First road trip impressions from 00 F450 2dr XLTto a 08 F450 4dr Lariat

[TwoStrokers]

Please see my signature for the difference in rear body configerations.

My wife and I run a service route every month through Fl, GA and AL. We average from 2600-3000 miles a month on the road. We put 98% of the mileage over a 2 week period.

First off, the noise factor is dramatically reduced. I can actually have a conversation with my wife without having to yell over the noise. We got the smaller console to give me a bit more room in the hip area. The 40/20/40 console was a bit too wide in the '00, for me. Fuel mileage avged about 7mpg on the '00 beast. By the meter and 3000 miles later on the '08, I'm showing 8mpg with a bounce up to 8.1 now and then. After reading some fuel mileage posts, I expect (hope) that will go up.

Regen: While stopped at a few lights, I noticed a kick up in the RPM, making sure my foot was firmly on the brake. Only happened a few times, no longer than 10 seconds each.

I got the 19gal auxillary tank and it's nice not having to stop at some of the fuel stops we have in the past. In some places, I just filled the front tank if I knew cheaper fuel was further up the road.

The turning radius is much shorter, I am able to make U-turns on roads now that before required a 3 point turn. The '00 was a 2dr with a 14' box, the '08 is a 4dr with a 11' service body, but they both are the same length overall.

The low end torque is great, albiet I do have a lighter load on the truck so far. I'm not too impressed with the high end acceleration. I ran into a firmware engineer from SuperChips at a fuel depot in Lake Park, GA. He had an 08 SD so we got into a conversation about the new 08's and how they just came out with the new tuner that comes with a 2 year drivetrain warranty for your truck if their unit causes the problem. I'm looking at one for mileage increases.

Overall, as anyone with a new vehicle, I'm very happy with the new truck. This is my 4th Super Duty, first one was a '99 F250 gasser and I still own all the diesels (7.3, 6.0 and 6.4). I just hope I don't have to pour $$ into the 6.4 like I did the 7.3 for repairs.

[RVrs R US]

TwoStrokers, many thanks for that information. We have a '08 F-450 on order slated for delivery in 2 weeks to replace our '99 F-450 so your comparison was very timely for us.

Although we've replaced a few wear and tear items on our 7.3, overall it has been an outstanding vehicle towing our fiver around the country. Trading up because the 7.3 is not rated to handle the newest fiver we bought.

Getting excited about the 6.4 arrival.

Dave

[last1stding]

Hello
Read your initial post. You mentioned the shorter turning radius. You have a F450 2 x 2. When I look at the 2008 brochures it says that the shorter turning radius is only available in the F450 4 x 4. Am I missing something ?

[TwoStrokers]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LarryF550</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hello
Read your initial post. You mentioned the shorter turning radius. You have a F450 2 x 2. When I look at the 2008 brochures it says that the shorter turning radius is only available in the F450 4 x 4. Am I missing something ? </div></div>

Might be. I'm not sure of the specs, but it's definitely easier to make a u-turn now. Both of my F450's are cab/chassis on the longer wheelbase (2000 is a 201" WB, the 2008 is 200" WB).

[JESSE 1]

Both the F-450 4x4 and 4x2 have the wide-track front axle. The wide-track axle is optional on the F-350 dually only with the 4x4. It's been amazing to me how short a turning radius my F-450 has. It'll turn almost as short as my '07 Expedtion EL.

[last1stding]

Thanks for the info. The reason I asked was that I took out a 2008 F450 4 x 4 and was amazed with the turning radius. Then when I read the brochure I got misled.