XL package which means vinyl seats and benches (not an issue for us)
Its just a basic truck, for one purpose, hauling the family, travel trailer, and future golf cart around.
In my and my wires mind (she point to this one and said "Buy it") this is a win for us, we get a newer vehicle, more capable vehicle, and an ability to upgrade the trailer in the future.
Since the V10 is similar in design and function to my old 5.4 I think that the maintenance should be about the same for me.
Anyhoo. Any V10 towers want to share the experience with me? MPG about 8 towing?
Thanks! and I can't wait to pick up our new truck.
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What world are you living in? As long as the plugs are changed correctly and on 60k intervals instead of the 100k that Ford recommends, you should be good. Most of the plug blowouts can be traced to incorrect installation and people over-torquing the plugs. While I have a newer V10, I get about 7-8 towing our 30' fiver. Good luck with it, I had a 99 that I beat to he!! and back and it never complained.
