Bob Y. - Qld replied:

Ian,

We have a 100 series wagon, converted to dual cab by Creative Conversions in Brissy. Works well, and is good to drive. Seems a little asthmatic after driving a tojo turbo ute, but this could be remedied by adding a/m turbo, or sourcing a 100 TD.

Hooroo...

hanson replied:

The May issue of 4WD Monthly has a comparison between the f250 7.2l diesel and the troopie for towing have a look at it, fuel consumption not too bad, heaps of grunt etc, if you can't find the mag let me know at hrk84 at hotmail . com and I will scan it and email it to you
.... Ric

V8Diesel replied:

From experience, fuel economy is astonishingly good in the F250 when fitted with the 7.3l International Navistar engine, having done side by side comparisons on long runs with one.

I'm a big believer in a lot doing a little, rather than the other way round.

The F250 is a very big vehicle though for general day to day driving / parking etc and a recent post highlighted some reliability issues. Do a quick search of the archives.

F233 replied:

Hi Ian,

i have recently concluded my research into the same issue - What to tow my boat with ? ( it tips the scale at 4000+ Kgs ). I posted on here a couple of weeks ago re the F250 7.3 TD Crew Cab and had many great replies and a wealth of information. I also have good research from other sources that i have collected since Jan this year. I wont bore you with all the detail so heres a summary of where i got and why ?

My need was similar to yours - i needed a vehicle to tow and cater for the wife and kids also. We currently have an 03 V8 Sahara that is more than comfortable but is limited to 3500Kgs towing capacity.

I looked at importing a vehicle from the US and or buying a US vehicle locally here in Victoria but they were too expensive relative to their age and difficult to insure. I spoke with creative conversions in QLD about doind a dual wheel conversion on my cruiser which would allow me to tow upto 4500Kgs BUT i would have needed to add a blower to the V8 engine so that i could pull it all - again expensive.

All my research kept highlighting the F250 - but i was not a fan - i was a Toyota man thru and thru but i kept an open mind relative to the F250.

Many of my journeys over the past 2 years meant that i regularly saw the F250 taking families on their around Australia trips. There were lots of them and in many diffentent configurations. I then looked at the issues raised - wheel alignments, CPS and trans and disovered a great deal of inconsistencies in the information - i then contacted some of the sources of information and spoke with over 12 people who own them and only 1 had any of these problems ( yes i know 12 people is not statisticly bullet proof ).

The issue of fuel consumption also varied except when i spoke with the same owners - the avg fuel consumption was 15L/100Klms and towing ranged between 18L - 23L/100Klms.

Yes they are big and no doubt they will drink fuel when pushed hard. There are some reliability issues but these can be covered with a warranty.

If you buy using an ABN then they are hard to go past on price alone. I basically conluded that if you need to tow and have a family then the F250 is the best choice hands down (subject to specific needs). This months 4wd monthly confirms this.

Hope this helps
Cheers
Ric

NissanNut replied:

Ever considered a Kenworth?

NUTS!

ev700 replied:

An Iveco Twin Cab ute looks comfortable and is smaller (I think).

Much more room in the second seat from memory and build quality looked fine.

Good economy I believe.

EV700

Swanning it replied:

Thaks everone for your swift replies and info. I must admit, I was somewhat surprised with the fuel figures suggested for the F250. You've given me quite a lot of pointers so I'll go and do a bit more research now.
Happy Motoring!
Ian.

leon replied:

Ian we have just purchased f250 only done 4000 k so far & very satisfid great power very easy to tow with too early for fuel fig .
Regards leon