New Big Dog on the block

[maxwell11]

http://www.motortrend.com/news/2015-ford-f-450-super-duty-platinum-first-test/

article in Motor Trend this month.

I might trade my old Dodge for this thing.

wow, $75K tow 31,200

that should handle my little Jayco, at least I would look good driving it around,

[DirtyOil]

I had to laugh... the other day was sitting at the Pilot/Flyin J in Fargo, ND, when I was approached by a OTR trucker. He asked a number of questions about RV transporting as he said he wanted a change. He then mentioned he just bought a new F350, to which I replied "I'm sorry to hear that..." took him a minute or two before he laughed... and I thought chevy guys were slow. :B

[DirtyOil]

Ford needs to add air bags to their "heavy duty" trucks, whether its a 5000lb TT or 13000lb+ Fiver, they all have sagging rear ends. Why is that? I will start posting some pictures of RV transporters using Fords to haul RVs, to substantiate my observations. I do like the Ford mirrors as well. Do I need to lay a patch of rubber at every stop light/sign?.. No. Do I need to stop embarrassing Fords going up hills pulling heavier loads... maybe, for some of those that are easily hurt. I do dislike meeting a loaded Ford on a two lane hwy at night, with noses pointed skyward, their headlights blinding oncoming traffic....like those clowns with the aftermarket blue or ultra white headlamps. If your going to install those ridonkulous lamps at least aim them properly!

Ford really needs to add airbags...did I already say that? :W

[transamz9]

v10superduty wrote:

blofgren wrote:


I bought my truck with long term ENGINE reliability in mind which the Cummins has a pretty impressive record of.

:B

Here, I fixed it for ya.. Added the word (engine) for you
That makes your comment accurate and believable.

Most every fleet owner and educated individuals know that the Ford chassis holds up the best and has the lower operating expense over the long haul.

I don't know where you get your info from but my file cabinet in my office says otherwise.

[Flashman]

v10superduty wrote:

blofgren wrote:


I bought my truck with long term ENGINE reliability in mind which the Cummins has a pretty impressive record of.

:B

Here, I fixed it for ya.. Added the word (engine) for you
That makes your comment accurate and believable.

Most every fleet owner and educated individuals know that the Ford chassis holds up the best and has the lower operating expense over the long haul.

Is that why all the jobbers use anything but ford?

LOL

[v10superduty]

blofgren wrote:


I bought my truck with long term ENGINE reliability in mind which the Cummins has a pretty impressive record of.

:B

Here, I fixed it for ya.. Added the word (engine) for you
That makes your comment accurate and believable.

Most every fleet owner and educated individuals know that the Ford chassis holds up the best and has the lower operating expense over the long haul.

[Grit_dog]

Hey the guy above didn't say the EB felt soft, he said the acceleration was soft and he's right. The Cummins is a dog off the line compared to the 2 V8 diesels and the tq mgmt, dead pedal issue only exaggerates this.
That said it'll pull the same max load up the same hill at the same speed, no problemo.
The 6.7 Stroker is now proving to be a good setup for the most part unlike fords last 2 diesels. And yes they're quick!

[FishOnOne]

blofgren wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

davidaf wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Did you test drive a LongHorn? If not IMHO the seat/driving comfort is awesome.

It wasn't so much the actual "Seat" that was uncomfortable it was the way the truck drove. Couple things that stood out: The powerband is different so take off/acceleration felt a bit softer, ride felt stiffer, EB seemed louder and didn't seem to slow the unladen vehicle as quickly or stay active as long (mind you i'm comparing a 4.3 to 4.1). Last year when I drove the 15 Ram it seemed a lot louder, i was surprised how much quieter it seemed the other day so that has moved down on my issues list. Interestingly the truck felt lower and had more visibility over the hood. Again these were my observations/opinions. It may differ from others experiences/opinions. Almost forgot the mirrors, Ford does make some good mirrors.

I agree the cummins feels anemic loaded and unloaded when compared to the Power Stroke that really pulls strong like no other.

