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F350 Dually or single?

Started by OlJarhead, August 03, 2016, 01:10:57 PM

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Magicman

If you do an EGR delete, be sure to keep everything.  If/when you sell it, it will all have to go back.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

plantman

Have you ever considered a cabover truck like a Nissan or a Mitsubishi ? I used to own a Mitsubishi and loved it but it was only a 4 cylinder diesel and you can't compare the power of a new 6.7l Ford diesel to one of these trucks. However I did tow a sizable trailer with it for years. Hino is another great truck with bullet proof mechanics.
I just spent $60k (plus $5k for extended warrantee !)on my new Ford F550 extended cab chassis and it doesn't even have a bed on it yet. That's a lot of money. I've seen some older trucks that were previously fire trucks that I could have converted and not had to worry about astronomical repair bills associated with these complicated computerized new trucks. I love simple. I also own a '89 Chevy C50 truck with a gas engine but it has a manual trans with a 2 speed rear. That truck could pull a house down and it cost me less than $10k.

Brandon1986

Good article about the 6.0.. a few things I don't agree on, like "if 1 injector is bad replace 1" well if that 1 is worn out.... there are above average odds the rest of them are worn out too... defunct is a different story, but worn out... not so much... Other wise great arcticle.. I'd actually really like to have a 6.0 its my favorite body style... I just want a scrapped one.. When they were new and ford was replacing them all the time the repair was $15,000 (or so a friend of mine who had to have his done told me)... a cummins conversion kit with the long block included is $8000... half the price for a combination that just won't quit... sign me up

Bruno of NH

They make special rims and tires for SRW one tons called super singles that's what i would run.
They make a big improvement on towing
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

D6c

I'm not really a Ford guy but I'd bet the difference in GVW between singles & duals on F350 is not very much.

plantman

A few years ago I purchase a F350 dually and I was pleasantly surprised at the smooth ride of the truck owing to the fact that dual rear wheels appear to ride over the pot holes and bumps better than a single wheel. In my experience dual wheels provide a much more stable towing vehicle and if the brakes on your trailer ever fail to work the dual wheels of the truck are able to stop the everything much better.

Idiocrates

These trucks are all equipped with manual 4 speed transmissions and note that I didn't say they are new or even close to new.  I don't know the exact year model but I'm pretty sure the reason they are still in service is because we have never been able to find suitable replacements.  Also, these trucks are specialty modified to include pto driven gear pumps, WEPS units and over-built suspension to carry the extra load.  I'm pretty sure the guys who added all this stuff took liberties with the drive train as well so for all I know it might have been an axle from a semi rig!  Switch in or down on the gear shift you get low range performance.  Throttle wide open in low gear and the driver could get out and walk along beside the truck and help fight the fire.  Switch out or up and cycled through all the gears and there were only police cars that could beat us to the scene.  The single weakest link on all these trucks has proven to be universal joints and drive lines.
James

Brandon1986

Quote from: plantman on March 11, 2017, 06:38:47 PM
In my experience dual wheels provide a much more stable towing vehicle and if the brakes on your trailer ever fail to work the dual wheels of the truck are able to stop the everything much better.

How do you figure? the brakes are still the same size right?......

Ox

Probably the thought that there's two more tires touching the road giving more surface for grab.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

plantman

Well keep this in mind, a cab chassis F350 is not the same thing as a F350 pickup. The cab chassis is made heavier because they anticipate that you will be putting a dump body or service body on it . So the frame is heavier. The brakes might be heavier as well, not sure. Go to a dealer and just look at the frame of a cab chassis vs a pickup.
As far as breaking goes, if you are pulling trailer of any kind and that trailer didn't have breaks you would notice that breaking is a lot easier with dual rear wheels simply because single rear wheels are apt to skid . If you buy a single axel trailer I believe that they are not required to put breaks on the axel. All dual axel trailers are required to have breaks on both axels. If a saw mill doesn't come with breaks I would ask them how much extra for breaks. Regardless of whether you have breaks or not I would suggest getting a dually truck unless you are constantly driving in a tight city environment or plowing snow residentially on small driveways. And if you are planning on a gooseneck hitch I would go with the cab chassis and a flatbed, preferably a heavy weight aluminum bed. Here is one company that makes a decent body. http://www.tgsales.com/alumbeds.html Steel is ok but and easy to fix but it's heavy and rusts so a aluminum body is nice and pays for itself over time. Plus you'll never have to worry about dents and rust in a pickup truck bed.

