F450 Owners

[Dave_Jari]

To those of you who own and tow with an F450, could you please share your personal pros and cons. Towing, breaking, if wide track front axle is beneficial. I appreciate your input.

 

[Fox]

MODS: if this violates any policies feel free to delete it.

My question is what are you comparing the F450 against?

For a larger audience response I recommend you go on over to a Ford forum -specifically their towing forum, and ask the users there.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum287/

From my experience their heavy towing owners are quite happy with the F450 and its capabilities (over the F350 dually).

 

[LBR]

To those of you who own and tow with an F450, could you please share your personal pros and cons. Towing, breaking, if wide track front axle is beneficial. I appreciate your input.

Our F-450 experience has been 100% positive with absolutely nothing breaking.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Dave, I have been towing with a F450 for 10 years. First with a 2008, bought used and had an issue with the 6.4 engine it came with. Then bought 2013 with the 6.7 engine and have been relatively problem free. My truck has the long bed and the wider front axel which have allowed me to make some pretty radical turning maneuvers without any problems. I like the power, load capacity, and braking that comes with this beast. The newer trucks, in the 350 range, have all the power, load capacity, and braking as my older 450, but without the wider front axel so turning radius is decreased somewhat. I think that I could adjust to this reduced turning radius, as have many other Heartlanders who tow with this model. The down side of the 450 class trucks that I have personally run into where, all stemming from this size, and larger trucks, being classified as "commercial"; not every lending agency will finance this class truck, and not every insurance agency will write a policy for this class truck. I hope this helps you.

 

[Dave_Jari]

Thank you all for the input. I am not comparing, just shopping. I have found that while the payload is not much greater on the 450 than the 350, the brakes, 4:30 diff. (which may or may not be advantageous) and the wide track front end are of interest to me. In addition, the price point of one I am watching is right in line with the 350 of equal trim. Has anyone done any business with Ricart Ford in Ohio? Good, bad or indifferent. Must be a huge dealer as they have in inventory 48 F450 pickups.

 

[orion7144]

The turning radius alone is worth the extra cash for the F450. Not to mention the brakes. The tires are pricey but will also last twice as long as the 18" or 20" that are on the F350. I did not have an issue with financing and I have USAA insurance.

Thank you all for the input. I am not comparing, just shopping. I have found that while the payload is not much greater on the 450 than the 350, the brakes, 4:30 diff. (which may or may not be advantageous) and the wide track front end are of interest to me. In addition, the price point of one I am watching is right in line with the 350 of equal trim. Has anyone done any business with Ricart Ford in Ohio? Good, bad or indifferent. Must be a huge dealer as they have in inventory 48 F450 pickups.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

The turning radius alone is worth the extra cash for the F450. Not to mention the brakes. The tires are pricey but will also last twice as long as the 18" or 20" that are on the F350. I did not have an issue with financing and I have USAA insurance.

Please excuse my ignorance....why would the tires last twice as long?

 

[orion7144]

Please excuse my ignorance....why would the tires last twice as long?

I am going by what is reported for years on the ford truck forum. The 20" Michelin's that were on my 17' F250 had less than half the tread at 22k miles. The Continental tires are well documented to get ~70k. The tire debate often gets debunked when people bring that up as an added cost. The sticker on my truck was ~$1500 more than the same F350 so for that cost the turning, brake size, and rear end is well worth the money.

 

[Flick]

I am going by what is reported for years on the ford truck forum. The 20" Michelin's that were on my 17' F250 had less than half the tread at 22k miles. The Continental tires are well documented to get ~70k. The tire debate often gets debunked when people bring that up as an added cost. The sticker on my truck was ~$1500 more than the same F350 so for that cost the turning, brake size, and rear end is well worth the money.

The big reason why we decided to go with a 350 when we bought a week ago was the availability of tires for a 350 at any tire store. Most will find out the 450 tires have to be bought at a truck center or dealer and this would be a problem for me if we need a tire fast when traveling. Also, in 2017 Ford starting making the 350 and 450 with the same rear suspension and actually the 350 is capable of carrying a somewhat larger payload according to Ford. Just a thought and to each his own.

 

[Fox]

Commercially rated tires versus standard LT tires.

Using basically the same drive trains the F350 weighs less than the beefier F450 so its payload IS greater (by several hundred pounds?).

 

[HOOKERUP]

I guess I did alright when I bought my 2016 F350 with the 430 rear and close track front end.

 

[Fox]

When shopping I could not find a 450 in my state, duallys too were very rare - and as it met my needs thats how I went.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Please excuse my ignorance....why would the tires last twice as long?

It's true. I have already put 2 sets of tires on my F350 at 73K and Rods F450 has the original tires and they still look like new. less miles but still look new after all this time.

 

[Oldelevatorman]

Thank you all for the input. I am not comparing, just shopping. I have found that while the payload is not much greater on the 450 than the 350, the brakes, 4:30 diff. (which may or may not be advantageous) and the wide track front end are of interest to me. In addition, the price point of one I am watching is right in line with the 350 of equal trim. Has anyone done any business with Ricart Ford in Ohio? Good, bad or indifferent. Must be a huge dealer as they have in inventory 48 F450 pickups.

