F450/550 V-10 owners?

[ericj]

Any out there? How does it do towing and hauling?

[F350Heavy]

Mine does good towing but in our Alaska trip last summer with a total weight of 20k lbs I noticed a little loss of pep in the mountains. Just a little but I wouldn't want to add a lot more to it and have to go through the mts. I think that if we traded our Cherokee for a Grand Cherokee and hauled it on the trailer it would make it not that much fun to drive in the mts. That compares to having more than enough zip the first summer with the Jeep on the ground and 2200# less weight.

With my '94 F350 diesel if I ever got trapped behind a truck on a hill I couldn't build up speed after that. It had an E4OD and I could wind out 2nd gear but when it went to 3rd it would bog back down and I would have to pull back in. But when we went out our first summer with the 450 we were going up a hill in Montana and I had to wait for some cars to come by before passing a truck. I dropped it down a couple of gears and let it pick up speed and then shifted up as we went around the truck and on up the hill at normal speed. My wife looked over at me and said "that was sure different." So even she could tell.

[traw97321]

I bought an '05 F450 with the V-10 and new 5 spd AT last November. Std cab w/ 11' Scelzi brand Utility bed (the usual four side lockers plus flip up top trays for storage)
From day one it had a shake to it, 40-45 mph was horrible then it would lessen a bit until about 68 mph, where it would really get bad again.
First visit to the dealer (@ 2000 miles) they balanced all the tires and gave it back, no change but I needed the truck for work... finally get a slow day
2nd visit (@8000miles) and I take it in. Late in the day they tell me a new driveline has been emergency ordered...but I'm without my primary work vehicle for four days. The new driveline doesn't do dog****(maybe a little, but not like it should have) for the shake, but they give it back regardless and save four new rear tires have been ordered, bring it back in three days.
3rd round- four new Conti 19.5 inch tires and a Computerized test is done to pinpoint the frequency of the vibration. Inconclusive results.
Got the truck back last week and while the shake has been mostly cured it can still be felt and I wonder what is under there wearing improperly...
As for the V-10- I like it a lot, but the biggest improvements for '05 are definitely the front suspension and offering the 5 spd AT behind all engines. Never had a truck so long that could turn so sharp. I have a '05 F250 with the V8 and AT also and it pulls my flat trailer easily, but I've only had light cars on there so far. The TOW/HAUL shift mode instead of just an OD lockout is wonderful

[F350Heavy]

The sharper turn would be a great improvement for sure. Mine has a 70 foot turning circle. But it has a 201" wheelbase.
As for the Torkshift 5-spd auto I have been watching very carefully on this and some RV forums and I haven't seen a single bad item on it. Although I don't look at the diesel pages here. Even the 5-spd Allison that Chevy and GMC use has had a few bad reports over the years. I think Ford really did a good job on this one. I know they had a recall but who doesn't?
And now the Torkshift is coming out in the gas p/u's as well as a lot of small motorhomes.
As for the vibration I would give the utility body a good lookover if I were you. Every door and compartment. Push on every piece of steel to see if it makes the same kind of sound. Check the mounting hardware.
Over the years I have had 3 cases of serious vibrations like you described. The first was a loose crossbar on a roofrack on an International Travelall. The 2nd was on my '94 F350 which turned out to be the tread separation on my rear tires (I didn't solve the vibration until I had a blowout and replaced the tires with duallys and Michelins.) The 3rd is on my current truck and it only happens above 75mph with a certain diagonal headwind. When it flows over the cab of the truck and hits the RevPak behind the cab it makes it vibrate like crazy. At first I thought I was either loosing a tread or blowing the engine. That one was easy to solve since I never drive that fast or almost.
Only the tread separation vibration started as low as 40 mph but the roof rack problem started at just a little faster, maybe 45-50mph.
Good luck.