I had SRW F150s until I bought my tractor, I wanted the ability to easily and safely tow my 5300lb tractor on a 3k lb trailer and whatever else I need to haul.
I bought a 1995 F350 single cab, flatbed, DWR 2wd truck with 4:10 rear and the 460.
Truck is a hair better than riding a skate board down the road but it tows a lot better, brakes are better, acceleration isn’t anything to brag about but it reaches highway speeds just fine and gets me there. Where the F350 really stands out is, I can load anything I want back there, I can make the load a hair more tongue heavy and the truck doesn’t care, it’s so stable it’s crazy, it doesn’t float or anything, the ride just gets smoother from when it’s unloaded, besides that you don’t really notice it’s hooked to anything.
As far as dually’s not sinking, my buddy has a 2500hd Dmax 4x4, he got his truck stuck and I went to pull him out, being my dually was only 2wd, I couldn’t grip enough to pull him out even on the road when he was on the field.
so we unhooked his truck from the trailer, I pulled his truck out, I gassed it in reverse, made it to the trailer and hooked my truck to the trailer and had him pull me out since my truck doesn’t sink like his did, I was spinning tires the whole time, i cut in the field maybe 4-6in where he was down to his axles, we got the rig out and I pulled the trailer back to my place.
I recently got a 05 F350 4x4 with the V10, it’s a 6 speed. The tires on it for the rear are ready to be replaced but I have yet to need 4x4, it’s got a 4:10 rear also. And rides a world better than the 95, the 05 has coil springs up front.
Driving and parking a dually isn’t any harder than parking a SRW, a dually isn’t any wider than a trailer.
If I was getting a new truck, I would pick a XL F350, Supercab, 8ft bed, 6.2, 4x4, DRW, aluminum flatbed with tuff torq trans, with electronic locking rear end with at least 4:30 rear end. That’s rated to 15,800lbs conventional and like 21k gooseneck. Can’t say I will tow anything that large but I like the stability of the dually while towing, they are vertically shorter than the SWR version, they have more and thicker leaf springs in the rear etc.
I don’t care for all the bells and whistles, it’s just not worth the extra debt to me, I would rather pay it off sooner and not have a huge payment over my head. If I was wealthy and money wasn’t a prob then platinum it is lol, until then I’m just as happy in the XL.
I have had long discussions with diesel owners about the Gas vs Diesel dilemma, most all of them that said they owned both said that both will get the same work done, the diesel does pull the lid better BUT everyone said they have put more money in the diesel than they had the gas to get the same work done. So it’s more expensive up front, it’s more expensive to maintain and all you gain is a little better performance. The 6.2 with a 4.30 or 4.5x rear will tow anything I could ever want.
Also the F350 SWR tows the same as the F250 SWR, only diff is payload. The F350 DRW tows the same as the DRW F450, only diff is payload and I believe the F450 gets the 19.5 commercial wheels.
My 05 F350 has a GVWR of 13k, my 95 F350 has a GVWR of 10k, my buddies 05 Dmax 2500HD is 9500lb I believe. Main diff is just payload in the truck.
There is rumors that ford is coming out with a bigger gas engine in 2019 or 2020.
Also if you bump up to the F450 you can get the v10, it’s more HP and torq than the 6.2. Idk why they stopped offering the v10 in smaller stuff but now it’s only in F450 and above.