plantman

Oh, and if you anticipate loading the truck over 50% of the time such as with a camper I would go with a F450 or F550. 

Kbeitz

Ahhh... Littl 1/2 ton will do it...



 



 

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

plantman

Ha Ha !!! But you'll notice those are old trucks. My point exactly. Today's trucks are not built like they were 40 years ago. Yes , they claim the horse power is high but they don't gear anything like they used to . In the 70's you could buy a F250 that would pull a house down in low gear for about $5 or $6k. Today a F250 cost $40k is good for going to the supermarket and it's designed to need $15k in repairs by the time it gets to 100k miles. Just look at cars. They don't even have bumpers anymore. I don't mean the bumpers are weak. I mean they literally don't even have bumpers. It's a plastic nose !

Kbeitz

Thats one reason that I still own my very first truck.
1967 as it looks today.



 
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

chevytaHOE5674

Quote from: plantman on March 13, 2017, 09:31:30 PMToday's trucks are not built like they were 40 years ago.

See I would argue that todays 1/2 ton trucks are built way better than a 3/4 ton from the 70's or 80's.

They have things like disc brakes, dual piston calipers, large rotors, more horsepower, more transmission gears, stronger frames, higher capacity tires, better cooling systems, more reliable, etc.


Ox

I would argue the same thing.  The frames especially seem to be much better.  At least in construction.  I like the simplicity of the older carbureted vehicles from a gearhead's point of view.  If I could take today's vehicle and pair it with yesterday's big block engine with RV cam and NP 435  transmission with a NP 205 transfer case and Dana 60/80 I'd be satisfied!

I wonder if finding a nice southern truck and boxing the frame would be an option?
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Brandon1986

Having spent the last 20 years of my 30 year life working on both new and old trucks I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt the new ones are CERTIANLY built better.. here are a couple case in points I can give from experience in working on our fleet.. 2012 F350 ball joints, 1999 T800 Kenworth... ball joints are the SAME SIZE! 99 F550 frame 3/8" channel... 99 Kenworth T800 frame 3/8" Channel.... I am AMAZED how much larger components are on average pick ups these days.. You didn't get 100,000 miles on a truck 30 years ago or if you did it was wrung out.. now.. I don't hardly call one broke in until 100,000.. I was thinking about it a week ago, in the 80's you would buy a brand new truck for about $15k (again I was quite young so my memory may be a bit skewed) and expect 100k out of it.. these days you pay 30k for a base model and get at least 200k out of it... are we REALLY that much worse off.... I don't know...

Responding to the brake question above, I did think about that after I posted.. I VERY rarely run brakes hard.. the last time I can remember skidding the tractor and trailer brakes was actually with an f350 dualie pulling about 10k at 60mph when someone jumped out RIGHT in front of me... that was...........2005 I want to say.. About the cab and chassis vs fleetside pickup.. it depends on the year and the make.. 3 months ago I replaced spring hangars on that afore mentioned f350 and the frame on that 1997 was the same thickness as the 1997 f250 crew cab I did the same thing to a year previous... I will add the brakes were also the same... 

Magicman

Yup, engines got their first "overhaul" at 75k miles and few made it to the second.  Most 100k vehicles went to the junkyard.  But let's not forget that our engine lubes are much better now.  MPG was much worse, but we were also carrying much more weight.

