IH 4700 lo pro V. Ford F550 question

[Diamondpilot]

That's strange. Most F-550's have 4.88's which should run considerably higher RPM at 55 than a F-350 with 3.73 or 4.10's.

Wonder if the tire size corrects this some? All I seen had 4.88's or something like a 4.30. Not sure.

Sad to hear about MrJimi. That was a cool project and will do the same someday but for now I really do not want a Dually.

Chris

 

[Builder]

Wonder if the tire size corrects this some? All I seen had 4.88's or something like a 4.30. Not sure.

Sad to hear about MrJimi. That was a cool project and will do the same someday but for now I really do not want a Dually.

Chris

Not much. 225 19.5's are only about 32" 650 revs/mile not much difference from a 265 tire.

4.30's are not too common in F-550's. More common in F-450's and the F-350 V-10 trucks.

 

[Ryan03]

It depends on what you are looking for in a truck. As builder stated, the 4700 lo pro has a much stronger frame, bigger 4 wheel disc brakes, bigger springs, spring hangers, a heavy duty allison MT series auto, etc. Now for the bad, LO Pros have very little ground clearance under the drop down center portion of the front axle, as well as the giant pumpkin on the rear end, They will jarr fillings out of your teeth on any bumps empty, and can be a real handful to drive on ice and snow with the electic juice brakes and stiff suspension. We have one 4700 lo pro 10 ft dump with a 7.3 and allison at work, it is a good solid truck, but nobody wants to drive it because it beats you to death, most drivers prefer our 7400's or the 4700 series big brother, the 4900 series. Why, because along with air brakes comes an air compressor to fill up the air seats, 4700 low pro's have juice brakes, therefore, no air compressor or air seat.

The 550 however, IMO would be a much more pleasant truck to drive daily than the lo pro, I feel the 550 would be superior off road due to it having more ground clearance, and maybe a little better in the snow and ice due to the brakes being a little easier to feather. IMO, if I were to buy a 4700, I would skip the lo pro part and get the bigger tires. If a 1 ton is just a little to light duty for your needs, go with the 550, If you need as much truck as you can legaly drive without a CDL, get the 4700.

 

[ScottAR]

Air seats are no big deal... My F350 has air seats. They are plumbed into a little air compressor like one would put in the car to air up tires... Sure it looks mickey mouse
but for the time you need to air up a seat it works great. Came with the truck.

The ground clearance is a concern but both trucks are going to be almost
helpless on anything but dry flat ground. I won't be driving either truck daily, it will
tow a trailer or haul materials on the flat bed.
I'll keep my F350 for general duties; it's paid for, so it's not eating much besides maintence and insurance.

I dunno...

 

[ScottAR]

"That's strange. Most F-550's have 4.88's which should run considerably higher RPM at 55 than a F-350 with 3.73 or 4.10's."

I dunno, I got it to 55ish and the tach was @2k... Might have been 4.30's. Ex utility truck I think.

 

[Builder]

Air seats are no big deal... My F350 has air seats. They are plumbed into a little air compressor like one would put in the car to air up tires... Sure it looks mickey mouse
but for the time you need to air up a seat it works great. Came with the truck.

The ground clearance is a concern but both trucks are going to be almost
helpless on anything but dry flat ground. I won't be driving either truck daily, it will
tow a trailer or haul materials on the flat bed.
I'll keep my F350 for general duties; it's paid for, so it's not eating much besides maintence and insurance.

I dunno...

Heck, you don't even need an air compressor. I put an air ride drivers seat in my F-450 because the ride sucked so bad. It had a small lever on the side that operated a small hand pump under the seat. Worked awesome! No compressor to wire up, no fuses, wires, air lines. I think it was a national seat. Pretty comfortable. It was cloth and had armrests, too.

Got it from a wrecked F-650. Fit like a glove. Bolts lined right up because Ford medium duty trucks have the same floor pan as the F-250-F-550.

I do agree the ride is harsher in the lo-pro because the suspension & tires are stiffer. However, once you get 'er loaded, that should make it a bit better.

What are the asking prices for the 550 and the 4700?

 

[ScottAR]

I have yet to see a F550 spec'd out the way I like it for under $10k.

Most of the Lo Pro's are $5k-$8k depending on dealer and condition. It's not a large
difference I guess but noticeable.

 

[JESSE1]

We bought a new '90 4900 with a 245 hp DTA466 in June, '89. It had a 7 speed Spicer trans and low-profile 22.5" tires and hydraulic brakes. We ordered the hydraulic brakes because we were pulling a gooseneck trailer with electric brakes. Should have ordered air brakes and used an air/electric brake controller.

These trucks are much more heavy-duty than the F-550. No comparison. Just not a real handy truck to run errands with compared to an F-550. I don't think you can get a DT466 in the trucks you're looking at but I would want the 466 over the 7.3 if that was an option.

 

[DavesTractor]

We just bought a 1997 IH 4700 LoPro with a JerrDan 19 foot aluminum slideback. It weighs 12,180 lbs with no load. It has the 175hp T444E 7.3 with a 5-speed manual, hydraulic disc brakes, and an air seat. Rides and drives decent, but it is slow to get up to speed...real slow. It has 270K miles and runs great, but we are going to turn it up a little. I think 230hp will be tolerable, not quick, but acceptable and still durable. My 360hp Duramax has me spoiled, but as many have stated, the lower HP units tend to really last as they aren't very stressed. I don't know what rear axle ratio we have, but 62mph at about 2200rpm is where it likes to run. Given enough highway, it will run about 66 at 2400rpm, but it feels like I am really pushing it. I'd say 70 is top speed. I'd like to be able to run comfortably at 70.

 

[Robert Fahlgren]

I have been looking at the 10 year old IH 4700s with aprox. 140,000 miles online for several years. Never have had a chance to drive one, but would like to get an idea of how they perform. Was wanting to build a tow rig for my gooseneck trailer. The ones I see are as some of you have indicated retired fertilizer rigs. I would install a 11' or 12' flat bed with stake pockets and removable sides. I wonder if you could safely install a flat bed, with hydralic dump feature and gooseneck hitch. Perhaps have goose hitch mounted to frame below a trap door in the flat bed. I would not want to have hitch mounted to the bed unless it was directly bolted to frame. Total trailer weight empty is aprox. 7500lbs with around a 19,000 lb load to be hauled on the trailer. I will be following this topic closely to see how it might work out for those that go the Lo Pro route. I have a 97 F350 with 60,000 miles and also a 97 E-350 225,000 miles. Both 7.3s. They do run for ever, as long as you keep up with fixing them, forever. Actually the only really costly repair was 2 bent valves, 2 bad lifters on the van. New computer on the pick-up. Robert F