HD F-150 or 3/4 ton truck?

[TomSeller]

I have tried the diesel truck plus commuter car formula before and it didn't really work for me. I probably did it wrong. My commuter car was a 2011 Mustang 5.0 Coyote that got first dibs on garage space. That left my F-250 outside to rot while it wasn't being used enough to keep itself lubed. It would sit for 2-3 weeks at a time between work duties and it seemed like I was always replacing brake calipers. I guess if the pick-up sat inside and a had an beater commuter car that sat outside it would make more sense. But if I had a nice truck I think I'd want to drive it every day. I'm nowhere near a city. Usually miles between stop signs. Only my last mile going to work had lights. The other 14 are all country roads. Add in the extra insurance, registration, maintenance and I just don't see if for only 20,000 miles a year total.

I drove my F250 crew cab to work as my commuter for 11 of it's 14 years. Not problem. Easy. I just couldn't park in the garage due to the ladder rack. Without the ladder rack it would fit.

That is what I do, truck sits inside. Commuter car sits outside. But I do drive the truck weekly, usually twice.

 

[Deere Dude]

The super duty was overkill. I just didn't use it any longer as I did at first. I do a lot of blowing down the highway, and not towing or hauling any longer. The 150 seemed a better fit, and I love it. I do miss that power stroke diesel, though.

I feel ashamed. I use my Dmax dually as my quick run to town to get eggs and milk truck.
I doesn't make sense but is a hoot to drive.

 

[WilliamBos]

I feel ashamed. I use my Dmax dually as my quick run to town to get eggs and milk truck.
I doesn't make sense but is a hoot to drive.

If I owned a diesel, id do the same. My truck is my daily driver, forget buying a commuter car. Neglect is no good.

 

[gladehound]

Been doing a little more pricing in my area and it's coming out like this...

2018 F150 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed HD payload, max tow, trailer tow mirrors XLT 3.5EB with a few options I want is around ~$42,000 before tax
2017 F250 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed XLT gas is around ~$40,000 before tax
2017 F350 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed XLT Diesel is around ~$48,000 before tax.

If I factor in fuel use I'm at ....

~$75K for F150 for 200k miles
~$80K for F250 gas for 200k miles
~ $83K for F350 diesel for 200K miles.

If I factor in resale at 10 years, 200K miles that 8K spread all but disappears.

I guess when I look at it over 10 years, I should just get the one I enjoy driving the most. The economics are nearly the same for all three trucks.

 

[17 Oaks]

Been doing a little more pricing in my area and it's coming out like this...

2018 F150 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed HD payload, max tow, trailer tow mirrors XLT 3.5EB with a few options I want is around ~$42,000 before tax
2017 F250 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed XLT gas is around ~$40,000 before tax
2017 F350 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed XLT Diesel is around ~$48,000 before tax.

If I factor in fuel use I'm at ....

~$75K for F150 for 200k miles
~$80K for F250 gas for 200k miles
~ $83K for F350 diesel for 200K miles.

If I factor in resale at 10 years, 200K miles that 8K spread all but disappears.

I guess when I look at it over 10 years, I should just get the one I enjoy driving the most. The economics are nearly the same for all three trucks.

You can run the numbers anyway you want and always make it work in the direction you want to go.

My '17 F 350, CC, LB, SRW, one the very first and the only one and the first one on the dealer lot, I drove out the door at Invoice less #2250 bucks plus TT&L and they gave me in trade $48k for my '15 F 350.

Overall my mpg on my '17 is 11.2, but I am pulling heavy 75% of the time or more, unloaded it varies but day in day out 15.2 city/hwy, hwy, no head wind, drive 65, 17+ and into the 20 sometimes.

 

[zing]

Been doing a little more pricing in my area and it's coming out like this...

2018 F150 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed HD payload, max tow, trailer tow mirrors XLT 3.5EB with a few options I want is around ~$42,000 before tax
2017 F250 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed XLT gas is around ~$40,000 before tax
2017 F350 Crew Cab 4WD 6.5' bed XLT Diesel is around ~$48,000 before tax.

If I factor in fuel use I'm at ....

~$75K for F150 for 200k miles
~$80K for F250 gas for 200k miles
~ $83K for F350 diesel for 200K miles.

If I factor in resale at 10 years, 200K miles that 8K spread all but disappears.

I guess when I look at it over 10 years, I should just get the one I enjoy driving the most. The economics are nearly the same for all three trucks.

Lots of good advice in this thread and I definitely didn't read it all. I won't disagree with anyone (that I read) , but will give my opinion for what it is worth. My situation is very much like yours, have a car for the wife to commute and drive to the barn with, and a truck for me to commute with and tow with. My truck is not a construction vehicle that tows a trailer daily, or idles at a worksite all day. I tow a boat from time to time and I tow my side-by-side on a single axle trailer from time to time. Most of my towing is a 38 foot horse trailer that runs about 8 - 10Kish when loaded.