Also I believe Ford didn't mess with the Super Duty platform is because it simply was and still is the best platform out there. The other big 2 have finally caught up and one has literally copied the Ford front suspension because of inherent problems.

BTW... This is coming from a long time GM fan.

Fish, have you actually driven a newer Cummins loaded? They are FAR from anemic. The Cummins was not built for drag racing; it was built for towing which it does extremely well. The fact that the 6.7L Powerstroke can climb a hill slightly faster means absolutely nothing to me and I would be the majority of owners who pull with these trucks. I bought my truck with long term reliability in mind which the Cummins has a pretty impressive record of.

And if the Ford is still the best platform out there why would they bother bringing out a new design? :R You really need to take off those blue goggles! :B

I drove a '12 long horn with the fancy laser marked seats and several '13 models and yes they're anemic in comparison to the 6.7 Power Stroke's power. The 6.7 Power Stroke will simply out tow a 6.7 cummins on flat or incline roads...It doesn't matter! Pulls my loads with commanding power like you wouldn't believe and the Power Stroke is backed by the best HD auto transmission period. All this while returning impressive fuel economy.

And yes I purchased my truck for long term reliability which I'm confident it will provide and it's my daily driver as well. There isn't a day that this beast doesn't roll down the road. At 84k miles and not a single repair to date. No CEL's to deal with, no massive recalls, no worries... just a rugged good looking truck ready to tackle whatever is required that is built in the USA by an American company. :B

For our Farm/Ranch use the Super Duty platform have held up the best by far and our business finance bottom line loves them too. :W

Love them Super Duty's... :B

[time2roll]

Still waiting for super-singles and reduce the rear fenders. 😉

[Rangerman40]

ShinerBock wrote:


So would it make you feel better if they just they just took the F450 badge off and replaced it with an F350 badge? Although I would have to ask what would be the difference between doing that and what you are saying since they both have the same outside dimensions? Is it because one badge says 3 and the other says 4, and you wouldn't be the coolest kid on the block unless you had a 3 on the side of your door?

The number on the door does not mean a thing when it comes to a set standard that manufacturers have to abide by. There is no law on the books saying that all 350/3500 trucks must be with X towing or X payload. A manufacturer can give of their models any numbers they want. Hell, tomorrow Ram can slap a 1500 badge on the side of their 3500 trucks and call them 1500s from now on. There is no law stopping them from that nor is their one saying certain model numbers have to mean certain tow limits which is why Ram is able to give their 3500 a tow limit that used to only be pulled by medium duties.

If you have a problem with this then do you take issue with Ram on it's 1500? Ford and GM both have 150/1500s rated to tow over 11,000 lbs. You would have to get a Ram 2500 to be able to tow that kind of weight in a Ram because their 1500s are not rated to tow that much. You basically have the same scenario here where Ram has to get a higher numbered truck to tow what GM and Ford can with their lower numbered truck. Now, you may be telling yourself that a 1500 shouldn't be towing that kind of weight and is a better job for a 250/2500, which I would agree. Well, maybe Ford thought the same thing with a 350/3500 heavy-light duty truck towing 30,000 lbs so they derated their medium duty F450 to do it.

Also if you really want to get into it, some F450 chassis/cab variations have a 16,500 GVWR which makes them a class 5 truck. I wonder if those guys driving those F450s get mad because they don't have an F550 badge on their class 5 truck? Heck, you can even option to have your F350 derated to 10,000 GVWR which technically makes it a class 2B three quarter ton but with an F350 one the door.

You really get your panties in a wad don't ya??? Ford should probably stop producing the F350 if this is the route they want to go because there isn't enough difference between the two. I'm sure the 2017 F350 will be more in line with RAMs 3500 specs but they had to do something quickly or chance loosing the "towing wars" completely.

[Bedlam]

The exhaust brake has two modes on the Ram, but also feels different between normal and tow/haul mode where the transmission stays locked up longer. My EB on my Ford worked well when in tow/haul but there was no second setting or a separate on/off control on my 6.0 PSD with 5R110 (it was only engaged in T/H).

