Design Differences Betweem F250 and F350

Essentially the differences are an extra leaf spring and a few hundred dollars. If you order the camper package, I believe you get a heavier sway bar.

Good Question!

Glad you asked.

Throughout the last 30 years the actual differences between the Ford F-250 and the single rear wheel (SRW) F-350 of any given year have been few if any and far between...

Most years there are no differences, the engines, transmissions, frames, drive shafts, axel assembles, brake systems, sway bars, YES EVEN the springs, are identical! They are functionally identical trucks, except for the fender badges, and the tonnage ratings, Witch I still contend are a Product of marketing, not of any functional physical differences...

What you do get for your couple hundred dollar investment, is a better manufacture tonnage rating (that can never be changed or altered by any modifications), even if it is only on paper.

In addition to the other comments, I believe that the F350 has larger tires.

The few extra dollars you spend will be returned when you sell. My neighbor has a 250 and his 5th wheel hitch weight loads the bed such that he had to add air springs. It ended up costing him more in the long run. Why not just get the heaver rated truck at the front end and forget about the extra cost.

Did I miss your target payload? My vote is f-250, air assist rear and over sized thermostic transmission cooler. For variable loads, air assist rear overloads are my choice (our choice, I am told). Yes, there's the cost, and the boots go every 3 to 4 years. Trailer pin 2 to 3 inches ahead of axle? short box sometimes interferes with front of coach

That's odd...I must've seen nothing but "exceptions" then; because most of the 250's I've seen were Dana 60 rear axles and Dana 44 or 50 fronts; whereas all the F350's I've seen, including mine, are Dana 70 rear and Dana 60 front (solid front axle 4x4's).

To me, that's a BIG difference...

Since I'm not into payments, I'm talking only about 1989 and older. But you did refer to "the past 30 yrs"....

None of those axels are exclusive to the F-350...

What model year (it really does matter)

Probably 2004 model. The 6.0L diesel in 2003 is too problematic. The

7.3L is too noisy for older models. The 2005 might not be out or available when my purchase date arrives.

You might want to wait on the 05's if you read about all of the improvements at:

We did the same: 2WD,SRW, Diesel. I saw too many F250 s going down the road looking squashed. The GVW of the 250 is 8800 and the 350 is 9900. That extra 1100 lbs goes a long way in making sure youre not over the trucks GVW when you add the pin wt of the trailer. As it turned out, the 2000 Cardinal 33RLBW we bought would put an F250 well over Gross. The 350 is only a few hundred # below gross when the 5 er is hooked up.

IMHO its just as cheap to order the 350 as it is to get the 250 and start adding lift bags and other suspension modifications trying to get a proper setup. Unless you re only going to pull a 25 or 27' 5 er, I d say get the

350. We love ours R

2002 F350 C/C 7.3 PSD Auto Lariat 2WD SRW

Now all of the poseurs who could probably get away with a Toyota Tacoma, can now own a larger and even heavier truck.

...

My thought also, for anyone about to buy the upgrades in towing/loaded abilities could be worth the short "weight"

The Toyota is only suitable for some of the smallest trailers on the market.

Of course. My point was that probably 75% of all Super Duty owners don't use them to haul anything other than some bags of mulch.

Sometimes that is true. I have had my 2004 F-150 loaded down with about as much mulch as the bed will hold.

I plan to tow a trailer with it, but I will keep the weight way down because this truck isn't big enough to tow very much. I may wait and get one of the new F-250/350 SD trucks in 2006 in order to have more flexibility in my trailer selection.

Thanks for the info. The 33RLBW was one of the models we're interested in. Now you've got the crew cab, and I want the extended cab. I've looked at the online inventory of several dealers in the Seattle area, where I live, and haven't found an F350, diesel, ext cab, 2WD, SRW in either XLT or Lariat. I suspect I may have to look in smaller cities where pickup truck are more likely to be sold.

How do you like your 33RLBW? How is the quality of construtions? Would it hold up for a couple living in it 6 - 8 months a year (we tread lightly)? When you say you are only a few hundred pounds under GVWR, is this with holding tanks full or empty? What other options did you buy on your trailer and your truck?

"They" say you wont find one at a dealer. A few dealers I spoke to said the same..Everything they order in a F350 has 4X4 on it. 2Wd is a special order..ours took about 10 weeks

We like it fine. I went thru a "Cardinal by Cobra" about 6 yrs ago and liked them then, better built IMO than the Dutchmen and Fleetwood etc we looked at in the same price range. (Cobra went bankrupt so they're made by Forest River now.) We bought ours 2 yrs old from a widow. Didnt have to add anything. It had the LX package and 16" wheels so didnt need anything else on it. It was in mint condition. Whenever I have a question, I dont call the dealer, I call the Factory and never had a more helpful bunch on the phone. We were having a new home built so the Cardinal was our home for 7 months in the area where we were building..then Winter came so we hooked up and drove to FL, then back west thru LA, TX to AZ where we lived for 2 months, then back "up north". In total, we lived in it for a year..no problems in temps from 90 oF down to 13oF BRRR( froze our water lines twice)

This is with the tanks "low" I dont empty them all the time when on the road but never drive with them over 1/3. Propane is usually 1/2 or more. Admittedly, our first BIG trip, I had more "stuff" in the basement than I needed. We'll be lighter next fall when we head south.

Lariat Pkg: leather, CD player, (C/C) has Full size (comfortable )back seat, LT 265 75 16 LRE tires, running boards, the "premium" aluminum rims. Added: LONG BOX, automatic trans, sliding rear window, Limited slip 3.73 rear end, dual alternators, camper package from factory. Then when we got it I added: bug deflector, Ford mud flaps, receiver hitch and of course the Reese 15K 5th wheel hitch and a Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller. I installed the hitch and Prodigy myself and saved around $ 400 labor.

We get 13-14 around town and 19 on the hiway lightly loaded. Around

10-11-11.5 towing depending on wind and hills.

If you want some "info overload" ask these same "Q" on alt.RV newsgroup R