F250 4x4 - 4.2td V 7.3td?

Greetings. I have an XLT F250 crewcab, which I have owned for 5 years. Driven it around the bush, often towing a van at 3500km load. No problems to date. I hope I have not jinxed myself. The only real complaint I have is the huge turning circle. Safety in towing is a very big plus. I have been able to go everywhere I wanted with it. I have just returned from a 6500km trip, two days ago. The new model coming has been reviewed favourably in other forum. Good luck in your decision. WD

Greetings. I have an XLT F250 crewcab, which I have owned for 5 years. Driven it around the bush, often towing a van at 3500km load. No problems to date. I hope I have not jinxed myself. The only real complaint I have is the huge turning circle. Safety in towing is a very big plus. I have been able to go everywhere I wanted with it. I have just returned from a 6500km trip, two days ago. The new model coming has been reviewed favourably in other forum. Good luck in your decision. WD

Hi Smithy,

I have just been down that path and have had my Effie for about 3 months now.

Very happy with it/her/him. It is a 4 door crew cab XLT with a 7.3 power stroke engine. You will need to shop around and be prepared to wait for the right one to come along.

I was lucky, it was a local car and has not seen any hard yards. A 270lt tank, chipped, alloy ECB bar etc.

Yes it is big, in fact it is bluddy big, but not a real problem. Sure the turning circle is a pita but you adjust. Yes it is lots wider than the Troopy I had but again you will adjust. -suspect I will get more than my fair share of country pinstripes;))

You will have to shop around more for accessories, that is if indeed you go down that path, but they are available.

I have just put a canopy on, from 3XM (via TJM) and am far from happy, but that hopefully will be resolved...or may become the subject of a separate thread.

The previous owner used Cooper ATR and claimed to have got about 80k from them (he had just put a new set on when I purchased the car) Here I move away from any discussion on tyres...lol

Economy and an F250 is an oxymoron, but the few black top trips I have taken showed 15.1lt per 100km, and considering the weight of the beast (over the scales last week at 3200kg -only half a tank of fuel plus moi) I am comfortable with that.

Am I happy, yep, at the moment. You will get the 'naysayers' a heap of negative comment but sift through it all and continue your research.I have a few mods in mind and hopefully can turn it into a serious outback tourer...and I am aware that some skinny places could be off limits.

Oh, we too have the 'captains' seats in the front so not too sure if it would be legal to put 4 in the back but one thing for sure there would be enough room.

As an aside, and I am not winding anybody up, the previous owner bought a new v8 Toyota trayback and is so unhappy with it he is looking to import another F250 (or similar) from the States -told him he could have his old one back plus $20k......LOL LOL

Cheers
Michael.....who really, really must get around to changing his profile..

I owned a 7.3lt dual cab F250 for 4 years and 100k - towed the 3.5t van for majority of that. Problems were few, had steering drag link arms replaced & top & bottom ball joints, radiator under warranty, also had an extra leaf in the front springs under warranty & new shocks. All it cost me was the usual services. I have had friends who have had to replace gearboxes at a cost of around $8.5k

I carried a CPS -cam position sensor- as these were reputed to fail but never had to fit it.

Comparing the 4.2 - 7.3 is no comparasin in real life grunt, the 4.2 compares well with the Nissan & Toyota 4.2lt motors, the saying can't beat cubic inches is true.

I bought it because i wanted a ute plus abilty to carry passengers, as things turned out we never needed the rear seat, grandchildren were to young so i sold the F250 last year, bought a Toyota V8 Ute with all the gear all ready fitted, it tows the van easily, has a far better turn circle & service & parts available Aust wide. If i was to just want a tow vehicle the big USA vehicles are hard to beat, trying to use one as a tourist city vehicle they become a PITA.

They are also getting a bit old now, so beware how previous owners have looked after them.

Could be difficult finding a F250 to seat 6 people. Ours was 5 seat. Did they make a 3 seat front? I'd be inclined to look for a low klm 7 seat Toyota 100s TD wagon.

My XLT in the USA has seating in the front for 3 with two captains seats and a center console folding seat with a seat belt, not real comfi being only about 15" wide but OK for a small person.

As for the comparison..............

Once you have towed with a pickup like the F250, Chevy or Dodge Ram you would never go back to a LC type tug.

Just can't understand why one of the big three aren't marketing one for Oz.

Regards

Bruce
Fallbrook CA

We had two 7.3 litre work trucks both bought in late 2003. We still have one, with about 220 000k's, and we sold one 2 years ago with 180 000k's. Only $58 000 trade in on a Range Rover.
One was used towing a 3 tonne boat, and the other drags a tandem work trailer around for painting and rendering, toting 3 plus tonnes of sand and cement.
No engine problems with either, but a bit of work was done on the ball joints, which Ford were useless fixing. It took a local mechanic who used some modified joints off some other brand truck.
Can't help with information on the 4.2 engine, but it seems like a lot of weight for a smaller engine.
Cheers
Ian

thanks for all the replies & advice guys, its muchly appreciated.

guess i'll be doing a little more research on big dual cab 4x4 6 seater utes to satisfy my needs.

i need a ute as a wagon doesnt work for us (family life) and the home business. i had a wagon before the rodeo and it didnt work unfortunately.

anyway,
again, thanks for the responses, have a gr8 weekend,
smithy.

I have owned both motor sizes. The 7.3 ltr just does everything so easy , the 4.2 has great economy. Most of the six seater versions are the 4.2 ltr motor.
Sold the 7.3 ltr to get the v8 landcruiser ute and have been looking around for another F 250 but as previously stated they are getting on in years. A good one is pricey which makes a new 2011 F350 seem like a good deal.
No doubt the 4.2 can be purchased very reasonably.
I had issues with the 7.3ltr in North WA and found it difficult to get an adequate repair done. You will certainly get bush pin stripe as most remote tracks are landcruiser and nissan width. We have been places in the cruiser that the F250 would not have been able to take us too, due to its size.
The 4.2 is certainly worth considering but usually is the base model.
They are still the best tow vehicles I have owned.