F650 as 5th wheel tow vehicle.
I'm currently towing my KZ Montego Bay Sportster with a 14K dry weight and close to 20K fully loaded with a 1999 F550 7.3 with 4.88 rear end. I'll start by saying I love this truck. In most all situat...
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An F650 is gonna be a slow turd. You can find it with the Cat C7, which is a bad choice (go read up on it or ask people that have 'em!) or a 5.9 Cummins which is a nice reliable engine but underpowered and very slow in those trucks (if you leave it stock). You already own an excellent truck for the job. It would do everything you wanted if you did what Turtle & Peeps said. Thousands and thousands of people have been setting up 7.3s right for many years. Being "a stock kind of guy" means you're gonna be slow (or spend $$$$$$$$$$ on a new truck) and buying an F650 isn't going to change that.
The lack of power is all in your stock fuel injection and stock turbo... that stock stuff is also why your EGTs are high. Go on some Ford truck forums and you'll learn all about what to do to make your truck work exactly how you want it to.
I'd MUCH rather have your F550 than an F650.
The F650 is gonna have a lot of very heavy drivetrain components, heavy flywheel and clutch, heavy trans, heavy gears and axles... all of which suck power and the truck is gonna weigh a whole lot more.
Going by what you say you want your truck to do, your best bets are 1.) keeping your F550 and setting it up right, 2.) buying a newer pickup that is already "turned up" at the factory, or 3.) buy a REAL truck, a full-size big-truck with a REAL engine. In general, medium-duty trucks like what you're talking about are the SLOWEST trucks on the road. I go around them in a Peterbilt with just an M11 Cummins all day long.
The problem with running a big-truck is cost of ownership, and they tend to beat up 5th wheel RV trailers. An F650 will probably shake your 5th wheel apart too.
The lack of power is all in your stock fuel injection and stock turbo... that stock stuff is also why your EGTs are high. Go on some Ford truck forums and you'll learn all about what to do to make your truck work exactly how you want it to.
I'd MUCH rather have your F550 than an F650.
The F650 is gonna have a lot of very heavy drivetrain components, heavy flywheel and clutch, heavy trans, heavy gears and axles... all of which suck power and the truck is gonna weigh a whole lot more.
Going by what you say you want your truck to do, your best bets are 1.) keeping your F550 and setting it up right, 2.) buying a newer pickup that is already "turned up" at the factory, or 3.) buy a REAL truck, a full-size big-truck with a REAL engine. In general, medium-duty trucks like what you're talking about are the SLOWEST trucks on the road. I go around them in a Peterbilt with just an M11 Cummins all day long.
The problem with running a big-truck is cost of ownership, and they tend to beat up 5th wheel RV trailers. An F650 will probably shake your 5th wheel apart too.
