F-250 Owners

[Randy Marlowe]

I am seeking input from F-250 owners. I am looking to buy a F-250, 6.4 liter diesel to tow my KZ Spree 265. The trailer weight is 6100 lbs dry. There will generally only be two of us traveling with minimal "stuff."

My question is...."will I be happy towing this trailer with this truck through mountainous terrain?

RM

[MikenAmber]

Randy, We own a 2000 F-250 however; it has the V-10 engine. We really like it and it pulls our 33' Coachmen easily. We like the Fords, a little quieter and nice ride, our uit is at 6800 lbs, and we cary 2 adults one small dog and the bed of the truck is filled with chairs, wooden step, coolers, etc. Good Luck in your search

[TXiceman]

Randy, what is your loaded weight? Dry weight does not mean much at all since it does not include any options or accessories and certainly not your supplies. You may find that you are easily 1000# over the dry weight.

I have no experience with the 6.4L engine, but it is supposed to have more power than my 7.3L. Do yo know what axle is in your truck?

The truck you have should pull that trailer fine, but it would be nice to have some weights to know exactly where you are load wise.

Ken

[gearman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Marlowe My question is...."will I be happy towing this trailer with this truck through mountainous terrain? RM

What do you mean by mountainous terrain? Some of the easterners call the hills on the east half of this great country, Mountains!!!

You will be happy with that truck, even towing through the rocky mountains of the western US.

[Jody & Jeff]

My hubby and I were discussing this very issue last night. I told him our truck should NOT tow through the Rocky Mountains. He said it can.

I am happy with our 7.3L diesel, which is a short bed by the way; but I am not confident myself we should be pulling at those grades that you might want to attempt. Our fiver weighs about 10,500 lbs fully loaded and it is 31 ft long.

If we had a dually, or even a long bed, maybe I'd feel more secure in my decision. I know some people will pull anything, anywhere.... I am not of that theory myself!

Jody

[TXiceman]

Jody, While we have not been in the Rockies, we have pulled our previuos 36.5' 5er, about 13800# over some pretty steep grades, and we do have a 4.10 axle.

With your 5er, the truck shoudl do fine in the Rockies (with a 3.73 axle). As with any mountain, you will have to down shift and slow down at times

The big concern on your F250 is the pin weight and the trucks GVWR and rear axle GAWR. You will be pretty close or a bit over.

Ken

[Jody & Jeff]

Ken,

We do realize all of that and we do have the 3.73 gears.
We would get a Banks brake though if/when we go that
route at some point.

Our friends are now fulltiming with their two kids and are
in South Dakota and we've got the urge to pack up and
leave and meet up with them. Wish we could - truly -
we want too!

But selling the house would be the kicker and not much
hope of that happening any time soon unless we want to
take a tremendous loss - so I guess we'll stay put a while
longer!

Jody

[TXiceman]

Jody, better double check on the Banks brake with the 4R100 transmission. The 7.3L engine is strong...stronger than the transmission. Put on a large stacked plate auxiliary transmission cooler and change the transmission fluid a 20000 mile intervals.

A fellow at work has 210,000 miles on his 2000 F250 diesel and it is on the original transmission. Found a fellow at the Ford dealer that was having problems with his tranny and he had 420,000 miles on his 2000 model F350.

Have fun.

Ken

[CD]

Jody
Your truck shouldn't have any problem with power but (like TXiceman said) your load cap. may be short. One thing you need to realize is there are passes in the Col. Rockies that are 11/12K elevation, but where you start is over 5K. Here in Puget sound we have 3 major passes @3, 4, & 5K. and it is that much climb to get over them. Some are pretty hard pulls. Years ago I was towing a 15' TT with a car going from Jackson Hole, Co. to Yellow Stone Park. I knew about how far we had to go & was dreading the climb. The closer we got more concerned I got as we hadn't seen any hard climb. Then I saw the sign that said continetal divide@ 8K. Then I realized we had started above 5K. So take it easy and gear down before starting down until you see how it handles. Going up won't be your biggest problem.

[clayvd]

If you're buying it new you can equip it to tow more. We had an F250 V10 with the 4.1 axle ratio. We added the optional camper package that gave it several hundred more pounds of payload capacity.

[Jody & Jeff]

Well,

We are NOT looking to buy another tow vehicle, as we can't afford it.
We bought this one 3 years ago.

As far as the transmission goes - too late on that one - it blew out on
the way up blood mountain in Georgia last August. So we now have a
new Jasper transmission in it.

I spoke with the people last year about a banks exhaust brake and told
them what our vehicle was and no mention that it would not work or that
we didn't need it.

Not much chance we'll hit high grades anytime soon, but just a thought.
Maybe by THEN, we CAN get the F350 dually we really want!

Jody

[TXiceman]

We have the F350 dually from the days of the 36.5' 5er and now pull a 28' Silver Streak. I wish we had an F250, but to change now is not economically feasible. So like you we will be happy with what we have.

Ken

[RSmoak]

Randy,

We've got an 06, 6.0L PSD, crew cab, short box. We've been towing a 5K, 27ft. TT wuth a canoe strapped on top of the truck, bikes and grill in the bed, 6 digs ub tge bacj seat, and three people in the front seat. We've been doing central Texas hills with no issues. PLENTY of very smooth power. As it turns out, I was doing this on worn shocks and ball joints. I thought I was crusin.

Ralph

[gearman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman The 7.3L engine is strong...stronger than the transmission. Put on a large stacked plate auxiliary transmission cooler and change the transmission fluid a 20000 mile intervals. A fellow at work has 210,000 miles on his 2000 F250 diesel and it is on the original transmission. Found a fellow at the Ford dealer that was having problems with his tranny and he had 420,000 miles on his 2000 model F350. Ken

The 4R100 trans is a very capable trans. Heat is the killer and 95% of drivers just don't know how to drive/use them. Most of us let them over heat and fail. But that keep trans shops in business!!

I had a E350 passenger van that traveled to work hauling 10 of us over a mountain pass everyday, we abused the H#$$ out of that 4R100 trans and with a little maintainance it lasted 195,000 miles.

Just like Ken stated, get a aux cooler and also a trans oil temp gage, learn how and when to shift while towing, the trany will serve you well.