F250 or LC

Sasha,

I can't comment on the economy or reliability of the F250, But I can say that it is a very large beast, And the thought of triing to peddle the thing aroung city streets and shopping centre car parks would have be lying awake at night.

I would be keeping this in mind if I were to be using it as my family car after the big trip.

Happy traveling
japmel

Hi Sasha

I am not a Ford fan, having owned a F100 Long wheel base V8 4x4. It was pretty useless in tame bush conditions due to the flexing of its suspension set-up.

I have however looked at a F250 Extra cab a couple of days ago.(It was in a K Mart car park, whilst waiting for SWMBO).

It looked rugged but Ford has still retained its weird springing on the suspension. This is obviously done for load carrying purposes. The wheels also looked a bit small for the truck(265x75x16) and I would suggest going to a larger diameter size tyre.

The F250 should be ideal for towing and has a large tray to carry other stuff. I cannot comment on its offroadability though.

I do have some people I can point you too in the car trade. I won't bs you an tel you they are cheap cheap cheap. He expects to make an earn an I can live with that. BUT he will look for something specific for you. (You will need to be real specific, I don't F. around my mates) There wil be an earn in it for me but Im happy to split that back with you. : )

iMusty

We pull an 18' BT with a Nissan Patrol 3 lts TD - there are a few. Anything bigger and and F250 would be advisable. Have you found the Bushtracker Owners Group website? Heaps of talkback on pros & cons of tow vehicles there, and members can access a membership list which show who have what sized van and what vehicle. A few Patrols, quite a few Cruiser, and a lot of F250s, particularly with the bigger vans.

http://www.bushtrackerownersgroup.asn.au/Forum/Default.asp

Hi Sasha, Roy and girls...

I can't comment on the F250, apart from the fact that they're big, I've sat in one but have never driven one. Our 100 handled towing our 17ft van no probs at all - weight being approx 1600kgs, how it would go towing a bigger van I've no idea, though Al reckons it wouldn't be too much drama and had initially looked at larger vans. I would imagine the F250 would have no towing dramas, and there have been some write ups in Australian 4x4 monthly about them.

I would suggest that you take both for a test drive when you get here, paying particular attention how you both feel about the size of both vehicles, I'm not sure if you are planning on sharing the driving whilst driving Sasha but you need to be comfortable with the vehicle you are driving to tow confidently, personally I hated towing the van, I love driving the LC though, and loath driving other vehicles, I have no issues with towing the camper trailer as you don't even know it's behind you when towing....the main thing is don't make hasty decisions, try them both out and see how you feel.

Lyn

we had an f350 for work and I can assure you the ONLY reason you would get one over the l/c is for towing, they are 2 big for offroad work and reliability is not a patch on landcruiser

Thanks everyone for your replies really appreciate it. I think I will have to just wait and see when we get there on the size issue of it as some of you have said.

Sasha

We run two F250s for work. Beat everything else hands down on towing and load carrying. You would barely feel a 20ft van. However for everything else a Cruiser or Patrol would be better. They would be better around town, off road, going shopping etc. It is possible to take them into some car parks but doing it regularly is a PITA.

Fuel economy on the hway is great however around town it is woeful. They do have more than there fair share of problems. Willem is right about the tyres, they look silly with 265/75s.

We get about 900km to about 100L all highway but about 480km around town (unloaded).

Also you could get a top of the line Cruiser t/d auto for the same price as an F250 XLT top of the line model. However the F250 only extends to remote locking, automatic, power windows, cruise control and 6 stack CD player. Vinyl floors and cloth seats. Not quite Cruiser trim levels.

All depends on your intended use really.

Hi I recently went through your process and last month posted on here seeking information on the F250.

I currently have a 2003 Sahara 4.7V8 cruiser and a new 2005 F250 Crew Cab 7.3TD and they are chalk and cheese.

The F250 eats the cruiser the power stakes - towing has never been easier. The cruiser cannot be compared to the F250 in this regard. However, the cruiser is much better finished inside and out. Higher levels of trim and equipment. Still early for true fuel consumption comparison but early numbers suggest the F250 is no worse than the cruiser around town.

I sent my F250 into the workshop the day it was delivered and had the wheel alignment issue remedied. I also had quite a bit of custom stuff added - tranny oil cooler, custom grill, 3rd battery installed and a full dvd / multimedia systems inside.

I love driving the F250 - its truck like but its also very very enjoyable.....power on tap.

I spoke with several companies who service vehicles and these vehicles rate highly and the issues you hear about are not the majority. That said i also purchased the extended warranty which now is 6 years 160,000Klms which gives me peice of mind.

Hope this helps
Cheers
R

Thanks R for the reply and to everyone else.

We are now in Queensland and are officially Aussie residents :o) our new Bushtracker van is nearly ready and we are now the proud owners of a F250 2002 with loads of extras added. The plan is to travel up North throughout the winter but that's another thread!

Sasha (Mrs Homeboy)

Homeboy
Two years ago work bought an F350 7.3ltr for towing equipment around site prior to the F Truck we have had Patrols and Cruisers doing the same task 24/7 and clocking up 100,000km a year and being sold off after 2 years,the F Truck only has 90,000km on it in the two years, we have not been able to get the reliability out of the thing, in the time we have had it we have replaced the transmission once, Tranfer case twice, 4 diffs, two AC compressors 2 AC fans and the complete evaporator unit and 1 alternator, replaced the drivelines 3 times and rebuilt the front hubs 4 times and the rear brakes 3 times and the exhaust 4 times. Parts are hard to track down and the avalability of aftermarket components are limited. I can understand why people get sucked in and buy the things because they are comfortable off road and they look the part but the quality of components is crap compaired to the Japanese vehicles, for my money I would be getting a T/C100 series cruiser, better componts thousands of them on the road and good power.
Stew