To TC'ers who have bought new trucks
I'm thinking.... ONLY in the thinking stage right now, of a new 2016 F-450 or F-550. They're awfully proud of those things. There's nothing what so ever wrong with mine, it hauls what I have fine...
Forum Discussion
I went from a modified F250 to a stock 5500. Getting a steel deck allowed me to tie down to the deck instead on getting frame tie downs for my chassis cab. I still purchased a new SuperHitch and short range FastGuns, but was able to use the SuperTruss and y-cable I had used on the previous truck. The 5500 comes with 19.5's that I upgraded on the F250. Shocks and suspension are stock on the 5500 where the F250 had Rancho 9000XL's, upper and lower StableLoads plus Firestone RideRite bags to handle the load.
Regular highway driving is the same between trucks. The 5500's heavier stock suspension is a better in turns and off camber slopes than the modified F250. The additional 3000 lbs of my chassis cab GVW make towing the enclosed trailer even easier since now it is about half the weight the of the truck/camper combination.
Power delivery is significantly different between my pickup tune V8 diesel and chassis cab tune I6 diesel. Both have the same horsepower rating but the Cummins has 750 ft-lbs verses my Powerstroke's 570 ft-lbs. The V8 had better off the line acceleration with the same GCW, but the I6 holds speed better than the V8 with less downshifts. Since the I6 develops power at lower RPM than the V8, it gives the "appearance" that it is working less to move the same load.
I only have about 5K miles on my CTD, but it is getting similar mileage to my broken in PSD. I have few miles to compare unloaded mileage, so my comparisons are with both loaded at 19K lbs GCW. I went from a SRW 5R110 with 3.73 gears to a DRW Aisin with 4.44 gears, so they very different yet still burn about the fuel.
The F550 uses a detuned PSD compared to the pickup trucks so make sure you look at chassis cab specifications when you start shopping. There was enough price difference in the Ram that swayed me from Ford. I had no problems with my previous Ford which left me biased to get the same when I started my shopping. When you're ready to discuss options, we can start a new thread.
My new truck is overkill for my current 22K lb GCW load, but it will get heavier once I go to a bigger TC and possibly a bigger trailer behind it. If I was not planning on these upgrades, I would have kept my 10 year old truck for five more years before even considering a replacement. You're about due for some improvements...
Regular highway driving is the same between trucks. The 5500's heavier stock suspension is a better in turns and off camber slopes than the modified F250. The additional 3000 lbs of my chassis cab GVW make towing the enclosed trailer even easier since now it is about half the weight the of the truck/camper combination.
Power delivery is significantly different between my pickup tune V8 diesel and chassis cab tune I6 diesel. Both have the same horsepower rating but the Cummins has 750 ft-lbs verses my Powerstroke's 570 ft-lbs. The V8 had better off the line acceleration with the same GCW, but the I6 holds speed better than the V8 with less downshifts. Since the I6 develops power at lower RPM than the V8, it gives the "appearance" that it is working less to move the same load.
I only have about 5K miles on my CTD, but it is getting similar mileage to my broken in PSD. I have few miles to compare unloaded mileage, so my comparisons are with both loaded at 19K lbs GCW. I went from a SRW 5R110 with 3.73 gears to a DRW Aisin with 4.44 gears, so they very different yet still burn about the fuel.
The F550 uses a detuned PSD compared to the pickup trucks so make sure you look at chassis cab specifications when you start shopping. There was enough price difference in the Ram that swayed me from Ford. I had no problems with my previous Ford which left me biased to get the same when I started my shopping. When you're ready to discuss options, we can start a new thread.
My new truck is overkill for my current 22K lb GCW load, but it will get heavier once I go to a bigger TC and possibly a bigger trailer behind it. If I was not planning on these upgrades, I would have kept my 10 year old truck for five more years before even considering a replacement. You're about due for some improvements...
