# I own three chevy trucks and Im posting in the Ford forum



## scitown (Dec 9, 2007)

I waited a few months for this place to slow down a little before posting this. Let me preface my story with the fact that I own three chevy trucks a 1500 a 3500 p/u (9200 gvw) and a 3500 dump. I have a 8 ft fisher plow on my 2000 3500 pick up. 

The last storm of the season here in Ma was a sloppy 8ish inches. The storm hit early morning and slowed by the evening commute. I was a little behind and had a dirt parking lot to plow so I called a buddy of mine to jump on and help. He has little plow experience I think he had like five driveways last winter that he was "on call " to do. 

So my friend shows up in his 2008 ford F250 gasser. After I taught him how to plow real quick he and I started banging out this small lot. 

I can NOT believe how nice his Ford plowed compared to my chevy. When I felt I was beating on my chevy he is plugging along like nothing is in front of him. When I stacked a pile as high and far as I could before my truck came to a hault he would push his pile thru mine and stack both my snow and his twice as high as I could. Amazing what ground clearance will do for a plow truck. He could drive up a pile and stack snow while I was hitting my bumper on the snow bank.

Today I went to browse for a Ford. I figure I will trade my daily driver and my plow truck for a single cab Ford with a fisher plow. 

Anyone want to school me on the ins and outs of ford truck shopping these days? I've been looking at the different trims and all that and they dont make it easy. 

Two trucks in the ford lot today (closed for holiday weekend) really peaked my interest. They were both F250 HDs I think both with plow prep, I know one did. What can I expect from the gas engine besides crap MPG ? The sticker was 32,000 whats a Ford really worth right now? I know what I want for my trade in just wondering what I should expect to pay. The final question, Should I go all out and drop the extra money on the diesel? This is going to replace a really nice 07 ext cab 1500 fully loaded with 20,000 miles on it and also a well used 2000 single cab plow and backup landscape rig. 

I feel better now that I got it off my chest. Dont tell the chevy guys. xysport


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

About time you came over to the good side!:waving:

Find someone with the Xplan for more savings. And then put a Boss v plow on it so it will complete the package.


----------



## SuperdutyShane (Mar 6, 2009)

Of course a FORD plowed better than a chevy. Its a Ford  Oh, and dont listen to Grandview, buy a nice single cab F350 and put a Fisher XLS. And let me use it. Just some advice


----------



## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Just curious, did you run out of traction or power?


----------



## JDWalkbehind (Oct 14, 2007)

on the trim if your wondering the XLT is the nice package with all power opitions, XL is pretty much work truck/bare bones and the lariet-might have spelled that wrong-is the step above XLT with things like leather /sun roof/ and other little options. Hope that helps good luck


----------



## Milwaukee (Dec 28, 2007)

2COR517;781500 said:


> Just curious, did you run out of traction or power?


He say his bumper went down hit snowbank when try stack snow that why He want Ford due strong leaf spring on front axle.

Glad to hear you decide try Ford.

When you get truck with v8 5.4L Don't get 3.73 for gear ratio it horrible. Get 4.10 or 4.30.

Get heavy duty tow package you would like to have it. We have one on our F250 and their transmission cooling are HUGE about 2.5 feet wide and 1 feet height. It hide in Radiator and AC condenser


----------



## got-h2o (Sep 26, 2008)

2COR517;781500 said:


> Just curious, did you run out of traction or power?


X2 and compare to an 08/09 GM in the mean time. You'r comparing apples to oranges IMHO. A 2000 GM and a brand new Ford? I really could care less what you buy....I like them all, but at least make a fair comparison.


----------



## got-h2o (Sep 26, 2008)

Milwaukee;781503 said:


> He say his bumper went down hit snowbank when try stack snow that why *He want Ford due strong leaf spring on front axle*.
> 
> Glad to hear you decide try Ford.
> 
> ...


Ford quit running leafs on 250's in 05.


----------



## got-h2o (Sep 26, 2008)

And yes, drop the extra on a diesel if you can. If you think he plowed good with a gasser, you'll sh!t if you plow a day with a diesel.


----------



## Milwaukee (Dec 28, 2007)

Thank for reminder me I forgot they use coil spring but more turn radius better than leaf spring.


----------



## scitown (Dec 9, 2007)

2COR517;781500 said:


> Just curious, did you run out of traction or power?


