For those of you who have a F250 do you wish you would have gone with the F350?

And those with the F350 Do you wish you would have gone with the F250


Why?

Thank you for the replies

 

I looked long and hard at the F250 vs 350 prior to my purchase. I bought a 2012 F250 CC 4x4 SB with the 6.7, 3.55ELD, camper package. If I were to get an F350 it would be a long bed. The reason I chose to not go with the long bed is the places that I hunt and fish.... Turning around a long be CC truck on some of these backcountry dirt roads wouild be really tough. The F250 short bed meets my needs, tows my 30', 10,000lb trailer just fine, hauls my dogs and gear, so it is a good match for me. I have hauled over 2,700lbs of cement mix in my truck with no problems. I did choose to add air bags to the rear for when I have the bed loaded and my trailer with 1,300 toung weight on the rear. It allows me to get it just where I want it weight and height wise. I am very happy with this truck! I enjoyed my Excursion for 11 years and 187,000 miles, but don't miss it after getting behind the wheel of this beast.
Best of luck in your decision.
Pat

 

I have the 350 SRW. The way I feel about it is Ford made the 250 springs soft to appease diesel buyers that would other wise be fine with a 150. So really it boils down to the unloaded ride quality you want, as you can always throw airbags in the back. Driveline is the same-350's have more spring and more block height-and ride quality will vary quite a bit between wheelbases. My crew cab long box truck rides very well if you ask me. A 350 standard cab plow truck will bounce quite a bit. I like to follow the k.i.s.s. principle so I went 350 to avoid screwing around with the airbags.

 

I really really wish I had gotten the 350, if you put much weight at all on the back of a 250 it will sag big time. the 350 has an extra 2" of ride height in the rear higher than the front giving the truck a slight rake unloaded, loaded it settles about 1" or so till it hits the overloads, perfect.

 

There's not much difference between the two trucks aside from an extra overload spring on the F-350. They have the same spring packs from what I remember except the F350 has the overload spring.

I bought an F-350 b/c I'm a guy who likes to be prepared. I didn't need the extra capacity, but I might in the future.

There is compelling reason to get a 250 if your state charges license fees based upon the weight carrying capability of the truck. If I was registering my truck in a state like that, I would get a 250.

 

I went with the 350. Had a 2008 250 and it was great aside from the radiator problems. Decided on the 350 this time for the extra payload and towing. The ride is stiffer but after adding the rancho 9000 shocks it is much improved. Unless you're going to be towing heavy (and you want to be legal while doing it) then the 250 is fine.

 

Because of design of the 5th wheel I pull I went with the 250. If I had know at the time how easy it is to change the 350 rear spring blocks to 250 blocks I would have purchased at 350 and done that. The 250 does every thing that I have wanted to do but I did wind up installing overload springs because of the sag when hauling heavy loads. The only disadvantage of the 350 is the added height. Most people say the ride difference between the two trucks is not that much . In the end it really depends what you are going to use the truck for . Both trucks will pull the same amount and mechanically there is not that much difference in their construction.

 

I was going to buy the 350 and my dealer talked me out of it. Registration is more for the 350. My dealer asked me if I was going to use the truck for a business, hauling heavy frequently, or towing a 5th wheel trailer. Because my answers to all these questions was no the 250 was the right choice for me. Besides it's very easy and cheap to add a leaf or have service add the overload spring if my needs should change. $800 is the price difference between the two so...it doesn't really matter in the end. I've never had so much weight in the back that sagging was a concern. It does ride better with weight.

My truck has the snow plow package. Love the extra height of the stout springs. I had Ready Lift stage 4 for a bit of extra height. 3.5" front and 5" blocks in rear making it 3" lift rear. Levels the truck within one inch. 1/2 inch higher in the rear. My tow hitch dragged a bit moving in/out of my driveway and I want 35" tires so that is why I did Ready Lift.

 

If there is no registration differences in your state for going over 10kgvw then get the 350
The difference in price is about the same as adding airbags to the 250

 

I was LUCKY, I stopped by a dealer and come across a sales guy who KNEW trucks, I mean REALLY knew his business. Maybe him being one of the top truck sales guys in Texas had something to do with it.

I was there to order a new F 450. The guy asks me why I want a 450 and I tell him. He spends a lot of time asking about my load requirements both payload and towing. After a good 20 min he writes down on a piece of paper and slides it over to me and says this is what you need, buy anything else and you won't be satisfied. It says: F 350, crew cab, long bed, dually. As I read he has out the options and begins telling me what options I need.

I carry a camper, its weighs in about 5500 lbs wet I also sometime pulls a trailer with my off road jeep on it and it weighs about 5500 lbs wet, plus tools and spares and weight of trailer its about 8500 lbs working.

In this case the 350 has a bigger payload capacity than the 450, but less towing capacity (2011) and of course more payload than the 250.

Sadly on the RV forums I find many, many folks are way under carrying ability and a danger to themselves and others when they travel.

Buying a truck is truly a question of "if the shoe fits"

 

I drove both before purchasing the F350. They are pretty much the same truck from what I read and could tell except the F350 had more payload and a bit more spring in back to make that happen. I think there is an anti-sway bar as well in back. I could hardly tell a difference in ride. To tell you the truth if you put me in one or the other without telling me which I was in I probably couldn't tell you. For the extra few hundred I wanted the most truck I could get.

 

In doing a comparo of the F 250/350/450 a key component that is different is the rear axle assembly. Then like you said there are other assorted components that support the capacities of each truck...more similar that what I originally thought.

I am not (historically) a Ford Truck man. I grew up here in Texas and it was CHEVY country (guess I am starting to date myself). Ford was not a very good truck. That ole '54 Chevy 3500 truck we had on the ranch could handle anything you threw at it.

So when I went to retire for the last time and I needed a truck for the ranch I looked at everything out there without color. It had been since my late teens the last time I drove the ranch truck and lived that life. Now it was time to return and I knew what I needed in ability, but did not care if Ford, Chevy/GMC or Dodge...I bought Ford and money was never a consideration other than getting the best deal I could on what ever truck I bought.

 

I test-drove both and the ride quality did not seem that different to me. I primarily bought an F250 because I live in Northern Illinois have a garage and the F350 would not fit in the garage and the F250 would do and does everything I need to do capacity wise. As it is, I had to cutout the trim piece on the top of my garage and raise the door stop height to the max to get my F250 in the garage.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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My complaint with the F250 is the significant rear-end sag anytime I hook up my 20ft + V-Nose trailer. So I added airbags with wireless controller and that problem is solved. If I were to buy a new Superduty today, I would still get the F250 – since being in a warm garage to melt the snow buildup daily is a huge plus to me.<o></o>
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I have no plans to use it to tow a 5<SUP>th</SUP> wheel or other trailer that would overload the truck capacity.<o></o>

 

I got a 350 because I wanted the biggest SRW truck I could get. I also think the 350 looks better as well (sits a little higher). To me it looks about the same height as a mildly lifted 250. I have the snow plow package as well so it has a little higher front clearance too. I also did not want to get a 250 and end up needing the higher towing capacity in the future.

 

How do you like your trail grapplers? I've been planning on buying them in 35/12.5/20 but I can't seem to find a flat black 20x9 wheel that I like. I decided that I'm staying with the stock wheels with 295/65/20 tires. They seem to be the best tire for me and the most capable.