F-250 vs F-350

[campingken]

We are likely going to buy a new Ford with the 7.3 V-8 and 373 axles. We tow a 2 Horse Living Quarters aluminum trailer that weighs 5500 empty and has a 10,000 max GVW.
Our question is would the F-250 have a smoother ride than the F-350 when not towing? There is no chance that we will want a larger trailer so a heavier upgrade in the future is not an issue.
Currently we tow the trailer with a 2001 Dodge 2500 4x4 with a 5.9 diesel.

[Grit_dog]

spoon059 wrote:
Fairly certain that there will be minimal, if any, ride difference between the 250 and 350. The 350 has a spacer block and overload springs.

Ram has a decent difference between the great coils in the 2500 and leaf springs in the 3500. Ram offers factory air suspension, it's a shame that neither Ford nor GM have offered that yet.

All the more reason to stick w/Ram if air ride or factory overload bags are what you’re after.
And by the time you’re getting a new truck, the new trans for the Rams should have a couple years under its belt.
But if nothing more for the simple reason, looking under the hood of a Flowerjoke makes me queasy thinking about having to work on anything contained within the rats nest! Yeah those motors got some real jam….they all do. But best served for in-warranty owners and non diy’ers who like to pay more for repairs. JMO

[Grit_dog]

Unless Ford changed in the last half dozen years (could have, idk), there was a significant difference between the standard F250 rear leaf pack and the standard F350 leaves. Not even the same number of leaves so virtually guaranteed the 350 has a higher initial and final spring rate. Plus overloads, which don’t matter for the purposes of this thread.

[Grit_dog]

JIMNLIN wrote:

campingken wrote:
We are likely going to buy a new Ford with the 7.3 V-8 and 373 axles. We tow a 2 Horse Living Quarters aluminum trailer that weighs 5500 empty and has a 10,000 max GVW.
Our question is would the F-250 have a smoother ride than the F-350 when not towing? There is no chance that we will want a larger trailer so a heavier upgrade in the future is not an issue.
Currently we tow the trailer with a 2001 Dodge 2500 4x4 with a 5.9 diesel.

Gotta' do your home work when looking at F350 srw and expecting more payload than the F250.

Ford gives the F350 SRW around 19 different GVWR s ranging from 10000 lbs up to 12400 lbs and three different rawrs at 6340/6780/7230 lbs rated.
The F250 can come with 7 different gvwrs from the same 10000 gvwr up to 11200 gvwr with the same 6340 rawr.
As many Ford folks know there is a big over lap in gvwrs and rawrs with Fords Super Duty line up.

Looking at Fleet Fords weight specs shows a different number of leafs in the super duty rear spring pack which may affect ride quality or difference.

Or realize they’re all the same truck with maybe different rear springs.

[thomas201]

Whether you buy an F250 or F350 is more a function of tags, insurance, toll ways, parkways, parking regs, homeowner association, hammer lanes on interstates, blah,and blah. A lot of this is a Northeast USA set of things.

You can as others have posted, set up either truck to be as soft as possible, yet still carry the load. That is if the door sticker weight means anything to you. I think you should weigh the trailer loaded to know what you really need.

I am pulling a 9600# (scaled weight) fifth wheel. I use a 2022 F250, with the camper package, 7.3 gas, 4:30 rears with an auxiliary gas tank so I can go 500 miles between fills. Works well for me. It rides rough with the camper package (overload springs). It is also good in the mud. It is within all the door sticker weights.

My previous truck was a 2012 F250, 6.7 diesel. I do miss the power every once in a while, but the gas job is a little better in the mud. Tradeoff and compromise, plus saved some money.

[4x4ord]

The 4x4 crew cab F250 diesel with the trailer towing package is identical to an F350 SRW diesel CC 4x4 other than badging and the payload sticker. It’s likely that the F250 4x4 crew cab 7.3 with trailer towing package is sprung identical to a similar equipped F350 SRW.

[Geo_Boy]

KD4UPL wrote:
If your mainly concerned with the ride quality a GM truck will probabky ride the best. There IFS handles and rides very well. I recently had a Ford owner in my GMC dually. He said "I wish my truck rode this smooth."

^^^^^^^This is so true.

[MFL]

Grit dog wrote:
Drive both, but air the tires down to the proper pressure first or both will ride like a lumber wagon. And the comparison will be skewed.
Unless Fomoco changed, their F250s in the tail end of the original chassis model (2011-2016) rode quite well/soft for a 3/4 ton. They had a compliant initial spring rate.

When comparing, yes, air the rears down same on both models, for best unloaded ride quality. Either of those trucks will be a harsh ride with 80 psi in the rears.

Jerry

[way2roll]

KD4UPL wrote:
If your mainly concerned with the ride quality a GM truck will probabky ride the best. There IFS handles and rides very well. I recently had a Ford owner in my GMC dually. He said "I wish my truck rode this smooth."

One of the reasons we sold our FW and truck was this. Our 2020 F350 with the 6.7 was a beast and towed our FW and handled like a dream. But unhooked it was the absolute worst vehicle to drive. I get it, it was designed to tow - not a grocery getter and it does it perfectly, but if you are going to use it as a daily driver, the ride quality is horrible.

[RetiredRealtorR]

You're gonna miss that 5.9 Cummins!

[JIMNLIN]

campingken wrote:
We are likely going to buy a new Ford with the 7.3 V-8 and 373 axles. We tow a 2 Horse Living Quarters aluminum trailer that weighs 5500 empty and has a 10,000 max GVW.
Our question is would the F-250 have a smoother ride than the F-350 when not towing? There is no chance that we will want a larger trailer so a heavier upgrade in the future is not an issue.
Currently we tow the trailer with a 2001 Dodge 2500 4x4 with a 5.9 diesel.

Gotta' do your home work when looking at F350 srw and expecting more payload than the F250.

Ford gives the F350 SRW around 19 different GVWR s ranging from 10000 lbs up to 12400 lbs and three different rawrs at 6340/6780/7230 lbs rated.
The F250 can come with 7 different gvwrs from the same 10000 gvwr up to 11200 gvwr with the same 6340 rawr.
As many Ford folks know there is a big over lap in gvwrs and rawrs with Fords Super Duty line up.

Looking at Fleet Fords weight specs shows a different number of leafs in the super duty rear spring pack which may affect ride quality or difference.

[KD4UPL]

If your mainly concerned with the ride quality a GM truck will probabky ride the best. There IFS handles and rides very well. I recently had a Ford owner in my GMC dually. He said "I wish my truck rode this smooth."

[spoon059]

Fairly certain that there will be minimal, if any, ride difference between the 250 and 350. The 350 has a spacer block and overload springs.

Ram has a decent difference between the great coils in the 2500 and leaf springs in the 3500. Ram offers factory air suspension, it's a shame that neither Ford nor GM have offered that yet.

[Grit_dog]

Drive both, but air the tires down to the proper pressure first or both will ride like a lumber wagon. And the comparison will be skewed.
Unless Fomoco changed, their F250s in the tail end of the original chassis model (2011-2016) rode quite well/soft for a 3/4 ton. They had a compliant initial spring rate.

[PA12DRVR]

FWIW, while I can't speak for any later model years than 2019, I've had F250, F350 , and F550. Anything is better unloaded than the F550, btw. 🙂

I've never noticed a huge difference in unloaded ride between the 250 and 350 series. Bit more squat on the 250 if the two were equally loaded. I tend to follow the #'s, so didn't have too many direct comparisons with either fully loaded.

My current F-truck is the 2019 F250. After circa 60,000 miles (40-50% towing, although not an RV), my only regrets are: a) that I didn't get the F350 (at the time it was an extra $1500); and b) that I didn't get the 8' bed. No reason for wanting the F350, but in hindsight, the slightly higher ratings would have been worth the $1,500 to me. The 8' bed was a wash price-wise...could have got that for the same price as the 6'- 9" bed since no one seemed to want the longer bed...but nothing was in stock and at the time is was an estimated month to six weeks out. ...hindsight provides lots of reasons for the 8' bed, I kick myself for not waiting the extra 6 weeks.

[way2roll]

I had a 2020 F350 and the ride was great while towing but horrible as a grocery getter. It makes sense that the F250 would ride better since it has a lower payload capacity by way of softer springs. But an easy way to tell would be to go to a dealership and drive both. There really isn't much difference between the 2 in cost or performance which is why I just went with the F350.