zim Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Ok ok ok..i know...it's not a LR. But it is still at least a 4x4 v8 It'll be replacing a p38 4.6 ! I'm looking at a new tow truck. Like the look of dodge ram 1500's (5.7 hemi), but the bigger trucks have caught my eye. Looking at Dan H's dad at the last challenge in his dodge 2500 has made me think about the option of going diesel. Does anybody on here have an F250 ? In particular the 6.0 powerstroke v8. On paper they've got a tremendous 325bhp and 540 (ish) ft lb torque. Looking at 2004 - 2006 ish. I realise fuel won't be amazing, but at the moment i'm doing between 6 - 8 mpg on LPG whilst towing. A lot of my driving is towing. I don't drive to work so this is not an issue. Neither is parking in town / city, as i hate going into town ! Any comments on them ? G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Comments: true its not a Land rover. Don't let the door hit you on the way out..... http://www.ford-trucks.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I hd a 4x2 F250 in OZ V8 petrol , good for towing , very american tide quality ( floaty) . Dont expect jag/merc quality fittings and finish , but it was grunty and surprisingly reliable. Plenty of room in OZ so OK but would not be very UK friendly so good job you dont want to go to a tesco carpark much ., Drive one first ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I hd a 4x2 F250 in OZ V8 petrol , good for towing , very american tide quality ( floaty) . Dont expect jag/merc quality fittings and finish , but it was grunty and surprisingly reliable. Plenty of room in OZ so OK but would not be very UK friendly so good job you dont want to go to a tesco carpark much ., Drive one first ! Totally agree. Quite a few of them here in Brisbane but the roads are bigger and the car park spaces are bigger generally here. Would find it a bit difficult to drive around the uk. Ali Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticbadger Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I have the older F350 with 7.3L Powerstroke (2002) as a work truck. The later 6.0 Powerstroke isn't as highly rated in some circles as the 7.3, mainly from the US aspect of 'it hasn't done 250,000 miles with no maintenance', though one of my clients has a 2005 6.0 F250 and had a major intercooler/turbo total failure at low mileage. As for recommending one, if you are looking at towing long distance then I highly recommend it. Effortless cruising and great stability (mine is 172" wheelbase) plus many, many creature comforts in the luxury models. Mileage on the 7.3 works out as 12mpg / 23.5L/100km when towing, 17mpg / 16.8L/100km light. The only thing I would say is that insurance and weight capacity can be a head ache, in the UK. The specailist insurers don't like the over 3500kg GVW, plus I can't get full business use insurance, only basic carrage of own goods. I've looked at replacing ours with a RAM 1500 as it's under 3500 GVW yet still can tow 3500kg+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I recently had the pleasure of hiring a 2010 F350 Super Duty with 6.8 Triton V10, it was a slow thirsty barge with build quality somewhere below a Ford Transit. The owners manual even features a warning not to use the overdrive if you're towing because it will break. Redeeming features were the mirrors which go in & out electrically. This was un-redeemed by having to get out of the car and engage the free-wheeling hubs before you can put it in 4WD mode, even Land Rover gave up on that idea 30 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 . This was un-redeemed by having to get out of the car and engage the free-wheeling hubs before you can put it in 4WD mode, even Land Rover gave up on that idea 30 years ago. Mm you have never driven a Toyota and Nissan then as they have the same. And they say they are better than land rovers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Mm you have never driven a Toyota and Nissan then as they have the same. And they say they are better than land rovers I've driven both, they don't say the free-wheeling hubs are better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtydiesel Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Have a look at a ram diesel much less to go wrong than the equivelent ford or gm A freind of mine has a my'00 24v diesel 2500hd ram. truly awesome truck. much more robust than his preivious gmc and chevy's But you pay for the lack of complexity with lack of refinement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Have you joined Greenpeace Gordon?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Greenpeace - pah ! We dig gas up out of the ground, so no Cheers for the comments above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I've driven both, they don't say the free-wheeling hubs are better. Nah John I was meaning they say the cars are better than land rovers mmm well how little they know :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyRoverlander Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Nah John I was meaning they say the cars are better than land rovers mmm well how little they know :-) ignorance is bliss isn't it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticbadger Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 The free wheeling hubs did deeply confuse a couple of my guys last year in the snow oh well! I'm likely to be selling my 13K miles from new, 18,000lb tow rating 1999 Chevy 3500HD, as soon as it's registered if you fancy a 6.5 diesel instead.... RHD, 4x4, 5.13:1 gears.