Payload on my ‘15 F350 DRW is scaled at 5660, whereas a friend on here has a payload on his F450 of 7600+-! So payload can be much more!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[For20hunter]

I have had 2 F350 DRW trucks and in 2017 we purchased a new F450 and absolutely love it! The pros are:

• Turning Radius is SOOOOOOO much better
• Overall drive quality is much better while towing
• Tires last longer (I averaged about 35,000-40,000 miles on a set of tires on my F350's and have 40,000 miles on our F450 and my tires have more than half the tread left
• Stopping distance is much shorter
• Pulling hills is better with the gear ratio of the F450
• Brakes last longer (at 40,000 miles now and brakes have more than 50% left on the front and 80% on the rear)
• The tires and wheels look nicer
• The wider front axle looks better with the fender flares
• Higher payload rating

Here are the cons we have found so far

• Insurance is about $25.00 per month more expensive (had to switch from Farmers to Liberty Mutual)
• Ride quality empty is still better than our prior DRW's, however not as good as the 2017 F350
• Tires and brakes are more expensive when they have to be replaced
• Fuel mileage is the same as the F350 empty and towing. (I thought it would be better towing due to the gear ratio)

Rod

 

[Dave_Jari]

I have had 2 F350 DRW trucks and in 2017 we purchased a new F450 and absolutely love it! The pros are:

• Turning Radius is SOOOOOOO much better
• Overall drive quality is much better while towing
• Tires last longer (I averaged about 35,000-40,000 miles on a set of tires on my F350's and have 40,000 miles on our F450 and my tires have more than half the tread left
• Stopping distance is much shorter
• Pulling hills is better with the gear ratio of the F450
• Brakes last longer (at 40,000 miles now and brakes have more than 50% left on the front and 80% on the rear)
• The tires and wheels look nicer
• The wider front axle looks better with the fender flares
• Higher payload rating

Here are the cons we have found so far

• Insurance is about $25.00 per month more expensive (had to switch from Farmers to Liberty Mutual)
• Ride quality empty is still better than our prior DRW's, however not as good as the 2017 F350
• Tires and brakes are more expensive when they have to be replaced
• Fuel mileage is the same as the F350 empty and towing. (I thought it would be better towing due to the gear ratio)

Rod

Thank you for your response Fox20hunter. This is what I was in search of. May I ask what gearing did you have in the 350 that you are comparing to? And, what kind of mileage are you achieving with 450 loaded and empty. I have a RW427 which grosses at 20,000, and is fairly heavy on the hitch weight. With my current vehicle, which I purchased in anticipation of buying the 5th wheel, I am exceeding the labeling of the truck. It pulls it well, with air bags it levels up easily, but if I were to be in an accident I don't know where I would stand legally, and I love the appearance of the 450, just concerned about use when not towing as it would be my daily driver for my short commute to work and to play too. Only silver lining is short commute daily.

 

[orion7144]

Thank you for your response Fox20hunter. This is what I was in search of. May I ask what gearing did you have in the 350 that you are comparing to? And, what kind of mileage are you achieving with 450 loaded and empty. I have a RW427 which grosses at 20,000, and is fairly heavy on the hitch weight. With my current vehicle, which I purchased in anticipation of buying the 5th wheel, I am exceeding the labeling of the truck. It pulls it well, with air bags it levels up easily, but if I were to be in an accident I don't know where I would stand legally, and I love the appearance of the 450, just concerned about use when not towing as it would be my daily driver for my short commute to work and to play too. Only silver lining is short commute daily.

My 3870FB is just over 4k on the pin loaded with washer and dryer. ~16500 lbs. With the 4k pin I put on air bags. I get 7.6mpg in windy conditions and 8.6-9.4 depending on terrain loaded. I tend to drive at ~68mph when towing. My unloaded is 11.1 to 12.3 with mostly city driving depending on when a regen hits. I had a 17' 250 with 3:77 gears (I think) and it got about the same but a 14k 5th wheel.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

I'll jump in on this one.
Rod has the 2017 or 2018 F450 with the 4:30s
I have the 2017 F350 with the 3:55s we run together often and seem to get the exact same mileage for the most part. I have been using the Ford Cetain additive from day one and was advaging 9.4 towing & not towing.
Because I'm selling the F350 and buying a new F450 I decided to stopped using the additive. The last trip up to Washington and back I gained 1 mpg to 10.4 advrage.
Keep in mind I have a bit of a lead foot and gross weight of 31000lbs so id say thats the worst milage you could possibly get.
I'm hoping the new truck with more power and the 10 speed trans will improve those numbers.

Jerrod

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[orion7144]

MY 17' F250 gained ~1mpg after 30k miles

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

MY 17' F250 gained ~1mpg after 30k miles

I have 73k

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk