F 350 FIRST DRIVE

We've got 2 F250s for work. Dual cabs so they are 6.3m long. You're right that they are not suitable for your normal 4x4ing however they make very nice tow vehicles and have a very useable tray too. Best suited to rural type areas though. they suck around town. However I will be hopefully taking one to Kroombit Tops State Forest next week so I hope the tracks are big enough. Bit far to go home and get my Rodeo.

However I would be interested to know how your work F350 goes for reliability. We have had some issues with both of ours. Most have occurred in both utes so they were not a one off issue.

Also how is the air con in yours? Both of ours have pitiful aircon. It stuggles in the Queensland Summer.

I would soooooo much like to have one, just for one day.......

There are a few people whom I regularly see on the way to work each morning, of which some need a small lesson in road rules & etiquette.

Now, by me having a F350, this is sort of like having an instrument of don't mess with me. Like that advert we used to see on the telly, whereby the woman runs out of milk in the morning, and has to go to the deli to buy some more, in her dressing gown, and clobbers the dude with the gun.

What's the song title? " No milk today?".

My song in the Ford would be Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild".

Yes, I reckon I could change a few peoples day with one of those.......

Funny thing though, it wouldn't even have to be a 4 x 4. 2 wheel drive would do! I'm sure Channel 9 would still call it a 4 x 4.

Cheers

Judge Dread Wolf

We have had our Twin Cab F250 with 7.3 litre T/D for nearly 3 years now and the only problem that we have had is the turbo pipe was too close to the cab and rattled when under heavy load, and the air conditioner had a pipe rubbing on the front of the condenser that eventually allowed the gas to leak. Ford fixed these under warranty and no further problems.

I would agree that they make a lousy shopping trolley; they just don’t fit in most shopping centre car parks, so you get a bit more exercise walking to shops.

As for 4WD use we have found that they will go pretty well anywhere that a Patrol or Landcruiser will. Their down fall is the long wheel base that gives a poor ramp over angle, so you just have to adjust your driving skills to suit. I might add that I have done a lot of 4WDing in Landcruiser since 1981 and CFA tankers, and the F250 really is a much more capable vehicle than the 4WD mags make out.

We tow a 21ft Bushtracker with a tare of 2480kgs, but when loaded with the 5 water tanks (400litres) full we go between 3200 and 3300kgs, but the F250 tows it with ease. We used to tow the same van with a Landcruiser 100 series T/D, but we find the F250 is much more stable due to longer wheel base, uses less fuel and is more comfortable to ride in. On hills where there are overtaking lanes we often pull out and overtake Patrols and Landcruisers towing smaller vans that are slowing up going up the hills. The extra power and Torque is great to have.

We have travelled through the Kimberleys including Kalumburu Road and Mitchell Falls, often travelled the Beach from Noosa to Rainbow Beach, went over Big Red without a problem, and while doing the 4WD tracks in the “Warraweena Station” (Flinders Ranges) with a Patrol, found that we were bottoming out on some that the patrol didn’t but we go through some that the Patrol hit on. We haven’t really found the large turning circle a problem on most bush tracks, but we do have a lot of scratches down the sides. The van has too for that matter.