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 ford bronco XLT 4x4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan-hicko Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Hi g, my dad is thinking of selling his dodge that you were looking at, he's had fords and dodges and thinks the dodge is a better built truck, and the cummins engines are known to be far superior to almost any engine of that size, hope this helps, Dan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 The only thing I would say is that insurance and weight capacity can be a head ache, in the UK. The specailist insurers don't like the over 3500kg GVW, plus I can't get full business use insurance, only basic carrage of own goods. I've looked at replacing ours with a RAM 1500 as it's under 3500 GVW yet still can tow 3500kg+. Cheers for the reply, i'll be honest - the above is what scared me. Yes, i could go out and get my Class C license (may as well get c and c1 at the same time + trailer). But then my insurance would be no good. I have trade insurance which is up to 3.5t, thus i'd need to take a new policy out. I can't cancel my trade policy as i use it a fair bit (for exporting vehicles). Thus.....i've found an F250 which has apparently been plated at 3.5t. Meaning my normal car license and insurance would be ok Granted, i'll only have a "small" payload. Dan - cheers for the reply, i'll have a think. Hmmmm......i always swore i wouldn't go back to diesel, but now i'm contemplating it G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Cummins 6BT Bosch inline pump, marine injectors, twin turbo....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedLineMike Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Cummins 6BT Bosch inline pump, marine injectors, twin turbo....... 1000Ibft of torque @ 18mpg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Enough to keep up to 70mph on the M62 with challenge truck in tow i would think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landy_andy Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Hi g, my dad is thinking of selling his dodge that you were looking at, he's had fords and dodges and thinks the dodge is a better built truck, and the cummins engines are known to be far superior to almost any engine of that size, hope this helps, Dan. My some what limited experience of having an F150 for the past 4yrs is.... buy the Dodge.... better build quality, more reliable (the overdrive brg failed at 90,000km.... cost me $3500cdn to get it fixed, and it's a known issue that Ford won't cover under warranty.... but they do sell an upgrade kit). One thing we do find good is the economy (4.6L gas engine), compared to my modified D2.... we take the F150 for trips shopping etc. but our nearest Costco is a 6hr round trip and collecting the outlaws from the airport is a 14hr round trip. Talking to friends that have the Dodge trucks, they say the Cummins are the best you can get, alot superior to the Fords. Hope that helps.... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticbadger Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Thus.....i've found an F250 which has apparently been plated at 3.5t. Meaning my normal car license and insurance would be ok Granted, i'll only have a "small" payload. Be VERY Careful about that. In theory it's possible to down rate perfectly legally. However, on the F350 crew cab, long bed the curb weight is 3400kg or similar (can't remember exactly), so by the time you have a passenger and your sandwich box in it you'll be over loaded. The Police are suprisingly well informed about this sort of thing and will weigh you to establish legality. It's for this reason I've been looking at replacing the F350 with a 150/1500 (1/2 ton) truck so that you have a 3500kg gross weight vehicle with a decent tow rating and loading margin. However this normally rules out the HD diesel engines. This is one reason for building the Chevy 3500HD, because it's basically a 7 ton (or 1.5 ton in US talk) truck on a tiny wheelbase with no body, meaning you can rate it at 3.5t and still have some loading margin and the heavy duty running gear for towing. Insurance is an issue too. Basically I can insure mine as a private car for business use, but not as a business vehicle. This means we are restricted to the numbers of drivers and type of use it can be put to. Also although parts are cheap enough and relatively easy to source, for using the truck as a proper works vechicle, any delay in supply can cause a problem. For this reason we keep a stock of service consumables. They do tow well though: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGM316 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Totally agree. Quite a few of them here in Brisbane but the roads are bigger and the car park spaces are bigger generally here. Would find it a bit difficult to drive around the uk. Ali I spent a bit of time in the US, where there's loads of these, they are massive things, it'd be like having a lwb transit, the stress of trying to park it would be enough for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Froget the truck...i wanna wake board behind that ship ! Cheers for the replies A 4x4 crew cab, with 6.75 bed has a nett mass of 6,538lb = 2965kg. Leaving a 635kg payload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rightfoot Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Gordon, what you really want is nice American RV with a V8 7.3 diesel in it. Then you can tow while getting better fule economy, and not have to mess around with your tent. Funnily enought I know who's selling one as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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