Need advice on F250 and gooseneck trailer combo

[Bill_C]

And that would be a 7.3 Powerstroke after '95 (I believe, mine's a 94.5 and that was the first year of the Powerstroke, I think they discontinued the other diesels the following year). Not a 7.5 liter

 

[Diamondpilot]

Biggest problem I see with your plan is the GCWR you listed. A F-250 or a 350 with SRW and a diesel is going to weigh in at 7,000# minium. I have 2, a 2004 F-250 and a 2006 F-350 and the 250 weighs 7,500# with me in it and the 350 is just a tad over 7,600#.

The trailer you want is going to weigh 5,000# or so according to the site and that puts you at say 12,000# with noting on it. My little 28 Hp tractor with FEL and Bush Hog weighs 5,300# so I am not sure what you are hauling but in this case you would be over weight and no where near using the 14K trailer you want. Remember a 14K trailer that weighs 5K will only leave you 9k for payload. Heck my 2007 F-150 I just traded had a 15K GVWR and that is what is my current 1/2 Nissan Titan has also.

You need a truck like mine with a 23,000# GVWR to handle the load. You will also want 3.73 gears if possible. 3.55 are nice if its a driver, not a tow machine. 4.10's or even the 4.30's are nice if needed but the 3.73's seem to be the best of both worlds.

Also look for a 7.3 PowerStroke. The old IH motor was a 6.9 or something like that. I had a 7.3 and it was great and the two current 6.0's are even better.

Chris

 

[flusher]

Biggest problem I see with your plan is the GCWR you listed. A F-250 or a 350 with SRW and a diesel is going to weigh in at 7,000# minium. I have 2, a 2004 F-250 and a 2006 F-350 and the 250 weighs 7,500# with me in it and the 350 is just a tad over 7,600#.

The trailer you want is going to weigh 5,000# or so according to the site and that puts you at say 12,000# with noting on it. My little 28 Hp tractor with FEL and Bush Hog weighs 5,300# so I am not sure what you are hauling but in this case you would be over weight and no where near using the 14K trailer you want. Remember a 14K trailer that weighs 5K will only leave you 9k for payload. Heck my 2007 F-150 I just traded had a 15K GVWR and that is what is my current 1/2 Nissan Titan has also.

You need a truck like mine with a 23,000# GVWR to handle the load. You will also want 3.73 gears if possible. 3.55 are nice if its a driver, not a tow machine. 4.10's or even the 4.30's are nice if needed but the 3.73's seem to be the best of both worlds.

Also look for a 7.3 PowerStroke. The old IH motor was a 6.9 or something like that. I had a 7.3 and it was great and the two current 6.0's are even better.

Chris

Thanks for the input. I underestimated the weight of the F250 by quite a lot.

So it looks like I could do my hauling job safely with something like a 1997 F250HD regular cab, SRW, automatic, 4x2 or 4x4, 7.3L diesel, 4.10 rear end. This truck has 20,000 lb GCWR and 14,000 lb max trailer wt. That tilt bed trailer weighs 5,000 lb and the max wt of my show tractors will be around 5,000 lb.

I noticed that most of the F250s offered on craigslist are 4x4s. Looks like there's a 4x4 truck in my future.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thanks for the input. I underestimated the weight of the F250 by quite a lot.

So it looks like I could do my hauling job safely with something like a 1997 F250HD regular cab, SRW, automatic, 4x2 or 4x4, 7.3L diesel, 4.10 rear end. This truck has 20,000 lb GCWR and 14,000 lb max trailer wt. That tilt bed trailer weighs 5,000 lb and the max wt of my show tractors will be around 5,000 lb.

I noticed that most of the F250s offered on craigslist are 4x4s. Looks like there's a 4x4 truck in my future.

Yes, the Diesels are heavy compared to the gas trucks. I weigh all my trucks with me, my stuff, and 3/4 tank of fuel. My uncle has the same truck as my 2006 F-350 with the V-10 gas engine and its 800# lighter. Heck, my Titan weighs about 5,800#.

Do not rule out a F-350 SRW truck. Lot more truck with not much more cost. Now a Dually will cost more and will run you more to maintain but a SRW truck will cost the same either way, F-250/F-350.

Not really sure if you need 4.10's. They are nice for pulling but if you are not just using it as a tow rig you may want to consider 3.73 gears.

Chris