Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey guys,

Can anyone offer much insight into the F250's. Need something in this size range purely for a tow vehicle for 5-5.5 tonne boat. Which motors are best the 7.3L or the 5.???L? Is there many issues with diffs / gearboxes etc. What is their tow capacity and is it upgradable? Any other ideas on vehicles that might fit the bill - needs to be relatively new.

Cheers...

7.3l diesel is probably the best for towing, but i've read that injectors can sometimes be up to $5000 each

i dont know if the tow rating is as high as 5 ton, last time i heard it was roughly 4.5 ton.

read exploroz the effies have a mixed reception on there

I believe the US towing capacity isn't recognised over here. The Australian spec capacity is considerably lower.

They have a 4.5tonne capacity here in aus - on tow bar. If set up as a 5th wheeler tow they are rated to tow approx 5800 kg minus whatever weight you have in the vehicle.

stumpyGU wrote:7.3l diesel is probably the best for towing, but i've read that injectors can sometimes be up to $5000 each

i dont know if the tow rating is as high as 5 ton, last time i heard it was roughly 4.5 ton.

read exploroz the effies have a mixed reception on there

Good to see you still around Stumpy...dont see you on many of the other forums anymore.

is that what is written on the towbar? What about the towing placard from Ford Aus?

My GQ can tow 2500kg, the towbar is rated to 3500kg.
Early 80 series are rated at 2700kg, but the towbar is rated at 3500kg
it doesn't matter what the towbar is rated at (unless it is less).

CRUSHU wrote:is that what is written on the towbar? What about the towing placard from Ford Aus?

My GQ can tow 2500kg, the towbar is rated to 3500kg.
Early 80 series are rated at 2700kg, but the towbar is rated at 3500kg
it doesn't matter what the towbar is rated at (unless it is less).

Not sure mate...this is what i have been reading in vehicle specs, not on tow bars. Also reading it in reviews and on a fairly informative 5th wheel manufacturing site.

Cool, just wanted you to be sure.
I am looking to buy a US spec 1976 F250 extra cab. It is rated to tow about 10000 lbs, I doubt they would let you here. That is about twice it's own weight.

hey kamo have a look at this site mate

http://www.fseries.info/

has some pretty decent info in regards to towing n that. also i looked on the ford aus site n saw that the 4x4 F250 and 7.3l have been dropped from the range.

We have two F250s in our family business. 7.3L XLT turbo auto dual cabs.
When we bought ours they were rated at 3500kg tow capacity but were retrospectively made 4500kg. Problem with that is ours are fitted with 3500kg HR towbars. I don't know what the 5th wheel specs are as we don't have that setup.

From our experience I am not a fan. I beleive that the only reason they did reasonably well here as far as sales are concerned is that they had no real competitors available from normal Australian dealers.

I think they are typical yank cars. They are very powerful and strong but unreliable and I don't think ergonomics were even considered when it was designed. They are not terribly comfortable even though you have oodles of room. The seats are like slabs of foam with no real shape. Who the hell desings a vehicle this big and can't manage to fit a glove box? Sure you have the big centre bin but no bloody glove box? The airbag must be the size of a circus tent

The dealer we used to use always said they never had problems with them etc etc (even though we always did have problems) but the dealer we now use says that his workers hide in the bathroom when they see one pull into the workshop as they don't want to be the one who is assigned to work on it.

I've talked to some people who think they are the best things ever but our experience are that they are not even close.

I'd use my personal 1994 Discovery over our company 2003/4 F250s any day unless I had to carry or tow something really big/heavy.

stumpyGU wrote:also i looked on the ford aus site n saw that the 4x4 F250 and 7.3l have been dropped from the range.

Which is why I have seen some 2nd hand F250s with asking prices of $100k even though list was only ever $82500 and we paid $75k new with accessories.

Rumours abound that we will see the new F250 but it has been a while now. Plus we never really got the old one. What we got was a body shape that was about 1 generation old with a driveline that was 2 generations old.

in summary kamo buy a massey ferguson

stumpyGU wrote:in summary kamo buy a massey ferguson

haha...its looking like that isnt it. It would be nice if the new landcruiser had an extra 0.5 tonne wacked on its towing capacity but i can't see that happening.

Sort of off topic but what brand of motor is the 7.3L diesel

it is a international engine i believe

I can't give you a whole lot of metric specs but I can help you with tech information. I work at a Ford dealer in the parts department and I own a 2000 F-350 7.3 diesel. Most F-250s here from 1999-2003 models have a 8800 lb gross vehicle weight rating and gross combined capacity (truck and trailer together) of 20,000 lbs here in the US.

The 7.3 sold here was rated at 235 HP with 500 lbs of torque with a 4R100 automatic transmission. The manual models were rated at 275 HP and 525 lbs or torque.

The truck will easily handle 10,000 lbs of trailer. My F-350 with camper and trailer loaded is at about 16k and handles it nicely. I do have a couple of mods added to my rig to give it a little more pep though.

PM me if I can help you.

