Who's towing w/a 250?

[BigSur]

Anybody on this site driving a late model F250 that's used to towing 5 or 6k lbs on a regular basis.  I'm doing some research for my old man and have a few questions.

[Rollingrock]

Anybody on this site driving a late model F250 that's used to towing 5 or 6k lbs on a regular basis.  I'm doing some research for my old man and have a few questions.

I have an 06 F250 6.oh and tow a 11K 5rh wheel at least once per month...there are a bunch of members here with PSD's.   

Fire away on your questions.

[Kitzy]

Its got to be a deisel or at the very least the v10 (hwm3).  We have an 07 w/5.4 and its a complete joke.  We use it for the bed but try to limit towing to only when needed.  When we do tow, its right in your range as far as weight.

[BigSur]

Pops has a 2007 F150...3.5? (NOT 3.73) LSD w/ a 5.4 liter engine.  He tows a Jayco travel trailer....in the 5k to 6k lb weight range.  He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

In short, the 150 is doin't it's job...but on some of the hills, he's easily got to pull back to 2nd gear to get it up the hill..he said "it's doing it....but it feels like it's coming apart".   

NOW.......he's looking at a 2010 F250 SuperDuty with a 6.3 Liter GAS engine.  He doesn't want to make the purchase unless he is SURE that it will make the difference in towing on the hills....and he's not sure if they'll let him test tow before he buys.

What do you guys think?

[Rollingrock]

Pops has a 2007 F150...3.5? (NOT 3.73) LSD w/ a 5.4 liter engine.  He tows a Jayco travel trailer....in the 5k to 6k lb weight range.  He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

In short, the 150 is doin't it's job...but on some of the hills, he's easily got to pull back to 2nd gear to get it up the hill..he said "it's doing it....but it feels like it's coming apart".   

NOW.......he's looking at a 2010 F250 SuperDuty with a 6.3 Liter GAS engine.  He doesn't want to make the purchase unless he is SURE that it will make the difference in towing on the hills....and he's not sure if they'll let him test tow before he buys.

What do you guys think?

Funny, we had a Jayco TT with our F150 even after intake, tunes from Troyer i didn't like the towing experience in my F150...it wasn't the weight it was the drag of pulling at 27 ft cinder block down the road.  I was getting 4-6 mpg towing and you were going no where fast but yes it can pull the weight. 

I went to an F250 PSD and the difference was night and day, it was like pulling a shadow with the same TT.  The 2010 can be picked up for a song as they are moving the 10's out to make way for the 2011 which makes the 2010 look silly from a power perspective   The only down side to the 6.4 is the poor MPG's  out of all the diesels out there, the Ford 6.4 is the worst hands down for mpg's.    If your pops can get a 2011 he will be much happier with the MPG's.


That said, if he is ok with lower MPG's the 10 6.4 is a towing beast.  You also need to warn him that he if gets a Diesel he will soon want to upgrade this TT to a bigger one....trust me it happens.

[BigSur]

Well...note he specifically wants the Gasoline engine, not diesel.  Will he still get a better experiece?

[Rollingrock]

Well...note he specifically wants the Gasoline engine, not diesel.  Will he still get a better experiece?

2010 is the last year you will be able to get the V10, is it better than a 5.4?  you bet....will it tow your TT better, you bet, but again, MGP's are going to suffer. 

There are many people towing with V10's, but most of those if they had a do over would get a diesel. 

[Too Stroked]

Well...note he specifically wants the Gasoline engine, not diesel.  Will he still get a better experiece?

2010 is the last year you will be able to get the V10, is it better than a 5.4?  you bet....will it tow your TT better, you bet, but again, MGP's are going to suffer. 

There are many people towing with V10's, but most of those if they had a do over would get a diesel. 

I think we may be mixing up our engines here. The V10 is a 6.8 liter if I'm not mistaken. The 6.2 is the new V8 if I'm not mistaken. The 5.4 is no longer available in the SD series - probably mostly becasue it was a joke as Kitzy said. The new 6.2 isn't supposed to be too bad - for a gas motor.

As for diesels, the 6.0 wasn't a bad motor - as long as you stayed away from the '03-'05 range. After that, they pretty well got the bugs out. The 6.4 that replaced it has more power, but sucks fuel. On the other hand, it's been more trouble free and has a ton more upside potential for tuning.

If you want my personaly opinion, buying an SD without a diesel is a waste of time. It may be cheaper, but it just doesn't tow like a diesel.

[Rollingrock]

The V10 or the 5.4 is no longer available in the 2011 SD's, the new 6.2 Gas will not be available in a SD until Jan.

The only engines in a SD you can get right now are:
6.4 PSD 2010
V10 Gas 2010
or
the all new
6.7 PSD 2011

[BigSur]

Yeah he may be gearing up for the 6.2 Gas.  He's working to have the truck built...so he may already know that it will be after January before he can get it.  I'll have to ask him. 

Thanks for the responses guys.  I take this as YES it will be much better but still not as good as the diesel.  I've already told him that much anyways.  He's a picky dude though.  He'll be pissed if he goes to the 6.2 gas engine and it's not significantly better.  I told him he needs to test tow before he buys.  That way, he gets piece of mind before the purchase.  Just not sure if anyone will let him do that.

[Too Stroked]

The V10 or the 5.4 is no longer available in the 2011 SD's, the new 6.2 Gas will not be available in a SD until Jan.

The only engines in a SD you can get right now are:
6.4 PSD 2010
V10 Gas 2010
or
the all new
6.7 PSD 2011

Wow, I could have sworn that I saw a few of these bad boys on my dealer's lot a few weeks ago. Oh well, I've been wrong before. Sorry for the incorrect information. Like you already concluded though, even the best gas motor just isn't going to tow anything heavy like a diesel.

[Too Stroked]

Just checked my dealer's inventory (Shepard Ford - Canandaigua, NY) and he's got at least six or seven 6.2 liter F-350's and three 6.7 liter diesels. So, they're out there! Now I feel better.

[Rollingrock]

Just checked my dealer's inventory (Shepard Ford - Canandaigua, NY) and he's got at least six or seven 6.2 liter F-350's and three 6.7 liter diesels. So, they're out there! Now I feel better.

you know what, you're right as usual, I just checked another forum and they said the Job 3 SD's would offer the 6.2.  Didn't realize they were already building Job 3's. 

[Kitzy]

I'm not so sure about the V10 either.  Ford's website says it's available in the 450/550 chassis.  What confuses me though is why they have both the 6.8 and the 6.2.  The numbers aren't really much different.  The 6.2 has 23 more horsepower than the 6.8, while the 6.8 has 52 lb-ft of torque more than the 6.2.  385/405 vs 362/457.  Seems silly.  I'm sure the power bands probably look different making one better than the other for towing vs cruising but still...

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/superduty/features/#page=Feature8

[Rollingrock]

I'm not so sure about the V10 either.  Ford's website says it's available in the 450/550 chassis.  What confuses me though is why they have both the 6.8 and the 6.2.  The numbers aren't really much different.  The 6.2 has 23 more horsepower than the 6.8, while the 6.8 has 52 lb-ft of torque more than the 6.2.  385/405 vs 362/457.  Seems silly.  I'm sure the power bands probably look different making one better than the other for towing vs cruising but still...

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/superduty/features/#page=Feature8

the 6.2 has more than 20% MPG's