Threebigfords
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Joined 18 years ago
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Re: F450 vs Ram 3500 DRW tow vehicle
The 2020 F450 is hands down the best truck on the market right now for towing. Just try to find one for sale. Word has gotten out. The numbers of folks jumping ship from GM and Ram is growing exponentially on my F450 group page. All for good reason. Best power numbers, best brakes, best tire/wheel combo for towing heavy, best transmission, best turning radius....the list goes on. The other trucks aren't bad trucks at all, but if you want the pinnacle of trucks right now, it's definitely the F450. Oh...and what's all this nonsense about towing heavy is better with 3:55 gears? The 4.30's in the F450 are perfect with the new 10 speed and the great power from the powerstroke...just under 2000 rpm at 70 mph with that triple overdrive is perfect for a tow vehicle.476Views0likes0CommentsRe: F450 tires. I should have done this years ago.
FishOnOne wrote: Threebigfords wrote: I looked at that tire and don't see how it addresses any of the issues I had. Still a stiff poor riding 19.5" tire Still has poor traction. Still can't air them down Still a commercial truck tire that won't balance worth a **** Still doesn't offer any significant advantages in load capacity or tread life for all the negatives. Still more expensive Still has an inferior speed rating So what exactly does it address again? I'll let Big Truck Big RV explain... Link If you actually watch that video it's obvious he and I use our trucks very differently and have different expectaions about what they should be capable of. That being said, he basically reinforces everything I said about 19.5" tires and their poor traction and ride characteristics having gone through stock HSR's, Toyo's and Firestones before finally giving up on decent traction tires and settling for the HD3's7.8KViews0likes0CommentsRe: F450 tires. I should have done this years ago.
You would think so ...right? From my experience (105k miles so far) the tires aren't made to the same tolerances as light truck tires. The run-out is terrible, with high spots and low spots. About the only way to balance one correctly requires shaving the tire, which doesn't work well on the traction tires like the Toyo 608z as you shave off all the siping. The fact that the tires have such low speed ratings should tell you a bit about how true they are. Some are rated as low as 75 mph, with most limited to 81mph. One unique problem with duallys and stick on weights is that the back of the outer rear wheel is convex...thus any stick on weights tend to fly off due to centrifugal force. So with no way to balance that tire, it better be pretty true to begin with....which they typically aren't. To counteract that guys like me tend to run hydraulic balancing rings like Centrimatics or Balance Masters, but they can only do so much when the tire is out actually of round to begin with. Some try balancing beads or Equal inside the tire, but often those clump up due to moisture or can't offset how out of spec the tire is, and they'll do nothing for an out of round tire. I'm a contractor, so traction at jobsites pulling heavy loads/trailers is pretty important. I have had zero luck finding a good combo of traction and ride quality in the 19.5" tires. You get one or the other. Switching to these 20" wheels and 12 ply Toyo RT's has been the solution I wish I'd found 100k miles ago.7.8KViews0likes0CommentsRe: F450 tires. I should have done this years ago.
Haha!...you do remember he traded his first F450 in on a new F350 because of these exact same tire issues right??...and only switched back to his latest F450 because he missed the turning radius of the wide track front axle. Also...if you'll note.... he's comparing the HD3 to his old HSR highway tires. My truck came with the HDR Continentals which are the traction tires that the HD3 replaced, and as you can see in Continentals own chart in my previous post...they offer ZERO improvement over the HDR except in tire wear and rolling resistance(mpg).7.9KViews0likes0CommentsRe: F450 tires. I should have done this years ago.
I looked at that tire and don't see how it addresses any of the issues I had. Still a stiff poor riding 19.5" tire Still has poor traction. Still can't air them down Still a commercial truck tire that won't balance worth a **** Still doesn't offer any significant advantages in load capacity or tread life for all the negatives. Still more expensive Still has an inferior speed rating So what exactly does it address again?5.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: F450 tires. I should have done this years ago.
Nope. Not setup for 5th wheel. But only because of the canopy. I haul more with this setup than most 5vers weigh in at. The tools/canopy/bedslide in the bed add over 3k lbs to the truck. Then add between 2000-2500lbs of tongue weight from either the Toyhauler or my dump/equipment trailers and that's 5500lbs. Far more than the pin weight of most 5vers.2.3KViews0likes0CommentsRe: F450 tires. I should have done this years ago.
With that wide track front axle, it was never clean even with the stock tires. The fronts always plaster the entire length of the truck with grime. Turns sharp as heck, but stay clean?...I gave up on that. The trucks not clean in those pictures anyways. Just pulled into a covered parking garage from a rainstorm. Been raining here for the last two dang months!490Views0likes0Comments
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