Another subject but tires got 10k-15k miles.  I want to put some "grip" tires on my truck.  It has 57k miles on it and the factory tires seemingly just won't wear out. 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

plantman

If you're using a truck for work and either loading it with weight or pulling something heavy then the most important thing to you is torque, not horsepower. I used to own a 78 ford F250 with a 300 cu in straight 6 cyl. with a 4 speed manual trans. That truck had torque ! The first gear was for pulling . Didn't even start in first if the truck was empty. I have a 2003 Ford F350 with a 5.7 liter V8 and it has no torque. This might be because it's an automatic. My new F550 has a 6 speed automatic with is a lot better and I can drive it while drinking coffee but I would much rather have a manual. I think the best thing to do is drive each truck. You can feel a big difference when you drive a truck with torque. But if you're going to pull around a 2500 lb trailer that's nothing and you don't need a lot of torque for that. The diesel is a lot more expensive but in my opinion you buy a F350 because you want a work truck and that gas engine is under powered for most applications.

Gearbox

Plantman Now your statement that a 300 ford 6 had torque . I will disagree they were a gutless wonder at low RPM and the only thing that made them pull was that granny low tranny . The one thing that Jarhead has got going for him if he buy's a diesel is He won't be running in salt . So the body will last out the diesel .
A bunch of chainsaws a BT6870 processer , TC 5 International track skidder and not near enough time

thecfarm

plantman,did you put the 6 into a 250? Did not think there was many around bought new that way.
I put a 300 into a 1976 HD 4wd 250. I got a good deal on the 300 and did the change. I went from a 360 to a 300. I had a heck of a time to find all of the brackets I needed for the power steering,alternator and so on. No such exhaust pipe was made for that truck. I took a chance and bought a 300 exhaust and had it bent a few times to make it fit.I never did alot of long pulling with it. Most I went away from the house was one time and that was 40 miles one way. Top speed was not much more than 50 and and really anything above that,the rear end was just howling. I hauled a 40hp tractor from my Father's place to here,about 10 minutes away.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

plantman

I never said the 300 cu in engine was a gutless wonder. I said it was a great torquey engine and transmission. A straight engine is a great design which is why cummins uses a straight design. Ford uses a diesel V engine because they basically modified a gas engine. People today want trucks that drive like cars . Well you can't have a truck that does 0 - 60 in 5 seconds and still have a high torque engine and transmission. I believe that Ford got rid of some of these great engines and transmissions because they were too good. You didn't need to buy a diesel if you bought one of these engine and transmission combinations.
It's been a long time since I sold that truck. I hardly recall if it was a F150 or a F250. I probably bought that back in the mid 80's and sold it 10 years later to a guy who knew how good the 300 engine was. That truck probably got about 20 mpg and was so reliable that I could drive it anywhere. I sold it because the body got a little rough . I'm so nostalgic for that truck because it was so simple and reliable. I think I'm going to find one out of the south . Does everyone  realize how absurdly expensive new trucks are today ? I think the price of these new trucks has far surpassed the rate of inflation. 

thecfarm

plantman,probably a 150,½ ton. My truck got about 10 miles to the gallon.Did not matter if the body was full of wood, or I had the tractor behind or empty. I did not drive it much,I did have another truck with,a ½ ton with a 300 in it.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

lshobie

I have a new ford f350 with the single  and 6.7 - love that truck to death the power is nuts that comes out of it.  I had the choice of single  or dually and went with single, dually are not good in the snow or mud, the single doesnt have as much footprint so it works way better in our environment especially in the winter.  tire changes don't cost near as much either - and here you need a CVOR if you buy a dually - log books and more regulation.  I also live in a city so parking is challenging enough with the crew cab long box single:)

John Deere 440 Skidder, C5 Treefarmer,  Metavic Forwarder, Massey 2500 Forklift, Hyundai HL730 Wheel Loader, Woodmizer LT40, Valley Edger,  Alaskan Mill, Huskys, Stihls, and echos.

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