F-250 vs F-350 Ride Quality

[zaborra]

Currently own F-150 3.7L Eco Boost and love it but need to up size.

I understand the specification differences, but I want to know about the ride quality between F-250 vs F-350. We will be ordering a new 2021 in the next few weeks. I drove the only 350 they had on the lot and didn't experience much difference to our current vehicle. I have heard a few stories that I should stick with the 250. Either vehicle will meet out towing needs but I wouldn't mind the extra payload of the 350. I understand the possible insurance & registration issues with the 350 and can access those on my own.

Since, this will be our only vehicle for both 5th wheel towing and transportation I'm concerned about the potential stiffer ride with the 350. We will go with the 6 1/2 foot box and full size cab and most likely the XLT (maybe the Lariant) regardless.

Looking forward to hearing from those with experience in a 2019 models and up.

Thanks,

Les

[FT4NOW]

Should be the same ride unloaded. The 350 has an extra overload spring that doesnt affect ride until the bed is loaded. Might be worth finding another Ford dealer further away that has both trucks that you can test drive. If your only concern is ride quality, I'd go with the 350.

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[Jerryr]

For sure, skip the 250 and get a 350. I can’t tell the difference between the ride in a 250 vs 350.

My 2017 F350 had HD front suspension. When I ordered my 2019 F350 I ordered it with standard front suspension. I could tell the difference in ride. I have a 2020 F350 on order with standard front suspension.

[JeffD68]

The ride is the same. The initial spring rate is almost identical so unloaded you won't be able to tell the difference. Even loaded, the ride will likely be similar. Plenty of F250s have the same overload as the F350s and that makes little difference in ride quality. 2017-2019, the F350 always had one additional spring is in the main leaf pack.

If you are looking at MY 2020 F250s, many (Tremors and High Capacity Tow) literally have identical rear suspensions. The difference is in the sticker. That being said, by the time you pay to upgrade the 250 to the same suspension as an F350, the price is the same as well but you lose out on the increased capacity on the sticker. Unless you are attempting to dodge license or registration fees in your particular state, just buy the 350. There is no downside.

Of course many choose the 250 because dealer lots are full of them in most places while 350s are scarce. You can absolutely find a 250 that is just as capable as a 350, but it will lack the paper capacity if that is meaningful to you. It will also open you up to scorn and ridicule from the internet weight police.

The biggest impact to ride quality is tire inflation.

[Overtaxed]

It's the same. As others have said, tire inflation may be different between them, but the underlying hardware that has an impact on comfort/suspension, when you're not towing (IE, overload not engaged), is identical. When towing, a 350 might be a little better because of the overload, a 250 can, of course, be made the same through either adding an overload or airbags.

Let me make this clear; I did a lot of (a whole lot) of research on this, and I'm a member of the "2 truck club" because of it, going from a 250 to a 450 (NOT gonna be a 3 truck member!). For the vast majority of the country, the 250 has no reason to exist other than "People keep buying them". The 350 SRW is much more capable (on paper/legally) and it feels exactly the same from the driver's seat. It's just, legally/on paper, a lot "more truck" with no downside.

So, why do they exist at all? Well, as stated above, people keep buying them. But, for some areas of the country, like mine (SC), the 250 exists to beat registration fees. There was a tremendous jump in taxes/registration between the 250 (<10K lbs GVWR) to the 450 (14K GVWR). Went from about 1,800/yr on the 250 to about 3,200/yr on the 450. No, that's not missing a decimal point, it's over 3,000 dollars a year to register a 450 in SC because of the way personal property tax is assessed; a vehicle that's <10K gets "passenger" assessment, over that, you get a commercial assessment, which is almost double the rate. If you care to see how it works:

https://www.cherokeecountysctax.com/#/vcalc

Put in a retail value of 70K, and then change the type of vehicle from "Passenger Vehicle" to "Vehicle weight 1ton and over". Goes from ~1500/yr to ~2800/yr. Don't ask me why "1 ton and over" is what they call a vehicle with >10K GVWR, but, that's what it is, and that's the breakpoint between the two rates (actually, looking at it, they just changed it to >11,000 lbs, I suspect this is because the new 250 class trucks are now coming in with >10K GVWR packages, it used to be 10K was the break point).

"Trucks having a gross vehicle weight of 11,001 lbs. or greater OR a net vehicle weight of 9,001 lbs. or greater. For some older trucks, the gross vehicleweight may be the only weight listed and is defined as a truck with a gross vehicle weightof 11,001 lbs. or more."

Anyway, all that craziness aside, if you don't live in an area that has registration costs like SC, you shouldn't buy a 250. Full stop, there's simply no reason to buy either a 250, or a truck with a "de-rate" on it in most of the country (in FL, for example, a 250/350/450 all register the same, at about 150 bucks per year). If you live in a state that has personal property tax AND a sliding scale of fees based on weight, then you might consider a 250 if you don't need the paper weight rating of a 350 and would like to spend less in taxes. But, for the vast majority of the country, you should see a 250 about as often as you see a Delorean, they're a "registration beater" for a small number of states that has a system like where I live, allowing you to have a 350 that, because of a small sticker change, might wind up costing you 5-10K less in taxes over the time you own it.

For markets like mine, they make a 250 to beat taxes. For other markets, they make it because people keep buying it. If you're in the "other markets" don't be that guy!