My brother has the 7.3ltr 2002 f250 to tow his 5tonne boat but first time towing blew up the auto box 7g later still slipping but motor is perfect for the job with loads of torque and power.

dads f250 never stops having problems allways with the drag links or tie rod ends.

super powerfull not very comfy. would have thought the auto would be very strong.

dont bother buying 1 they are the biggest pile of over priced scrap metal lying around, you will find alot of the new effies are made in brazil to there worlrd leadind specs , they are not even painted when they leave brazil, sum ....lets say have alot of surface rust when they have been sitting on the docks for 6 months for pick up, so guess what there not rubed or sanded before the major deals pick em up . they get a paint job but dont expect it to last for many years.

bazooked wrote: they are not even painted when they leave brazil, sum ....lets say have alot of surface rust when they have been sitting on the docks for 6 months for pick up, so guess what there not rubed or sanded before the major deals pick em up . they get a paint job but dont expect it to last for many years.

I dont know where you got this info about them not been painted, im a wharfie in sydney(for the last 5yr) and the ones we've taken off at darling harbour where all very much painted. yes theres a bit of rust on the chassics and leaf springs.
As for anything sitting on the wharfs for 6months(Any where around the world), i dought it very much.
The sweet sound of 7.3ltr TD and SuperchargeV10 petols is just music. But wheres the bloody glovebox????

there painted by the dealerships after thay have been picked up from brazil,so they would be painted by ford in the us before they leave the country, got the inside info from a mate that works at a rather large dealer ship here.

bazooked wrote:there painted by the dealerships after thay have been picked up from brazil,so they would be painted by ford in the us before they leave the country, got the inside info from a mate that works at a rather large dealer ship here.

aaahhh, over there got yah.

Too late lol....ended up getting an '04 with 70,000k's and a BIG exhaust. Heaps of grunt, sounds mint...but the steering is dodge on them. Seems to ride quite well, seats are nice and elevated, and they got arm rests Hopefully the auto can handle the boat

BlueRidgeRunner wrote:I can't give you a whole lot of metric specs but I can help you with tech information. I work at a Ford dealer in the parts department and I own a 2000 F-350 7.3 diesel. Most F-250s here from 1999-2003 models have a 8800 lb gross vehicle weight rating and gross combined capacity (truck and trailer together) of 20,000 lbs here in the US.

The 7.3 sold here was rated at 235 HP with 500 lbs of torque with a 4R100 automatic transmission. The manual models were rated at 275 HP and 525 lbs or torque.

The truck will easily handle 10,000 lbs of trailer. My F-350 with camper and trailer loaded is at about 16k and handles it nicely. I do have a couple of mods added to my rig to give it a little more pep though.

PM me if I can help you.

8800 = 4 ton
20,000 = 9 ton
10,000 = 4.6 ton
16,000 = 7.3 ton

i heard that in the states the f-250's were rated at 10 tonne.. my dad went on a fishing trip to port stephens in a 6.5+ tonne boat, they used an f-250 and according to them, the car even uphill didnt even feel like it had the boat behind it, towing ur boat wouldnt be a hassle for that then. thats what we wanted to get for our boat, but its too much $, thats why we wanna convert to a big block or sumthing.

PSI-EFI wrote:i heard that in the states the f-250's were rated at 10 tonne.. my dad went on a fishing trip to port stephens in a 6.5+ tonne boat, they used an f-250 and according to them, the car even uphill didnt even feel like it had the boat behind it, towing ur boat wouldnt be a hassle for that then. thats what we wanted to get for our boat, but its too much $, thats why we wanna convert to a big block or sumthing.

Hey mate,

The boat will be going on the trailer in the next week or so and then its an 150k tow to the painters. The trailer is 1500kg and we have about 3 tonne of ali in the boat so far. Already we're at 4.5 tonne without motors, fuel, batteries, etc etc. Stay tuned and i'll report back with how it tows.

KaMo wrote:

PSI-EFI wrote:i heard that in the states the f-250's were rated at 10 tonne.. my dad went on a fishing trip to port stephens in a 6.5+ tonne boat, they used an f-250 and according to them, the car even uphill didnt even feel like it had the boat behind it, towing ur boat wouldnt be a hassle for that then. thats what we wanted to get for our boat, but its too much $, thats why we wanna convert to a big block or sumthing.

Hey mate,

The boat will be going on the trailer in the next week or so and then its an 150k tow to the painters. The trailer is 1500kg and we have about 3 tonne of ali in the boat so far. Already we're at 4.5 tonne without motors, fuel, batteries, etc etc. Stay tuned and i'll report back with how it tows.

eyy, soundin good mate, what type of boat is it? got any pics? we just got our 454 to tow our 3+ tonne caribbean in our 80 series cruiser

PSI-EFI wrote:

KaMo wrote:

PSI-EFI wrote:i heard that in the states the f-250's were rated at 10 tonne.. my dad went on a fishing trip to port stephens in a 6.5+ tonne boat, they used an f-250 and according to them, the car even uphill didnt even feel like it had the boat behind it, towing ur boat wouldnt be a hassle for that then. thats what we wanted to get for our boat, but its too much $, thats why we wanna convert to a big block or sumthing.

Hey mate,

The boat will be going on the trailer in the next week or so and then its an 150k tow to the painters. The trailer is 1500kg and we have about 3 tonne of ali in the boat so far. Already we're at 4.5 tonne without motors, fuel, batteries, etc etc. Stay tuned and i'll report back with how it tows.

eyy, soundin good mate, what type of boat is it? got any pics? we just got our 454 to tow our 3+ tonne caribbean in our 80 series cruiser

Its a custom plate boat.

farkk, very nice boat ay... how many ft is it? and dont worry, an f250, will tow that and you wont even feel it..