I also like the Ford mirrors better than Ram mirrors and never use the Ram mirrors rotated inboard since I do not save any width doing so and the field of vision is reduced.

My PSD was more responsive than my CTD when pulling off the line or accelerating on freeway ramps. The CTD does better at maintaining speed with less downshifts and accelerates better at cruising speed than my PSD.

The Ford controls are better for large fat fingered drivers or if you are wearing work gloves while driving. The Ram buttons are smaller and all feel the same under your finger tips so you spend more time identifying which button you are pressing. Ram has better instrumentation with vehicle vital signs - I had to buy a Scan Gauge II for my Ford, but found it was unneeded in the Ram.

The base cloth seats have different feel between Ford and Ram, but both are comfortable. The nod goes to Ford since the base seats include adjustable lumbar support. The center console in the Ram has convenient power, USB and line input jacks but is smaller than Ford's and does not allow you carry flat sheets of 8.5x11 paper or folders in the console.

[blofgren]

FishOnOne wrote:

davidaf wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Did you test drive a LongHorn? If not IMHO the seat/driving comfort is awesome.

It wasn't so much the actual "Seat" that was uncomfortable it was the way the truck drove. Couple things that stood out: The powerband is different so take off/acceleration felt a bit softer, ride felt stiffer, EB seemed louder and didn't seem to slow the unladen vehicle as quickly or stay active as long (mind you i'm comparing a 4.3 to 4.1). Last year when I drove the 15 Ram it seemed a lot louder, i was surprised how much quieter it seemed the other day so that has moved down on my issues list. Interestingly the truck felt lower and had more visibility over the hood. Again these were my observations/opinions. It may differ from others experiences/opinions. Almost forgot the mirrors, Ford does make some good mirrors.

I agree the cummins feels anemic loaded and unloaded when compared to the Power Stroke that really pulls strong like no other.

Also I believe Ford didn't mess with the Super Duty platform is because it simply was and still is the best platform out there. The other big 2 have finally caught up and one has literally copied the Ford front suspension because of inherent problems.

BTW... This is coming from a long time GM fan.

Fish, have you actually driven a newer Cummins loaded? They are FAR from anemic. The Cummins was not built for drag racing; it was built for towing which it does extremely well. The fact that the 6.7L Powerstroke can climb a hill slightly faster means absolutely nothing to me and I would be the majority of owners who pull with these trucks. I bought my truck with long term reliability in mind which the Cummins has a pretty impressive record of.

And if the Ford is still the best platform out there why would they bother bringing out a new design? :R You really need to take off those blue goggles! :B

[FishOnOne]

davidaf wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Did you test drive a LongHorn? If not IMHO the seat/driving comfort is awesome.

It wasn't so much the actual "Seat" that was uncomfortable it was the way the truck drove. Couple things that stood out: The powerband is different so take off/acceleration felt a bit softer, ride felt stiffer, EB seemed louder and didn't seem to slow the unladen vehicle as quickly or stay active as long (mind you i'm comparing a 4.3 to 4.1). Last year when I drove the 15 Ram it seemed a lot louder, i was surprised how much quieter it seemed the other day so that has moved down on my issues list. Interestingly the truck felt lower and had more visibility over the hood. Again these were my observations/opinions. It may differ from others experiences/opinions. Almost forgot the mirrors, Ford does make some good mirrors.

I agree the cummins feels anemic loaded and unloaded when compared to the Power Stroke that really pulls strong like no other.

Also I believe Ford didn't mess with the Super Duty platform is because it simply was and still is the best platform out there. The other big 2 have finally caught up and one has literally copied the Ford front suspension because of inherent problems.

BTW... This is coming from a long time GM fan.

[blofgren]

davidaf wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Did you test drive a LongHorn? If not IMHO the seat/driving comfort is awesome.

