Questions on road testing of 2017 Ford 250 and 350

And, one possibility could be which manufacturer spends the most on adds in the magazine.....(just sayin') as they say.

Tough or Soft, often mutually exclusive ride choices ;)

That's one of the reasons many SUVs and even some pickups come with "P" rated tires that have such poor towing performance. Soft ride. Can't do squat for hauling, but apparently it sells vehicles :C

Mileage testing, as done by the magazines, is inherently imprecise. First they use different drivers, and even the same drivers will vary from day to day. Secondly the road conditions are different, as is the wind and weather. Are they all using the same sort of fuel monitoring systems or are they just depending on filling up the tank. That will vary depending on the fuel temperature. Do they use the same tires? What about tire inflation pressure? Lots of variables.

If you had a robot driver that could drive each truck exactly the same way over the same road and with the same weather and other conditions, then you might see somewhat reproducible numbers. You'd have to repeat the test with the same truck multiple times in order to get an average number. In the lab under highly reproducible conditions the certifying agencies require that a test be run 40 times in order to generate usable statistics.

They develop their own testing criteria and procedures. And likely do that with their own agenda in mind.

I purchased a 2017 F350 SWR in February, it is my daily driver as well as the TV for my 5th wheel. As far as MPG is concerned I average about 16.5 mpg as stated on the DIC. This seems pretty concistant over the past couple of months. As far as the ride is concerned I find that it rides like a truck! My previous truck was a Chevy 3500 DRW and when empty it could jar your teeth loose. I was a Chevy diesel mechanic and have owned GM vehicles for well over 30 years, but this time after researching and lots of test driving I chose the F350 and have not had any regrets. This comming weekend I'll be hauling my 5th wheel to the sierras so I will have a better idea of towing performance and MPG.

I have a friend who is into horses and owns a 2008 F250 to haul her horses around. She upgraded her trailer from a standard 2 horse rig to a 3 horse with living quarters. Because she usually only hauls 1 or 2, the weight was still acceptable for her rig.

After bottoming out on a few bumps they add some extra springs to the rear (pretty much made it a F350) and all is good. Yes, it rides "harsh" when empty.

The differences between a 250 and a 350 are minimal. Some difference in the suspension. Little difference in the axles and bearings. You can improve the ride somewhat with upgraded shocks and running the tire pressure a little lower than that on the door sticker.

I was able to greatly increase mileage on my 7.3 liter engine with a new air intake, new exhaust and a tuner. It takes a while to break in a truck engine. My max mileage has been 22.9 mpg.

Think about this. In the diesel community, there are literally tens of thousands of Cummins swaps into other truck bodies. There are about a dozen swaps of a Ford engine into another truck body, and a few hundred Duramax swaps. Next time you go to a small hospital or radio station or police station go out back and see what kind of generator they have. It will have a big "c" on the side for Cummins, because it has to work. Every time. Even if Ford sold generators, no one would buy them.
Fast lane truck found the ram had the best mileage of the new three. They all are very comparable. If you don't work on the truck yourself, or if you don't keep them for more than 100k miles, then they will all treat you well. If you work on it yourself the Cummins is the smart choice. Parts are cheaper, much faster to install. Out of my last three Dodge/Rams I have nearly one million miles racked up with very few problems. Just my opinion.

Redwoodcamper wrote:
Think about this. In the diesel community, there are literally tens of thousands of Cummins swaps into other truck bodies. There are about a dozen swaps of a Ford engine into another truck body, and a few hundred Duramax swaps. Next time you go to a small hospital or radio station or police station go out back and see what kind of generator they have. It will have a big "c" on the side for Cummins, because it has to work. Every time. Even if Ford sold generators, no one would buy them.
Fast lane truck found the ram had the best mileage of the new three. They all are very comparable. If you don't work on the truck yourself, or if you don't keep them for more than 100k miles, then they will all treat you well. If you work on it yourself the Cummins is the smart choice. Parts are cheaper, much faster to install. Out of my last three Dodge/Rams I have nearly one million miles racked up with very few problems. Just my opinion.

Totally agree including the fuel economy. That's what makes you wonder the low fuel economy test by Motor Trend. Same loop driven same driver and speed. But fuel economy is all over the place in the real world. The confusing part is the huge ride difference between the 250 and 350 according to Car & Driver yet so many owners say no difference noted in the real world. Uh!

Until you know to tire inflation differences between the two the ride comparison of the two is meaningless.

80 in the rear of our SRW 3500 makes it ride like a brick truck empty. Lower rears to around 45-50, greatly increases ride quality.