Hi there, (first post after trolling for awhile)

I am considering a F250 or F350 Crew Cab for the family. This will be used for short local driving throughout the year and towing a 6500 lb 5th wheel.

What I am wondering is what is the best balance between fuel economy and towing power. (yes I know large truck and fuel economy don't mix but humour me) V10 6.8L or V8 5.4L.

I have read that the 5.4L is stronger than the old 460. If so wouldn't that suffice for my towing requirements?

mpg examples?

Thanks for your input.

Greg

 

from what ive seen from friends trucks if your goin to pull something get the diesel. Youll never look back. The V10 is not that impressive, i had a friend with one and it just didnt have the ***** we thought it would.

 

There is a business locally here that ordered 3 new Superdutys with the 5.4, and they cuss them every time they drive them. Cant even pull a trailer down a hill is about what they say about them

Everybody I know with a v10 says they get about 12MPG tops. And as stated above, not much for towing.

If you are doing 'short local driving' I wouldnt get a diesel though either. Plus, with the higher initial cost of the vehicle, the higher cost of diesel fuel, and the fairly small load you are towing, its just not worth it.

I think a v10 is your best bet

 

What your describing is pretty much my dilemna... Diesel is better but short usage is not really good (is what I hear). So I am stuck with Gas... and 5.4 is potentially a problem for pulling but maybe better in the mpg department.

I test drove a V10... 1999 and a 2001. Lots of power in my opinion (empty) but I can't really test the towing part. Off the line I felt the truck had as much pickup as my Ford Probe...

 

From experience, what is short towing and how often?
I tow a gross combined weight of 12,000 lbs with my 150 super crew with 4.6 motor. The trips are 230 miles almost every weekend during the summer.
6500 trailer weight will be fine with a 5.4 and 3.73. or 4.10 rear gearing.
Your not running a race towing and will get out run on hills by Diesels and tractor trailers but that's not the point. The 5.4 will do the job.

 

I have heard numbers like:

V10
Towing - 10 mpg
Not towing hwy - 15 mpg
Mixed not towing - 12 mpg

But I am not familiar with what the 5.4 V8 will do (F250 or F350)

Also, is the F350 frame etc an impact as far as weight?

Greg

 

I have a hi-po 5.4 and I get 11 mpg highway on a good day going downhill...so get a diesel. even though youd think due to how high the cost would be and gas, the get better mpg. and a V10 thats just like pourin water down a tube the way it goes in there. now, a 5.4 wit a 4.10 might suffice your needs, but i still believe that for you a 6.0l diesel is the best bet. I dont tow. but i cant imagine my mpg if i did.

 

Wow. I am not sure I would do that (F150) with the hills we have around here and my lack of towing experience (4 years with a 17 ft trailer). But from what you describe the 5.4 sounds doable as I don't expect to win races up the mountains around here. We have one nasty climb on the Coquihalla highway from the coast to the interior of BC. It is not uncommon for loaded minivans and cars to be doing 60 km/h (er around 40 mph I think) at times...

 

I'm looking for a new tow vehicle, and from the research I've done the V10 is the way to go.

I don't want a loud diesel with all that weight over the front axle, especially at the 5K price increase.

The V10 will pull that load easily, get decent mileage, and be much better as a daily driver.

I suggest reading the "other" forums where the V10 VS. Diesel is discussed daily.

I'm getting the V10.

My 2 cents.

 

Sorry, what forum (V10 VS Diesel)?


Duh, just re-read what you meant...

 

think about it. If you drive your truck every day like I have to, you definetly won't want the diesel. They're slow, loud, eat fuel...

the 6.0 for example. It costs an extra $5500 to get the diesel initially, and it's hard to find one with a 6 speed..trust me. Apparently Ford doesn't want to sell a truck with a standard transmission. Then you have to look at maintenance costs. Air filter=$100. 15 quarts of oil. Fuel filter is $40 I believe and it needs to be changed often. Oil filter is $22. If you change oil every 5000 miles like it should be done (if not more often) it'll cost you out the yazoo. I use only Motorcraft parts, so thats where the prices came from. Even though the V10 uses more fuel, if you drive it a lot and have to maintain it, it'll still be cheaper. I went through the same dilemma about 8 months ago...looking for trucks. I wanted a F250 4x4 reg cab 6.0 with a 6 speed. Most dealers told me that it was special order only (they don't keep 6 speed trucks on the lot) and that special pricing is not available for special orders. That meant spending $36,000 for what I wanted. I looked at and drove a '06 with a V10 and 6 speed.....thing had a TON of power. More than I would have been able to use. It actually sounded pretty good too, and was over $12,000 cheaper than the diesel...not including discounts. I'm sure that will all the discounts & rebates, I could have gotten it for approx.$20,000.

I was going back to the dealer to buy the V10 and saw a beautiful '03 Lightning that just screamed my name....and ended up with it.

 

My only experience with a V-10 was in a Uhaul. It was a 2005 E350 with less than 20,000 miles. That thing got somewhere around 6mpg. That was with less than half a load in the back

 

In the research I've done, that is not the typical mileage users report.

Most report an average of 9 MPG, towing.

 

half the problem in this is your using motorcraft parts, you can get a wix filter sold at napa in the gold lne for a ALOT cheaper. You drove a v10 with no trailer, pull a trailer and then get back to us on the diesel comment.

Fuel, regular is almost 3 dollars a gallon here in alabama diesel not bein much more than that.

Half of the appeal of a diesel is that loud diesel sound, plus you put a programmer on them you get better mpg more power and more towing.

If you really want to get cheap, buy a $1500 bio diesel set up, make your own diesel for about $.90 a gallon

 

and then when you blow it up, ford thanks you for another 5 grand a pop to put it back together...