It wasn't so much the actual "Seat" that was uncomfortable it was the way the truck drove. Couple things that stood out: The powerband is different so take off/acceleration felt a bit softer, ride felt stiffer, EB seemed louder and didn't seem to slow the unladen vehicle as quickly or stay active as long (mind you i'm comparing a 4.3 to 4.1). Last year when I drove the 15 Ram it seemed a lot louder, i was surprised how much quieter it seemed the other day so that has moved down on my issues list. Interestingly the truck felt lower and had more visibility over the hood. Again these were my observations/opinions. It may differ from others experiences/opinions. Almost forgot the mirrors, Ford does make some good mirrors.

Yes the I6 will definitely not accelerate like the V8 but they sure pull like a train when underway. I'm surprised to hear you say the exhaust brake feels soft; mine slows the truck very quickly all the way down to 1,000 rpm and every one I've read about says the same. One thing that you may be unaware of is the eb on the Cummins is a 2 stage; full on and variable. If you were in the variable stage it can feel soft; I run mine on full all the time and like the performance much better. If you try one again, push the eb button once and ensure the yellow light on the dash is on, not the green light.

In regards to the mirrors, Ford wins this one hands down. I drive a 2012 F-150 for work with the tow mirrors and they are awesome. I do find the Ram mirrors pretty good in the tow position and may leave them there permanently.

[davidaf]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Did you test drive a LongHorn? If not IMHO the seat/driving comfort is awesome.

It wasn't so much the actual "Seat" that was uncomfortable it was the way the truck drove. Couple things that stood out: The powerband is different so take off/acceleration felt a bit softer, ride felt stiffer, EB seemed louder and didn't seem to slow the unladen vehicle as quickly or stay active as long (mind you i'm comparing a 4.3 to 4.1). Last year when I drove the 15 Ram it seemed a lot louder, i was surprised how much quieter it seemed the other day so that has moved down on my issues list. Interestingly the truck felt lower and had more visibility over the hood. Again these were my observations/opinions. It may differ from others experiences/opinions. Almost forgot the mirrors, Ford does make some good mirrors.

[mich800]

ShinerBock wrote:

Rangerman40 wrote:


I actually own an F250...... Just don't like the way Ford is going about this. The only way they can compete with RAM is to derate a larger vehicle to fit within the class 3 specs instead of making the F350 a more capable truck.

So would it make you feel better if they just they just took the F450 badge off and replaced it with an F350 badge? Although I would have to ask what would be the difference between doing that and what you are saying since they both have the same outside dimensions? Is it because one badge says 3 and the other says 4, and you wouldn't be the coolest kid on the block unless you had a 3 on the side of your door?

The number on the door does not mean a thing when it comes to a set standard that manufacturers have to abide by. There is no law on the books saying that all 350/3500 trucks must be with X towing or X payload. A manufacturer can give of their models any numbers they want. Hell, tomorrow Ram can slap a 1500 badge on the side of their 3500 trucks and call them 1500s from now on. There is no law stopping them from that nor is their is their one saying certain model numbers have to mean certain tow limits which is why Ram is able to give their 3500 a tow limit that used to only be pulled by medium duties.

If you have a problem with this then do you take issue with Ram on it's 1500? Ford and GM both have 150/1500s rated to tow over 11,000 lbs. You would have to get a Ram 2500 to be able to tow that kind of weight in a Ram because their 1500s are not rated to tow that much. You basically have the same scenario here where Ram has to get a higher numbered truck to tow what GM and Ford can with their lower numbered truck. Now, you may be telling yourself that a 1500 shouldn't be towing that kind of weight and is a better job for a 250/2500, which I would agree. Well, maybe Ford thought the same thing with a 350/3500 light-heavy duty truck towing 30,000 lbs so they derated their medium duty F450 to do it.

Also if you really want to get into it, some F450 chassis/cab variations have a 16,500 GVWR which makes them a class 5 truck. I wonder if those guys driving those F450s get mad because they don't have an F550 badge on their class 5 truck? Heck, you can even option to have your F350 derated to 10,000 GVWR which technically makes it a class 2B three quarter ton but with an F350 one the door.

It's just a fact of life and marketing that people get hung up on a model number and name. There are probably those that purchase a GM or Ram because they are convinced 1500, 2500, 3500 is more capable because the number is higher than 150, 250, 350. Surely a 1500 can tow more than a 450.