Long Bed or Standard Bed for pulling a 5th wheeler?

[DMacLeod]

I'm looking at an F-350 or F-450 dually for towing a 5th wheeler with a GVWR of about 17,000 lbs. Do you think it's worth getting the F-450 instead of the F-350? ( No Ford jokes please ) From what I've seen, the towing numbers seem to be very similar. I think the big benefit of the F-450 would be breaking power. Also, any suggestion on long bed or standard size bed?

thanks

[consolenut]

Long bed no slider to deal with. also 450 better turn radius

[Vette Racer]

On the long vs reg bed, if your parking/usage allows it I would go with the long bed. Remember, after the hitch is in there how much room do you need for all that other stuff you want to take. I'm always out of bed space and having to stack things inside the back seat area.

[Jshopes81]

If youre wanting a dually youll get what they give you, an 8ft bed, no other options in the last 10ish years.

The 350 and 450 have the same gvwr, rearend, front end, frame, motor.....everything is the same except for a couple things. Brakes, tires/wheels, i dont know about springs. All things being = just get the bigger truck. Its like trying to decide 3/4 or 1 ton. Its the same truck.

[450Donn]

Long bed! Standard or what used to be called short bed gives up around 2 feet of useable open storage space. On my last two trucks I had a Fold A Cover, so when towing I had 2 feet of useable storage space. I usually carried extra drinks, fishing gear, air compressor etc up there.

[tuffr2]

Ok, I will say it. A dually truck looks stupid in a short bed. Plain and simple 'stupid'.

[Itchytoe]

You're going for a Ford dually. You're going to have a full 8 foot bed. You can't get a dually in a short bed, except for like '01 and '02 model years. I might be off a little there, but Ford hasn't made a short bed dually in quite a while.


The widetrack front end on the F450 will give you a better turning radius so it'll be a little easier in town, but the F450 also comes with 19.5" wheels which will give it a rougher ride. Because of the bigger wheels, the F450 might have better brakes, but I don't know for sure. You'll have to fact check me there. In the end, either of those trucks will work well for you, but they'll both be long beds.

[tuffr2]

A F-450 does have lager brakes than a F-350 dually. A tighter turning radius and 4:30 gears and 19.5" wheels. It looks bigger too because of the wide front with fender flairs and it will sit a bit taller.

[Frank Dutton]

With that weight, I would go with the 350, I just did this past Friday. My toyhauler gvw is 18k. My new to me 2018 350 dually has a 3:55 and with the 17" wheels the ratio is perfect, 70 mph at 1800 rpms and 10 to 11 mpg on a short trip back from Lancaster yesterday. I did drive a 19 450 Limited and it was awesome, turned like a Honda civic lol, brakes are 1 inch larger and the 4;30 rear is nice for towing heavy and maybe in the mountains, but the mpgs go down, I know mpg isnt a very big deal because it is what it is, but Im glad I went with the 350, it was also 10k less. I feel if I do travel out west or wherever in the mountains I can drop down to 5th or 4th gear, not a issue for me. Good Luck

[tbos1958]

450 for the turning radius and beefed up frame.

[Jshopes81]

Originally Posted by tbos1958

450 for the turning radius and beefed up frame.

I cant find anything saying the frame is different. Where are you getting this info? I just searched for the past 30 minutes.

[Dieselguy4]

Both F350 and F450 DRW are long beds.The F350 and F450 are the basic same truck. Frames and axles are basically the same. The F450 has 1 inch bigger brakes, 4.30 gears and tires that are 1/2 inch larger then the F350. Base price for the F450 is 10k more then the F350. The wide track front end is nice but the ride is harder. The F450 has less load due to being heavier and 14k gvwr for both trucks. I ended up getting the F350. I tow at 65 mph and run 1920 rpm with 4.10 gears. The ride is good (for a 1 ton truck) . I also wanted TPMS which the F450 doesn't have. I researched both trucks and the F350 won out. It pulls my 13k 5th wheel great.

[Gsykora]

I moved up from a 2014 F350 SRW to a 2015 F350 DRW and thought I'd regret it as a daily driver. However, after having it for a year now, I can say, it really isn't bad. It rides harsher than my old F350 SRW and truthfully, the turning radius is not an issue. My truck has 3.73 gears (F350 SRW had 3.55) and gets around 16mpg when empty and 11mpg when towing our 16,000lb Cedar Creek.

[V3600]

My trailer is 19,000 and I tow with a Chevy 3500 long bed dually. Tows great, been all over the country.