Help With Next Truck Specs?

[Road Racer]

I currently drive a 1997 Ford F-150 XLT (extended cab, short bed, 5.4, Auto, 3.55, towing package). It is a
daily driver and occasional tow vehicle. My daily driving consists of about 2/3 highway and 1/3 city miles
and most weeks I get 17-18 MPG. Rarely get much over 70 MPH. Yearly driving is about 18,000 miles.

The towing load is a 20 ft. enclosed trailer (tag) with a small sports car, small ATV, tools, etc. According
to Pace the trailer weighs 3450 lbs empty. The car weighs 1450 lbs. The ATV, tools, spares, etc probably
weigh about another 1000 lbs. That comes to about 5900 lbs if my math is correct which is near the
trailers rated maximum of 7000 lbS. When towing this load there are at most 3 adults with a
combined weight of about 500 lbs with maybe 100 lbs of misc items in the bed of the truck, which has a
fiberglass camper shell (another 200-300 lbs?) I use a load-leveling type hitch to keep the tongue weight in
the correct range.

When towing I turn the overdrive off as there is too much shifting to use the OD. Fuel consumption has
been 9.5 to 10.5 MPG and I drive 65-70 MPH when towing which keeps the engine in the 2700-2900 RPM
range. It sounds a bit 'busy' at those revs. Towing trips vary from 500 to 1000 miles round trip and but we
only do about 5 or 6 of these per year. And the obvious question is why are you trying to pull 6000 lbs
with a light-duty truck? I used to tow a light open trailer and never expected to purchase an enclosed
trailer. Finances dictated that I get 2 or 3 more years of use out of the current truck.

I plan on ordering a more heavy duty truck in a few months and want to hit the target in terms of a truck
that will handle this towing better but still be as reasonable daily driver as possible. I've been reading this
forum for a few months now and tried to absorb what seems to be wide-ranging opinions on the sort of
truck that would fit our needs which in addition to the above is: The truck must have a crew-cab. I'm sick
of the nearly unusable rear seat. And it must be an automatic as the wife occasionally uses the truck to haul
dogs, fertilizer, etc. And no DRW. I see the F-250 crew-cab auto with the 5.4 V-8 and the 4.10 rear as the
minimum and a F-350 crew-cab V-10 auto with the 4.30 rear as the maximum needed for my requirements.

Now for the question(s):

F-250 or F-350? It is possible that as many as 5 adults might go along in a crew-cab and if we get much
more equipment the overflow from the trailer will go into the truck bed.

5.4 V-8 w/4.10? Will the extra weight of the Super-Duty crew cab offset the improvements of the more
powerful 5.4 of today and the 4.10 rear vs. my 1997 F-150?

V-10 w/3.73? Will the V-10 while towing at 65-70 MPH be so far off it's torque curve as to be of little
advantage over the V-8? I know the V-10 has about 75 lbs/ft more maximum torque than the V-8 but does
anyone know what each engine makes at 2000 RPM? I'm guessing the two numbers are much closer
together than many might think.

V-10 w/4.30? This seems to be the best towing option but what will be the impact on fuel consumption in
daily driving of the 4.30 rear?

The towing package on my current truck included both an oil cooler and a transmission cooler. Are those
standard on the Super-Duty or are they a part of a towing package?

Sorry to ask so many questions but will appreciate any opinions on helping me with this purchase.

[gossamar]

Okay, I'll shoot in my $49-cents worth. I would tend to overshoot your needs on the truck, it is always good to have more than you need, rather than not enough. If I had to do over again, I would get the F350 with the 4:30 axle instead of the F250, the cost difference is like $500.00 invoice price, but gives you more room to work with on payload. The axle ratio would be individual preference and where you plan to tow. If lots of hills, or mountain areas, or if you plan to upgrade trailers, go with the 4:30. Not sure on mileage differences between the two. With my current configuration(see signature below), I can get about 14-15 mpg on the highway running empty at 72-mph. Anything much above this speed kills mileage. My mileage in town averages anywhere from 8-10mpg. Granted ALL of my trips are SHORT, less than 2-miles, these short trips also wreck mileage.
The tranny cooler system has been upgraded from the original ones. All autos now come withe both an oil to air and oil to water cooler. Mine was built during the time when only the oil to air was available. I have since had the TSB done to upgrade the cooling to have both. Hasn't been warm enough here yet to truely test the system. If you do research, alot of guys have added yet another oil to air cooler. Do install a tranny temp gauge, the process is not all that difficult, also have been many threads on this some time ago. Do a search in the archives for this information.
Granted it is not my truck, and you will probably get more replies on this, but I would go with the F350 V-10 4:30 axle. This will allow room for growth, yet not exceed the trucks GCVW. Another thing with options, be sure and get the SNOW-PLOW package...even it you don't plan to plow. This package gives you the 6000# springs which helps to keep the front end from sagging over time and helps the truck look more level. Some people have said it has even improved the ride, my truck actually rides better than wifes car!! If you have further question, feel free to email me. Good luck.....

