Updates from the field: buying a Ford Dually Edition

[Grandstander]

No hijack intended, but seamed a good place to ask this question. I am planning to order a 350 dually to pull a future 341rds. Question I have is the 7.3 gasser good enough or would diesel be the right choice?

[obiewan]

No hijack intended, but seamed a good place to ask this question. I am planning to order a 350 dually to pull a future 341rds. Question I have is the 7.3 gasser good enough or would diesel be the right choice?

It would be good enough... but recommend you consider your use case. Are you towing "a lot" (frequency)? Mountain vs. flats? Relative comfort and experience in towing?

Takes a while to spend the $10K in gas to pay for the diesel motor, particularly when gas is less than half the price of diesel most places.

I wanted the engine/exhaust brake, increased power (less comfort/experience in towing and hope it'll help get me out of binds in the off chance I need it) and longer legs the big tank and mileage get me. But I also ordered the truck before the prices all changed so the math might be different for me now.

Good luck on your purchase!

Also, for those monitoring my saga... Still no truck. Horsham's rough guess was another 4-5 months at the beginning of Aug.

[Grandstander]

It would be good enough... but recommend you consider your use case. Are you towing "a lot" (frequency)? Mountain vs. flats? Relative comfort and experience in towing?

Takes a while to spend the $10K in gas to pay for the diesel motor, particularly when gas is less than half the price of diesel most places.


I wanted the engine/exhaust brake, increased power (less comfort/experience in towing and hope it'll help get me out of binds in the off chance I need it) and longer legs the big tank and mileage get me. But I also ordered the truck before the prices all changed so the math might be different for me now.

Good luck on your purchase!

Also, for those monitoring my saga... Still no truck. Horsham's rough guess was another 4-5 months at the beginning of Aug.

I would not be towing a lot and would be the last truck I ordered since approaching 60. This would not be my daily driver so pretty much a dedicated tow vehicle. Have 4 coming with me 865lbls., and wife wants a washer and dryer means payload is a priority!

[obiewan]

I'd pocket the $10K and enjoy camping sooner because the 7.3s seem to be delivered much faster. Good luck whatever you choose! Obie

[Grandstander]

I'd pocket the $10K and enjoy camping sooner because the 7.3s seem to be delivered much faster. Good luck whatever you choose! Obie

Thank you, I am excited for you so keep us posted when yours finally arrives.

[Flip94ta]

I follow a group on FB and a few of the employees work at the Ford Kentucky truck plant, as of Aug 12th they had 188,000 Superduty orders. In a good year the plant puts out 320,000 trucks. We have four months left in the year and it hasn’t been a “good year” so I’m guessing more than half those orders don’t get built.

Those who ordered XLT(or lower trim) gas trucks definitely seem to be getting them the quickest. Lariats and above with LED lighting and sunroofs are the most restricted right now. I’m just over six months with out being scheduled. Good luck to all of us.

[LMagelitz]

I’m now 7 months in, and not scheduled yet. They canceled the active motion seats back in May in order to “speed” things up…
@Grandstander….regarding the 7.3 gas, looks like it has a 475ftlb torque spec at 4000rpm. The diesel is more than double that, at less than half the rpm. It really boils down to use case like @obiewan said. If ur on flat ground and rolling hills I would consider the 7.3 ok with a 10000lb trailer. If ur going to the mountains, I’d get the diesel for the low rpm torque and lugging power, not to mention the exhaust brake.

If u decide on a diesel, I’d recommend finding a 350 and a 450 to test drive if u possibly can. The 450 only comes in diesel if memory serves. The 450 has larger brakes and a turning radius that is unbelievable. We were hooked.

[Grandstander]

I’m now 7 months in, and not scheduled yet. They canceled the active motion seats back in May in order to “speed” things up…
@Grandstander….regarding the 7.3 gas, looks like it has a 475ftlb torque spec at 4000rpm. The diesel is more than double that, at less than half the rpm. It really boils down to use case like @obiewan said. If ur on flat ground and rolling hills I would consider the 7.3 ok with a 10000lb trailer. If ur going to the mountains, I’d get the diesel for the low rpm torque and lugging power, not to mention the exhaust brake.

If u decide on a diesel, I’d recommend finding a 350 and a 450 to test drive if u possibly can. The 450 only comes in diesel if memory serves. The 450 has larger brakes and a turning radius that is unbelievable. We were hooked.

What gives the 450 it’s better turning radius? Also any less comfortable on long trips than a 350?

[traveldawg]

No hijack intended, but seamed a good place to ask this question. I am planning to order a 350 dually to pull a future 341rds. Question I have is the 7.3 gasser good enough or would diesel be the right choice?

I'm a diesel guy. I've got a good friend with the 7.3; he likes it but mostly because he has something against diesels with the CP4 pump, DEF - whatever. It pulls his Cardinal 38' 5th wheel fine but he only stays in the Eastern US. But it shifts a lot and likes those higher RPMs, even on flat roads with "hills" that are nothing more than an overpass.

The diesel gets better MPG (not a lot, but better) but it won't make up the 10k difference. The trade-in will make up that difference.

I'm well past 60 (more than a decade) and still just got a new truck. So I'm not sure years from now you won't want a new tow vehicle or a different RV. But getting a dully would mean you could pull most things.

It's a personal preference. Maybe over at Ford-Truck.com you can gleam some further insight.

[LMagelitz]

What gives the 450 it’s better turning radius? Also any less comfortable on long trips than a 350?

The 450 has a slightly wider front axle. If you see the two side by side, the fender flare on the 450 is a little wider. We test drove both, and I couldn’t tell any appreciable ride difference. I actually couldn’t tell a ride difference with the 450 and our ‘13 Chevy 2500HD…which is no great ride itself. One thing u can do on a 350 is let some air out of the tires on the back and maybe improve the ride a bit, and I don’t think that’s advisable with the Continental commercial tires on the 450.

I can believe what @traveldawg says about his friend with a 7.3 regarding high rpm’s and shifting a lot. Since our 450 isn’t here yet, we pulled our 310GK to South Dakota with the ‘13 2500HD Chevy with a 6.0 gas. We had flat land to rolling hills thru Iowa and Minnesota into SD. The torque on the 6.0L gas is somewhere in the 300’s, so it’s no 7.3 Ford. I had to put the tranny in manual and actively drive it to keep it from shifting all the time. It was a disaster….a terrible towing experience unless the wind was behind us! I got tired of hearing a screaming high rpm motor. The 310GK is around 13k lbs for reference.

As a side note…I’ve had Chevy truck my whole life, but switching this time. One of the reasons is the Ford seats. The seats that Chevy uses now in their HDs are like sitting on a park bench!!