calvin

I always had a f150 but thinking this time I will buy a f250 or f350, I plow a little and have a 5th wheel camper.

* are they much harder than a f150 on fuel?
* what is the good and bad motors in the f250/f350
* I know they will pull and haul heavier than a f150 but what is the difference between the f150 to a f250 and a f250 vs a f350 .......Is frame bigger ,drive shafts ,etc. what are the big changes ..thanks

loganberry

not much harder on fuel
the new 6.4l diesels have really no flaws, the early ones did with the radiators but its fixed now

there is only one way to go with a 250 or 350 and that is diesel, almost every mechanical aspect of them is beefed up compared to the 150, and there nice and fun when you add some more power to them

Mong00se

There are smarter people than me on here but here's what I know from doing research myself:

-the 250/350 have the same engine group. As far as fuel, I know guys I work with that are getting 22 mpg with a 350 dually. But the diesel is wierd cause the more mods you do to it the better gas mileage it gets.
-From listening to the ford people talk in my shop, the general consensus I get is that the 7.3 diesel was the best one ford made, the 6.0 is ok but the 6.9 is junk. I have really nothing to back this up except listening to gearheads talk shop. The 6.9 is pretty new so i would personally give it a couple years for the bugs to work out.
-Tow capacity goes through the roof with a 250/350 compared to a 150 but the reason I ended up getting a 150 anyway is that I only tow maybe once a month and the maintenance cost with a diesel is alot higher than that of a gas. For example: The diesel's hold like 15 qts of oil compared to 7, fuel filters on diesels need to be changed more often and are more expensive, and to get the "good gas mileage out of diesels you have to dump alot of money into a truck that just cost you over 40,000.

I am sure many of the experts will shoot alot of this down but I thought I would share my opinions from doing recent research.. (just bought a used 150 last week)

Chapman

My uncle has a 1997 F-350 with a CM Truck Bed for goosenecks.. great gas mileage. He has maintained it well.

If I were you I would get a late 90's F-350

driver444

There is a huge difference between a F150 and the 250/350. There is almost no difference between the 250 and 350. Both have a solid front axle, same engines, same transmissions, same frames. If you're gonna be plowing anything more than your own driveway, I'd go at least 250, because the independant front end on the F150 wasn't designed to carry that weight.

As far as the diesels, I wouldn't say the old 6.9's and early 7.3's (pre 1994) were junk. They did last forever, but they were indirect injected, non-Turbo, and kinda slow. The 7.3's (post 1994) were bombproof. I have a 1996, and a 1997. My 1997 has 325,000 miles on it. The 6.0's were the cause of this ongoing lawsuit with International Engine. I'm not a fan of that one. The 6.4's are an awesome motor too, but a $7000 option. The diesels do cost a little more to maintain, but in the long term, they do last much longer, have much more power, and take much more abuse. And as far as cold weather starting, NO LONGER AN ISSUE.


The bad side is, If you get a diesel, get rid of it before the warranty is up, (FORD CHEVY OR DODGE), because whatever does need repairs, you can't afford it, and working on it yourself is impossible for most of us. Just look under the hood. Don't even know what you're looking at. Glow plugs are 800 bucks on the older trucks, (did mine myself), injectors are around $300 a piece, and there's 8 of em. And should you launch a turbo, or the whole motor, though unlikely, that's a second mortgage.

PawPaw

Before you go to a Super Duty do your homework. The larger trucks ride rougher and may be a handfull for some as a daily driver. Diesel prices are down right now but not as low as gasoline. Most 250's range from 45 to 55k depending on the cab and trim and with the diesel. I had a 2000 Super Duty with the 5.4 gas engine, good truck but road rougher than my current 150. Only if I towed heavy camping trailer's or work trailer's on a regular basis would I buy another one. As a heavy work truck they are hard to beat.

generalmotor

I have a 2008 f-250 it gets 18mpg light or towing it doesnt matter it is stock no upgrades. I am happy with the truck but will tell you it does cost alot more for maintenance. If you tow more than once a month it is great but not a good around town being a daily driver the thing is big and parking is a pain with mine it being a lwb extended cab. It does ride a lot rougher than a 150 but I dont care it is a work truck that is what I wanted. oh an mine is a diesel

midwestoffroad

In the last 6 years i had 2 diffrent superduties a 99 v10 and a 2002 7.3

they are larger with more interior room, and can tow more weight . the v10 gets 10mpg and the 7.3 is 15-18 it is is a 2wd or your easy on the throttle you can increase those numbers buy 2 mpg.

in the winter the diesel can be a challage and they take much longer to warm up.
if your goint to a diesel you better be driving at least 14,000 miles a year and frequlently towing or plan on keeping it for 7-8 years to make it worth the while..

mine was fun i built it just to mod it out.. but the v10 did eveythin i needed.. i only downsized to the f150 since i am sure it will pull the car trailer just fine for ocassional towing..

the superduty will do it all better but 75-100 dollar oil cahges suck and like mention if anything fails on the engine it will cost a minimum of 500 bucks.. good choices are teh 2000-2003 7.3's and 2005-2006 6.0 (they do still have some issues). I would taqke anotehr v10 again if i go back to a superduty

midwestoffroad

also some states the f350 has more expensive plates and taxes

DieHard4Tide

my mom used to have a 2002 7.3L F350 dually and my dad had a 1 ton 3 seat 7.3L F350 and both of them will put them trucks on anything that there the best there ever was.