[John Z]

As I see it, the drawback to the Lower gear ratio is the extra wear & tear on the accessories, Alt, PS, AC, water pump. Gone are the days of the $39 alternator. All that stuff spins faster with higher engine speeds. With todays oil the engine rpm's don't matter much, but that other stuff?? I've got an Excursion with V10/3.73 Our TT weighs 4500-5000 lbs plus a folding boat on the roof & family. 12,500lbs approx?? I can tow in OD as slow as 45mph on level road. at 70, it tows like there is nothing back there. The extra HP (at ever higher rpms) on the 5.4 compensates for the heavier truck.

[NoMo]

With whatever you purchase, you can probably kiss the F150's MPG numbers goodbye. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Anyway, I'd think that either the 5.4 w/4.10s or 6.8 w/3.73s would be best suited for daily driving and occasional towing. However, note that the 5.4L will be near it's maximum load rating when towing your trailer. The V10 w/3.73s gives you an additional 1500lbs of room to work with. My choice is in my sig. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[SgtRock]

gossamar,
I know this is off subject, but whow do you find out if you have the 2 xmission coolers? I looked up tsb's on alldata.com and found nothing listed. In fact, it didn't look like a complete list of things discussed by lots of folks here such as loose/incorrect cab bolts causing popping noise, etc.

[kenc]

350 V10 4.3. You'll get 10 opinions on this post and 100 if you search the gas forum, so you might want to try that (here's a start: 1 2 3 4 5).

My opinion is to get the 350 over the 250 since there is a neglible price difference and no perceptible downside to the performance difference; the V10 over the V8 since you tow enough and if you towed more you'd be better off in the PSD (the slightly better gas mileage with the V8 vs the V10 won't be worth the frustration of the V8's lack of power when towing); and the 4.3 over the 3.73, which is a bit more contentious, but most 4.3 owners love them. I also think you do enough towing to warrant the 4.3's, but when you're empty the high revs might be annoying. One thought would be to upgrade to slightly larger tires (33") to push those 4.3's to, say, 4.0. There may be issues with load ratings and tow safety with larger tires (and slightly worse mileage), but it will help you with gearing when empty.

[gossamar]

"Sarge"....there was a change mid-year to include this new cooling system, but can't remember the exact date....wait I found some information This link will provide information on the TSB http://forums.ford-diesel.com/cgi-bi...&f=24&t=000216

If you don't know your build date, crawl under front of truck and find the tranny lines, or trace them from the tranny. They will come up the passenger side in the steel form, then either they will go into the BOTTOM of the radiator, then to the air cooler OR the lines will go directly to an air cooler located in front of the Air conditioning cooler. NOTE: the lines will then go to rubber. If your lines go to the air cooler first, you most likely will be eligle for the upgrade. If the lines go to the radiator, then to the air cooler, you then have the upgraded system.
The biggest problem has been to get the dealer to okay the warranty work. When I first spoke with my service advisor, I mentioned the high temps when towing. I gave him the TSB number over the phone and he ordered the parts. They had truck for just over a day, mine was the first one they did and the tech actually had to pull in a new 2001 truck to see how things went. Apparantly the instructions from FORD are not that good. Anyway, when I went to pick up truck, the advisor started to ask how I was going to pay for this, I stated that per our previous convesation about the temperature when towing, PLUS the fact I had installed a tranny temp gauge, he covered it under warranty. Some dealers are better to work with than others. Mine is a small time dealer in the heart of farm country, so they pride themselves on "hometown" service. If you have further questions, shoot me a mail...be happy to answer anything I can....

[Billibo]

Funny! I had the same truck you have and went to a 99 f250crew v10 4x4 auto short bed. I towed a boat that weighed 4000lbs 1300 miles through flat land and mountians, then back home another 1300 miles. I have pulled 5000 to 8000 pound enclosed trailers over 2500 miles. Most of my driving has been city stop and go. The biggist lesson I learned is don't underpower. There is nothing worst than fighting the load your pulling. I just turned in my 99 v10 and got a 01 diesel crew 250 because I didn't like the way the v10 pulled heavy loads up grades.
Good Luck