I ran out of truck. I dont know to be honest. I think it was power it's the 5.7. I could see a newer 6.0 pushing much better that the 5.7. I have the 6.0 in my 1 ton dump and that thing pulls a 3500 lb trailer like its not there.


----------



## scitown (Dec 9, 2007)

got-h2o;781504 said:


> X2 and compare to an 08/09 GM in the mean time. You'r comparing apples to oranges IMHO. A 2000 GM and a brand new Ford? I really could care less what you buy....I like them all, but at least make a fair comparison.


Well he had oranges and I had apples so... I want to buy oranges.  Ha no really I guess I could buy a new 6.0 single cab and lift it too. I was at the chevy dealer the other day and a guy came up to me (he got out of a Tahoe) and told me he had two friends that bought 08 chevy's and plowed last winter. He said they could not get traction and they hated them. Just some random guy so take it for what its worth.


----------



## BigDave12768 (Nov 17, 2006)

a few things come into play that you may not be considering. Did his truck have a 4.10 rear end? What tires was he running. And the height of truck and blade angle. 

Now I dont want to bad the mouth Ford becuase I think they are good looking truck (except for grill, needs a strip of chrome on top of grill) And the 5.4 is a proven motor. Just a tad underpowered. Whatever you do dont buy the Diesel Ford yet. Having to pull the cab off to replace a turbo is just stupid. So with Dodges troubles and dealers getting closed you maybe able to get a deal on Diesel right now. Just go to a dealer that is closing like Westminster on Morrisey blvd. You want to talk a about a truck that can plow with zero effort its a Dodge CTD. Oh and one thing you will never hear from a Dodge Ctd guy is. Gee that snow was heavy. I heard that so many times on that last storm. I honestly thought I plowed a different storm than they did becuase I never felt it get heavy. (CTD+4.10's :yow! So take a peak a Dodge CTD. The extra MPG is great 17mpg compared to 10-12mpg. Plus one thing to consider is the world is going clean Diesels. (Jetta TDI 58Mpg) gas Hybrids will be a thing of the past soon. So Diesel will soon be always cheaper than unleaded like it is now in most areas.


----------



## doubleedge (Aug 6, 2008)

I have heard many bad things about the recent ford diesels, so don't waste money on one of those. If you need more power than the 5.4, the v-10 is a reliable engine, it is a cheap upgrade, and it is powerful.


----------



## cretebaby (Aug 23, 2008)

BigDave12768;781550 said:


> Diesel will soon be always cheaper than unleaded like it is now in most areas.


You got s crystal ball ot something?


----------



## Mid-Ohio Scaper (Aug 17, 2008)

Welcome to Ford country! The only privately owned American auto company left. ussmileyflag 
GM is now government motors and Chrysler just keeps getting passed around like the town wh*re, god only knows how much longer she'll stay alive.

Don't be scared of the new 6.4 Powerstrokes, mine has about 50K on it and no problems. You'll love the power! 
Hell, with the way Chrysler is going now Ford just might pick up Cummins after all, since 2010 is the last year for Navistar. Boy, would that ever p*ss the mopar boys off!!!


----------



## aeronutt (Sep 24, 2008)

I've always been a Chevy guy, and I absolutely love my '06 d-max truck. However, when I hit the plowing jobs, I'm usually putting my hired help in the Chevy while I drive the '89 F-350. Even though the Chevy is unquestionably the more comfortable vehicle, the solid front axle and better turning radius make the Ford my weapon of choice against snow. If I could build my perfect combination vehicle for both plowing and other heavy-duty hauling and towing use, it would be an F-350 Cab-n-Chassis flatbed with dump hoist powered by a Duramax/Allison setup and pushing a Boss 9.2 V-plow. A Cummins engine would be my second choice as long as I could keep the Allison tranny. If I absolutely had to keep a Ford motor, I'd go with an older 7.3 PS before the new junk.


----------



## BigDave12768 (Nov 17, 2006)

cretebaby;781572 said:


> You got s crystal ball ot something?


No I read the bloomberg report. ever heard of it 



Mid-Ohio Scaper;781592 said:


> Welcome to Ford country! The only privately owned American auto company left. ussmileyflag
> GM is now government motors and Chrysler just keeps getting passed around like the town wh*re, god only knows how much longer she'll stay alive.
> 
> Don't be scared of the new 6.4 Powerstrokes, mine has about 50K on it and no problems. You'll love the power!
> Hell, with the way Chrysler is going now Ford just might pick up Cummins after all, since 2010 is the last year for Navistar. Boy, would that ever p*ss the mopar boys off!!!


