The day I decided I had the right truck, a towing story.

[WhittleBurner]

Not positive but I believe the F450 also has a heavier frame and front end parts. You can buy a F450 chassis cab. Don't know how much difference that would make though in specs for towing.

[phonemannn]

Not positive but I believe the F450 also has a heavier frame and front end parts. You can buy a F450 chassis cab. Don't know how much difference that would make though in specs for towing.

Has the same frame.

[D2Reid]

LOL, I love reading truck debates, there is a lot of good information to had. And I have been reading them for many years. Honestly, I really wanted a 2020 Chevy 3500 Silverado, I have always been a Chevy guy. But when my 2013 Chevy 3500 started having issues I decided it was time retire it. That was last June. The 2020 Chevy was not available yet. In my decision making process there where three things that made up my mind, 40,000 total GVW, 27, 500 lb 5th wheel towing rating, and the 4:30 rear end.

In discussing it with others I got some negative feed back on the 4:30 rear end, gas mileage was the big argument. I learned it had bigger brakes and better turning radius after I bought it. I considered those a positive thing.

Since June it has towed the Momentum out of OR through CA, WA, ID, MT, ND, MN, WI, MI, Ontareo, Quebec, NH, MN, NY, PA, WV, KY, TN, MS, LA, TX, NM and into CO, about 17000 miles. About 10,000 of it towing. And then it does a good job in what I consider harsh towing conditions. It's comfortable to ride in, has some of the modern gizmo stuff, and gets reasonable (for my towing conditions) fuel mileage. The 48 gallon tank is just enough for a days driving with good reserves.

It isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea, but that's half of the fun of RV'ing is choosing your own path to follow.

[Overtaxed]

Pretty sure the difference between the F450 and the F350 is the suspension. Both have the same choices in motors and gear ratios.

Having just been through this... No, the F450 and F350DRW, there are quite a few differences. Wide track front end and 19.5in tires are the biggest ones, IMHO, but there are others as well, including suspension and rear end gear ratios.

The difference between a property equipped F250 and F350 SRW can come down to basically a single (overload) leaf spring. I suspect that's what you're thinking about. And, in the past, it was possible to equip a 350 with some of the 450 parts (the wide track front end); that's no longer available (AFAIK). A 250 and 350 are, for all intents and purposes, basically the same truck (again, if you equip a 250 with things like the max tow/high cap springs/etc) with different GVWR's assigned. A 350DRW and a 450 have some notable differences.

Both the 350 DRW and 450 will tow anything made by GD well. So it really comes down to what do you want and what's more important to you. I went 450, and I'm happy with my choice, but I'm sure a 350 would work very well too.

One thing to remember, the 250 and 450 are "paper derate" trucks. The 250 is derated to stay under 10K lbs for tax/license purposes, being that it's effectively the same truck as a 350, it's obviously capable of more than the "stickers" say it is. A 450 is derated to stay under the 14K number, which is why you'll often see in discussions "The 350 has more payload". Yes, a 350 DRW does, in fact, have more payload than a 450 does. But that does NOT mean the 350 is actually physically more capable of hauling more/more pin weight! The only way that statement is true is if you are only concerned with "legal capacity" in the truck, if you're concerned with "mechanical capacity" or "able to handle it well" or really anything other than "is it legal" the answer is without exception "the 450 can handle more".

Towing a 351M, I have my 450 tires aired down almost to the minimum allowable (based on the weight carried by each tire compared to the charts from the tire maker), to give some idea of how overbuilt it is for hauling any "RV sided" trailer. It's overkill for a 351M, shoot, it's overkill for a 44' tri-axle 21K monster. But the difference in price was/is minimal, and given that I'd just lost a lot of money on a brand new truck that wasn't able to cut the mustard (250, way over GVWR with the 351M), I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I'm happy with my decision. Biggest pro for me is the turning radius, it's awesome and it's something I "use" every single day, trailer, no trailer, it's just really, really nice to be able to turn so sharp. Biggest con for me on the 450 is that it likes to wander/tramline when you have cracks in the road that follow the direction of travel. It's annoying and unsettling, I hope it gets better. I like the 19.5 tires and that gives me a good feeling of safety knowing that I'm running a real "commercial" tire, given that it's probably the more important piece of towing safety equipment you can have (good tires that can handle the weight rating) and they supposedly last a very long time (we'll see).