I had a Chev 1500 vortex gas and it did the job but:
- It consumed more fuel empty and WAY more fuel with a trailer (my horse trailer was smaller then, I would have never towed my current trailer with that truck).
- It would not maintain speed on hills even when turning 4500+ RPM unless it was in third gear, which is not safe speed to travel with the family on board. Often required 4-way flashers on hills.
- in wind, downhill, or at bumps (picture those highway overpasses where the rigs are leaving skid marks from bouncing) the truck was bullied by the trailer weight.
Some people are fine with those conditions (everything in life is a compromise), but I didn't like them.

I now have a diesel F-250 (6.7L):
- I feel like i have all the power in the world when towing now. It seldom downshifts to climb a hill, and with the 6 speed tranny if it does go down to 5th on a big hill I am still doing 110 km/h at 2000 RPM so no problem for that engine until i reach the top of the hill.
- Wind and hills do not bully the truck around due to truck weight, higher tire pressure (80 PSI means less sway), stiffer suspension, etc.
- When we go to horse shows I have my family in the truck with me so safety is paramount. As a younger guy or in the truck alone I would push the limit a bit, but with my family on-board I prefer to have a larger margin of safety. That alone is worth any extra cost for the diesel truck. If your RV towing includes your family on board, you may want to consider that.
- When you factor in expense long term don't forget brakes. The exhaust brake on a diesel is brilliant when you are towing heavy and/or a lot. My buddy's F-150 EB went through brakes twice in the 5 years he had it and another friend's F-250 gas has work every two and a half years. They both towed similar to me. I just replaced all four brakes, calipers and rotors for the first time at 180,000 kms and 6.5 years of age. Even with a heavy trailer going down hill, I just put the brakes on lightly and the exhaust brake engages. It then keeps my speed down the hill while I barely use the brakes. Every off-ramp and every intersection it engages and does most of the work of gradually slowing the truck and trailer down.
- DEF is not an issue for me. People worry about it way too much. I keep a jug in the back on long trips just in case, but if you buy it at a truck place (there is a Mack/Volvo service place near me where I get mine) you can get it in bulk for cheap. I refill it at each 10,000 km oil change and it takes less than two jugs. That's $15, three times a year. Not a factor that is worth worrying about at all in my opinion.

 

[gladehound]

- When we go to horse shows I have my family in the truck with me so safety is paramount. As a younger guy or in the truck alone I would push the limit a bit, but with my family on-board I prefer to have a larger margin of safety. That alone is worth any extra cost for the diesel truck. If your RV towing includes your family on board, you may want to consider that.

Great points. The part I included in quotes has weighed on my mind a lot. Yes, when we travel it is me, my wife and my two little girls.

My mind is close to made up. I'm strongly leaning towards an F350 Diesel SRW. I really do like the F150's also. But for the small difference in price, the extra stability from nearly 50% more weight and a heavy diesel engine anchoring the front end to the ground are well worth it.

Hopefully I find a good one and get 200K maybe 300K out of it. When I like a truck, I tend to keep them for a while.

 

[TomSeller]

I'm strongly leaning towards an F350 Diesel SRW. I really do like the F150's also. But for the small difference in price, the extra stability from nearly 50% more weight and a heavy diesel engine anchoring the front end to the ground are well worth it.
.

I've been out of the pickup buying mode since 1999. How much difference are we talking about for reasonably equipped F150 vs F350 trucks?

 

[sd455dan]

I've been out of the pickup buying mode since 1999. How much difference are we talking about for reasonably equipped F150 vs F350 trucks?

About 6 k going by Gladehounds post 155

 

[17 Oaks]

Great points. The part I included in quotes has weighed on my mind a lot. Yes, when we travel it is me, my wife and my two little girls.

My mind is close to made up. I'm strongly leaning towards an F350 Diesel SRW. I really do like the F150's also. But for the small difference in price, the extra stability from nearly 50% more weight and a heavy diesel engine anchoring the front end to the ground are well worth it.

Hopefully I find a good one and get 200K maybe 300K out of it. When I like a truck, I tend to keep them for a while.

My good friend and I both bought trucks at the same time, he lives in Va, I live in Tx so not the same dealer nothing, we just did and did not know the other was buying. He bought a F 150, I a F 350, mine a King Ranch, his a Platinum. Before TT&L mine was about $1300 less than his in sales price.

Ford has done a lot of standardization on the truck line for '17 and other than wheel base the F 150 is no longer the runt, they are all about the same physical size.

I am on my 4th F 350 and love them. The F 350 from a value standpoint is one of the very best values in trucks in America...NOTE I am NOT a FORD guy at all. Growing up on a ranch in Texas it was Chevy/GMC and we called folks that owned Fords, share croppers, meaning you did not even have enough money to buy the land. FORD, Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily. But when I retired some 50 years later and came back home to S Tx and knew I needed a truck again and being an engineer, I gave ALL a fair shot, Chev, Dodge, Ford at the 350/3500 level. That was in '08 and I bought a F 350 SRW for it appeared to be the best of the bunch, in '11 I did the same analysis, again bought a '11 F 30, then a '15 and now a '17. All total almost 200k trouble free miles on 4 trucks since '08. Sure, not perfect but only a few warranty calls over the nearly 10 years. One time had to have the ECM re-flashed, seat leather replaced on the left side of the drivers seat and I think that is all over the 10 years and 4 trucks.

I personally would not buy any truck for duty other than a F 350 level.