6.4 are ok. But how is your fuel mileage?


----------



## scitown (Dec 9, 2007)

aeronutt;781624 said:


> I've always been a Chevy guy, and I absolutely love my '06 d-max truck. However, when I hit the plowing jobs, I'm usually putting my hired help in the Chevy while I drive the '89 F-350. Even though the Chevy is unquestionably the more comfortable vehicle, the solid front axle and better turning radius make the Ford my weapon of choice against snow. If I could build my perfect combination vehicle for both plowing and other heavy-duty hauling and towing use, it would be an F-350 Cab-n-Chassis flatbed with dump hoist powered by a Duramax/Allison setup and pushing a Boss 9.2 V-plow. A Cummins engine would be my second choice as long as I could keep the Allison tranny. If I absolutely had to keep a Ford motor, I'd go with an older 7.3 PS before the new junk.


Great post.

Another reason why Im looking at Fords is because I dont like the looks of the new Chevy's. My 07 is a silverado "classic". I thought seeing them for a few years would change my mind but sadly it hasn't.

Someone posted earlier about tires and blade setup being a big factor and I agree. My problem is the way my truck is set up is as good as its going to be. Plow lift and angle are great for the truck and the tires were new at the beginning of the season. My friends ford had stock tires and didn't know he could move his plow shoes up and down until I pointed it out. So plow and truck had never been changed. Just stock. So I can only imagine what some real winter tires and a little weight in the back of his truck could do.

My set up is three hundred lbs of salt and ice melt in boxes over the tires and a snowman rear plow hanging off the back. Traction is not the problem.


----------



## aeronutt (Sep 24, 2008)

It's not brand-specific when you talk about traction. Tires-R-Tires. No matter what hardware is spinning them, a snow tire will always improve the traction situation in snow. I prefer the Blizzak W965 tires and run them on both of my trucks (see signature). They come off as soon as the snow melts though because they SUCK as a summer tire! The stock tires that come on Chevy trucks are easily the worst performing tires I've ever endured. It's not Chevy's fault, it's Bridgestone's. Well, I guess it's Chevy's fault for choosing them... Anyway, I fixed it myself and now I don't worry about traction on either of my trucks.


----------



## scitown (Dec 9, 2007)

The point was I was taking extra steps to ensure traction and he didn't. Not even a couple hundred lbs in the bed.

Drove a Ford today. Take some getting used to? Great turning radius but it feels weird having to stear out of corners.


----------



## douglasl330 (Oct 4, 2005)

Best of luck with whatever you get! If it's only the last couple of storms of the year (wet heavy stuff with soft ground) that your worried about you could always hire your buddy! One of those storms-- I was plowing in 2wd for about 2 hours before I noticed it--just thought the truck was a little assey-- Ooh it was with a 7.3 Ford!


----------



## scitown (Dec 9, 2007)

Im on the coast. Most storms end or start with rain.


----------



## 7.3 Plower (Jan 19, 2009)

Sorry to dredge an old topic, but I'd like to help out on trim packages and such.

Here are your basic trim packages on the SuperDuty Fords.

XL: Bare bones work truck. Vinyl seats, crank windows, manual locks, radio
XLT: Power Windows, Power Locks, Power mirrors, cloth seats, radio, CD player/cassette depending on vintage
Lariat: PW, PL, PM, Leather seats, I believe heated mirrors are an option, radio, CD player, lots of creature comforts
King Ranch: Every comfort option known to man

I'd agree with the diesel statement.

For reliability the older you go the more reliable you get. The 7.3 PowerStrokes are GREAT trucks. Can't beat them with a stick. The 6.0s are great as long as you got a good one. Lots of lemons in this bunch. The 6.4 is still relatively un-proven (anyone with over 300k miles on their 6.4 yet? Probably not many if any) but I can't see it or any other modern diesel being terribly reliable due to all the emissions nonsense that is being shoved down manufacturers throats by the EPA.


----------



## got-h2o (Sep 26, 2008)

7.3 Plower;782805 said:


> Sorry to dredge an old topic, but I'd like to help out on trim packages and such.
> 
> Here are your basic trim packages on the SuperDuty Fords.
> 
> ...


I know of one with under 100k and on its 3rd motor


----------



## 7.3 Plower (Jan 19, 2009)

got-h2o;782814 said:


> I know of one with under 100k and on its 3rd motor


I know of a 7.3 with 810k miles on its original engine and transmission.


----------

