F450 vs Ram 3500 DRW tow vehicle
So the wife and I are moving to the full time RV lifestyle. We just purchased a 42' toy hauler this weekend, with a GVWR of 20K#. Now I'm looking at a tow vehicles. I'm considering either purchasing a...
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I just went from a 2008 F350 SRW to a 2020 F450 in July. I'll do my best not to be biased, but in all honesty, I'm totally excited!! FYI, I really needed a new truck with additional capacity as my trailer is a 2018 Grand Design Momentum 394. Fully loaded, I'm very near 20,000 with pin weight of 4300. While my F350 had plenty of power, I was pegged on the RWAW without carrying water in the trailer and it didn't feel stable at all. A new truck, DRW, was definitely the right thing, the safe thing to do.
As for the F450, the selling points was the 1050/450 6.7 Diesel, 10 speed trans, excellent turning radius, and big brakes...hence the 19.5" rims. My experience thus far...
Here in Utah, I've pulled and descended what are most widely recognized as the two craziest canyons in the State of Utah, Parley's Canyon and Fairview Canyon. I was fully loaded going both up and down both canyons. I never ran out of power on either...no problem staying the speed limit or better. I was able to descend the canyons just as easy. The engine brake/tow haul setup had no issue holding back 20,000 lbs to whatever speed I set it at. Honestly, I'm totally impressed as my 2008 always had me somewhat nervous whenever I was pulling...trying to keep the speed uphills or keep everything under control when coming down hill.
Driving the truck without something super heavy attached to it isn't enough. The F450 is built to tow big stuff, it's built to work. It does this exceptionally. As far as the 4.3 gears, I'm getting between 15-18 mpg in and around town depending on how often I have to start stop and 8.8 mpg towing. The truck only has 3300 miles on it, I'm guessing it will get better as the engine gets broken in. BTW, the towing mpg was hand calculated during a trip from Utah to Mount Rushmore.
Sorry for the long read. Just trying to give you all the information needed for a good decision. Hope you can get a chance to try one out with a good load behind it.
Regards,
-Brad
As for the F450, the selling points was the 1050/450 6.7 Diesel, 10 speed trans, excellent turning radius, and big brakes...hence the 19.5" rims. My experience thus far...
Here in Utah, I've pulled and descended what are most widely recognized as the two craziest canyons in the State of Utah, Parley's Canyon and Fairview Canyon. I was fully loaded going both up and down both canyons. I never ran out of power on either...no problem staying the speed limit or better. I was able to descend the canyons just as easy. The engine brake/tow haul setup had no issue holding back 20,000 lbs to whatever speed I set it at. Honestly, I'm totally impressed as my 2008 always had me somewhat nervous whenever I was pulling...trying to keep the speed uphills or keep everything under control when coming down hill.
Driving the truck without something super heavy attached to it isn't enough. The F450 is built to tow big stuff, it's built to work. It does this exceptionally. As far as the 4.3 gears, I'm getting between 15-18 mpg in and around town depending on how often I have to start stop and 8.8 mpg towing. The truck only has 3300 miles on it, I'm guessing it will get better as the engine gets broken in. BTW, the towing mpg was hand calculated during a trip from Utah to Mount Rushmore.
Sorry for the long read. Just trying to give you all the information needed for a good decision. Hope you can get a chance to try one out with a good load behind it.
Regards,
-Brad
