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V10 and rear-end choices
Can someone help me with the choice of which rear-end? What are the benefits and down-sides of each. Thanks
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What kind of truck are you looking for? What are you going to use it for? Are you planning on towing? If so, how big/heavy a trailer/fiver?
F350s range from regular cab, short bed with 4x2 all the way up to crew cab, long bed, with 4x4 - big difference in weight and payload from one extreme to other. Do you want an automatic or manual tranny?
I have F350, XLT, CC, LWB, 4x4, w/ V10, auto, and 3.73 rear end. When I tow 8000 lb trailer, 95% of time truck acts like it's not there. On occasion also pull 12,000 trailer with a skid steer, do notice that - especially on one monster hill near me. If you tow heavy, or a lot at high altitude 4.30s won't disappoint - except for maybe in gas mileage (1 to 2 mpg less I'm told). I get 10 -12 (empty) in city driving, 13-14 on highway (8 to 10 towing). My truck is a blast to put your foot into it, surprises the heck outta of the other drivers when 7800 lb truck can chirp the tires and beat them to next light. 4.30s would probably get me a traffic ticket.
If your planning on a fiver, get the long bed. Heard that some rigs can hit back of cab on tight turns if you have a short bed.
As far as slippery operations, you've gotta be careful. Pickup weight distribution is like 70% front, 30% rear. I always carry about 400 lbs of tube sand in my bed during winter for more weight over rear wheels. Gotta also be careful on slippery surfaces with V10 - you've got a lot of torque available. If you goose the gas a bit too much, the wheels can break loose pretty easy. You get a feel for truck with time and learn when to be easy on go pedal.
I have limited slip on mine. It works reasonably well for my needs. My 4x2 '150 could get stuck on a slope with wet grass, while the '350 in 4x2 mode has no problem whatsoever. Got my truck beginning of Feb '01, got about 4 feet of snow over next two months. Limited Slip paid for itself. Once in a while on wet roads or patchy ice it can be a little squirrely - don't know how to explain it, but can kind of feel a wiggle as power shifts back and forth at rear. Letting off gas stops it. Some folks don't like Fords Limited Slip, say it never works. I use old trick lightly applying E-brake to put some drag on spinning wheel and that gets ls to kick in. So far only been stuck once, went across boggy ground and had to stop when cargo got hooked on tree branch - truck sank to the door frames. Luckily backhoe was nearby and used chain to pull me out.
Tow 7500 lb 27' TT. At 75 to 78 mph I get 8 mpg.
At 68 to 70 mph I get about 9 mpg. Once towing my brothers 29' TT loaded for moving to Georgia, and freezer, washer, dryer, and misc tools in the bed, the cab loaded to the gills, I got 6.5 mpg at 70 to 75 mph. I estimated it to be about 10,500lbs.
My Mom had same truck except 4.30 gears.
With 11,000 lbs of camper at 70 mph it got 6 mpg.
Empty it was lucky to get 8-9 mpg city and 10-11 highway.
This compared to mine empty 10.5-11.5 city and 13-15 highway. I do have a very heavy foot!