So, summing up for those who like math, here's what I basically found after lots and lots of research:

F250 = F350 SRW
F350 DRW /= F450

And any modern DRW can safely handle just about any 5er out there, a 450 is NOT necessary.

[D2Reid]

And any modern DRW can safely handle just about any 5er out there, a 450 is NOT necessary.

Yup, just about. I still think my truck is the best.

Which is pretty much the way you should feel about your tow vehicle. The great thing is that there are a lot of options out there to choose from and we have the freedom to choose. Just because I love my truck I don't expect everyone to agree, in fact, many people will not like my choice. That's ok.

[bertschb]

... I still think my truck is the best. Which is pretty much the way you should feel about your tow vehicle...

I agree! BTW, if I had a Momentum, I'd have an F-450.

[nonrev59]

That’s a great story and a good reason that for some it really depends on where you are towing , just not what. We are getting a Reflection 337RLS this summer and we will use our F350 SRW Diesel 8ft bed to do the trick. 5 yrs to retirement when we plan on going for longer periods of time and of coarse more times in the year. Told my good wife that my retirement present will be turning the 350 in a new 450. Then we will be spending many months then traveling all over and do an Alaska trip. Hopefully by then I know what the heck I’m doing too. Ha .

[fez111]

...A 250 and 350 are, for all intents and purposes, basically the same truck (again, if you equip a 250 with things like the max tow/high cap springs/etc) with different GVWR's assigned....

This is very true, especially since the F250 and the F350 DRW use the same rear axle (at least this is true for my 2006 F250). However, we found that when pulling our 14,000 Lbs+ solitude that the rear truck tires were maxed out and the weakest link. The thought of blowing a tire while climbing Tennessee mountains on I-75 scared me to death. A place in Royal Oak, Michigan called Arrowcraft makes dually conversion kits for F250's https://arrowcraftproducts.com. My total cost for the conversion kit, including six wheels + a spare), dually fenders painted and installed, and four new Michelin tires, was about $4200. I installed the kit in 2-3 hours. NO MORE SWAY and much greater peace of mind. We increased the utility value of our existing (and paid for) truck without having to buy a new truck.

[Ghdorn]

It is rare that anyone complains about too much truck. But, lots of.complaints about Not enough, and 'so glad I moved up' are common. People thinking about buying a truck should remember this.

[Overtaxed]

It is rare that anyone complains about too much truck. But, lots of.complaints about Not enough, and 'so glad I moved up' are common. People thinking about buying a truck should remember this.

I wish I had really thought that through before buying my F150 and 250. No, I've honestly NEVER heard someone say "man, I wish my truck had less carrying/towing capacity". So why "start small", just go to the biggest/baddest thing and save yourself the trouble? The "upgrades" cost me a lot of time and money, and I should have, when buying the 150, really just said to myself, "No, I don't need a 450, but, it's not THAT much more money" and bought that instead. Because, thing is, when you have "capability" you find a way to use it. I didn't have a backhoe for years, when I finally got one, well, suddenly, I had a lot more uses for one and get a lot of things done today that I could not have done before or would have hired out. Same thing with a "big truck", now you have capability, you will find things to use it for (most of us anyway). Now, if you live in the middle of a city, well, I can see the equation being different, but, if you're already a "truck guy/girl" and live in a place where pickups are common and used a lot (runs to Lowes, etc), guess what? You'll find a way to use a "big truck" beyond a 5th wheel too.

Anyone listen to country music? There's a song "Too much fun" that basically asserts that there is "no thing as too much fun". I'd agree with that, and I think you can probably say the same thing about truck capacity, there's no thing as "too much towing capacity", only not enough.