I started the process today of replacing my 2010 F450 with a 2016 model. The Ford dealers here in Little Rock hardly ever have them though, and I had resigned myself to probably driving to Dallas in order to see and drive one.
My local dealer called me last week to let me know that they just got one in that someone else ordered, then backed out of. I figured I could at least look at it, drive it, and decide if I wanted to buy it or order one.
Turns out it was very close to the truck I had already built on Ford's site, and I even liked the color (Ruby Red). It has the black carpeting and cab accents which is what I wanted.
Both front seats are heated AND cooled! :C
This truck has a sunroof which I didn't want (sorta useless with a TC), a soft tonneau bed cover (not wanted), gooseneck/fifth-wheel prep (not needed now, but you never know about the future). It did NOT have upfitter switches in the dash, and I have a use for at least three of those. The dealer is going to trade the tonneau cover for the upfitter switches, so I'm happy with that.
I'll probably take delivery Tuesday, and when the switches and an extra satellite antenna come in I'll bring it back to them for installation. I've got a few things to pull off the truck in my sig. I ordered some Torklift tiedowns from Tweetys today. I'm going to temporarily use the fifth-wheel 7-way plug in the bed for the TC, but my intent is to install a heavy-duty battery charge circuit on the new truck like I had on the old truck. I'll be using 4 AWG wire for the +/- 12v, and split the camper's umbilical cord between two heavy-duty Pollak trailer connectors that will be located closer to the front of the bed.
I'll be changing my sig pic's soon!
:):)
My local dealer called me last week to let me know that they just got one in that someone else ordered, then backed out of. I figured I could at least look at it, drive it, and decide if I wanted to buy it or order one.
Turns out it was very close to the truck I had already built on Ford's site, and I even liked the color (Ruby Red). It has the black carpeting and cab accents which is what I wanted.
Both front seats are heated AND cooled! :C
This truck has a sunroof which I didn't want (sorta useless with a TC), a soft tonneau bed cover (not wanted), gooseneck/fifth-wheel prep (not needed now, but you never know about the future). It did NOT have upfitter switches in the dash, and I have a use for at least three of those. The dealer is going to trade the tonneau cover for the upfitter switches, so I'm happy with that.
I'll probably take delivery Tuesday, and when the switches and an extra satellite antenna come in I'll bring it back to them for installation. I've got a few things to pull off the truck in my sig. I ordered some Torklift tiedowns from Tweetys today. I'm going to temporarily use the fifth-wheel 7-way plug in the bed for the TC, but my intent is to install a heavy-duty battery charge circuit on the new truck like I had on the old truck. I'll be using 4 AWG wire for the +/- 12v, and split the camper's umbilical cord between two heavy-duty Pollak trailer connectors that will be located closer to the front of the bed.
I'll be changing my sig pic's soon!
:):)
First load test. All the jacks are off the ground, and it looks pretty good. It put the truck on the overloads which is what I want. I'll try it out a few times before I decide whether to order some Stableloads or not.
I don't have my tie-downs yet, so I just set it in the bed to see how it looks, and to make sure I'll be able to temporarily plug it in to the fifth-wheel plug in the bed like I planned.
The fifth-wheel plug is pretty close to the tailgate, and there's a bump-out on the camper that I'm hoping won't interfere with using it. Fortunately, it doesn't.
The TC umbilical cord currently has a 7-way round-pin Pollak plug on it.
To get it connected temporarily to the truck, I made an extension cord today.
I use the round-pin plug because it can handle up to 8 AWG wires and 40 amps. I installed 8 AWG +/- 12v wires on the old truck so the TC battery would charge up faster. It worked well enough that I could run the fridge in AC mode from an inverter while driving and the battery would stay close to fully charged.
I'm going to use 4 AWG wires on the new truck, and I'm planning to split the TC umbilical into two cords. The +/- 12v wires will use a two-pin plug that can handle up to 4 AWG wires and 200 amps, and the remaining four wires for stop, turn, and running lights will use a smaller four-pin plug. I don't have all the parts to do this yet though, and I want to take the camper out for a few nights next week.
I mentioned earlier in this topic that due to shoulder injuries, I'm having trouble handling the truck tailgate without assistance. This is what I'm using to get them on and off the trucks. I bought it to help us get the hard-tops on and off the T-birds, but it does a great job with the tailgates too. It's rated for 400 lbs double-line. I used it to lift a heavy Grizzly table saw out of the truck bed a few months back.
The T-bird hard-tops sit on little folding carts when they're off the cars, and there's almost always one of the two not being used, so I built a wooden platform to hold a tailgate that can be used when needed.
That's about all the prep work I can do until the tie-downs are delivered.
:):)
I don't have my tie-downs yet, so I just set it in the bed to see how it looks, and to make sure I'll be able to temporarily plug it in to the fifth-wheel plug in the bed like I planned.
The fifth-wheel plug is pretty close to the tailgate, and there's a bump-out on the camper that I'm hoping won't interfere with using it. Fortunately, it doesn't.
The TC umbilical cord currently has a 7-way round-pin Pollak plug on it.
To get it connected temporarily to the truck, I made an extension cord today.
I use the round-pin plug because it can handle up to 8 AWG wires and 40 amps. I installed 8 AWG +/- 12v wires on the old truck so the TC battery would charge up faster. It worked well enough that I could run the fridge in AC mode from an inverter while driving and the battery would stay close to fully charged.
I'm going to use 4 AWG wires on the new truck, and I'm planning to split the TC umbilical into two cords. The +/- 12v wires will use a two-pin plug that can handle up to 4 AWG wires and 200 amps, and the remaining four wires for stop, turn, and running lights will use a smaller four-pin plug. I don't have all the parts to do this yet though, and I want to take the camper out for a few nights next week.
I mentioned earlier in this topic that due to shoulder injuries, I'm having trouble handling the truck tailgate without assistance. This is what I'm using to get them on and off the trucks. I bought it to help us get the hard-tops on and off the T-birds, but it does a great job with the tailgates too. It's rated for 400 lbs double-line. I used it to lift a heavy Grizzly table saw out of the truck bed a few months back.
The T-bird hard-tops sit on little folding carts when they're off the cars, and there's almost always one of the two not being used, so I built a wooden platform to hold a tailgate that can be used when needed.
That's about all the prep work I can do until the tie-downs are delivered.
:):)
I can only speculate on the GVWR rating Ford puts on the F450 pickup, but my guess is that Ford is deliberately keeping it in class 3 which tops out at 14K so that it wonโt compete with the cab an chassis F450. My 2010 F450 pickup had a GVWR of 14.5K, and it was my understanding that was causing some unintended consequences since it was technically a class 4 truck.
The rear axle is rated by the manufacturer at over 14K, and as I mentioned earlier it took very little suspension modification to get the 2010 F450 to carry my camper the way I wanted. Those home-made stable loads I put on it aren't really that thick, especially when you compare them to the ones made by Torklift. The ones I made were as much to quiet the squeaking the overloads made against the rubber bumpers as to make them engage sooner.
Anyway, for my use the F450 is the better choice.
I brought the new truck home tonight.
My garage smells like a new truck now! :C
I haven't tried to back it under the camper yet because I need to get the tailgate off first. To be honest, after shoulder surgery that tailgate is just heavy enough that I need some assistance getting it off. Fortunately I have a small ceiling-hoist in the upper bay where the T-birds park that I use to remove the hard tops. Since surgery, I've been using it to also help remove the tailgate from the truck, and it does a great job.
It appears that the width of the new truck across the dually fenders may be a little narrower that the old truck, and if so I may be able to remove the "front jack swing-out extender extenders" that I had to install when I bought the 2010 F450. You can see them in the image below (the flat stock between the hinge and the jack tube). Keeping my fingers crossed about that.
EDIT: That turned out to not be true. The swing-out extender extenders had to stay! :B
:):)
The rear axle is rated by the manufacturer at over 14K, and as I mentioned earlier it took very little suspension modification to get the 2010 F450 to carry my camper the way I wanted. Those home-made stable loads I put on it aren't really that thick, especially when you compare them to the ones made by Torklift. The ones I made were as much to quiet the squeaking the overloads made against the rubber bumpers as to make them engage sooner.
Anyway, for my use the F450 is the better choice.
I brought the new truck home tonight.
My garage smells like a new truck now! :C
I haven't tried to back it under the camper yet because I need to get the tailgate off first. To be honest, after shoulder surgery that tailgate is just heavy enough that I need some assistance getting it off. Fortunately I have a small ceiling-hoist in the upper bay where the T-birds park that I use to remove the hard tops. Since surgery, I've been using it to also help remove the tailgate from the truck, and it does a great job.
It appears that the width of the new truck across the dually fenders may be a little narrower that the old truck, and if so I may be able to remove the "front jack swing-out extender extenders" that I had to install when I bought the 2010 F450. You can see them in the image below (the flat stock between the hinge and the jack tube). Keeping my fingers crossed about that.
EDIT: That turned out to not be true. The swing-out extender extenders had to stay! :B
:):)
keyspirate wrote:
What location will the extra satellite antenna be mounted? Thanks for the info.
Hopefully I'll be able to do the same thing I did on my 2010, which was to run the new antenna wire through the firewall, and mount the antenna in the plastic fascia below the windshield (where the wipers are). Yes, you have to drill a hole in the plastic fascia.
On my 2010, there was a connection in the antenna wire under the dash near the emergency brake pedal that could be unplugged, and the new antenna wire plugged in there. In the image below, I've circled the antenna location now, and where the new one will be installed.
:):)
