I love my 23 PB, it is everything I want except it does not have enough CCC to pull the travel trailer we want + all the stuff we want to take with us. We are now both retired and intend to be on the road 3-4 months a year.

I am not driving in winter weather, on unimproved or unmaintained roads or getting in the mud or on the beach. Pretty much pavement and maintained gravel roads.

Do I need 4WD?

I am looking at a 26 F250 Lariat, 6.7, 4X4, 3000# CCC, 1590# tongue weight, 15000# trailer weight, 23500# GCWR. and a 26 F350 Lariat, 7.3, 2WD, 3987 CCC, 1820# tongue weight, 16877# trailer weight, GCWR 25200#.

$12500 price difference. The price difference is not a deal breaker, just wondering how useful the 6.7 and 4x4 will be for the type of driving I do.

We are moving out of a Class A into the TT, the Class A is too much maintenance and a PITA to keep clean.

Opinions?

 

If you don’t want to keep changing trucks just go ahead and get a crew cab long bed SRW F350 6.7HO 3.55 gear 4x4. Lariat or above.

 

Most of the $12.5K is for the diesel. Adding 4X4 should only be a few hundred dollars more, maybe $1K everything else being the same, and is well worth the cost to me. You may find it impossible to get the trailer moving with a 2wd truck sitting on level ground and wet grass in a campground. I've seen it happen. I once stumbled across some cowboys pulling a stock trailer on a gravel road with an older 4wd F250 in Utah. They couldn't get 4X4 to engage and couldn't get the trailer up a hill in the loose gravel in 2wd. I had to put a tow strap on them and help get them up the hill with my 4X4 Tacoma.

The real decisions for me would be F350 vs F250 and gas vs diesel. Diesel vs gas is a close call for me. A gas truck is a lot cheaper and will be cheaper to maintain. But if you tow in mountains, you'll like the diesel.

 

4WD is a $2800 option, the 6.7 is $10995. Ford also upped the shipping charge. It's $2095 on the 2025, $2195 on the 2026's he has on the lot and $2595 on the inbound 2026"s.

He has a Marsh F250 Lariat with the Baja interior, 6.7, 4WD inbound for about 1k more than the F250's he has on the lot. I may take a look at that one.

 

How heavy is your trailer? Or how heavy do you think it might be?

id rather have a diesel but can’t justify the cost…I opted for a 7.3 gas and it’s been great minus gas mileage. If I was regularly towing in the big mountains or using it as a commuter, I’d get the diesel.

is get the 4x4 regardless…rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it…plus it’s a decent selling feature.

 

A lot of hotshoters use the 2WD F350. Mileage is not a big issue. If I am not towing, it sits in the garage. My 23 PB only has 7600 miles on it. All is 4WD Lariats are diesels. He has a few XL's that are gassers, but I like the heated/vented seats, camaras and rich Corinthian leather.

 

I haven't been in a casserole 3/4 or bigger truck.

But from a big rig trucker, I'd rather have the diesel. Jake brakes, more torque, Having more than you need is way better than needing more but can't utilize it.

Its also about viewpoints, are you the guy that's going to rush to the next spot or destination? Or you ok taking an extra day or two to just enjoy the retirement.

A class A vs truck/trailer combo is the same or more in maintenance.

 

The Class A is 38'. Thats a lot of surface area to keep clean and watertight. It's on a Workhorse chassis and it's nearly impossible to find anyone to work on it. I had a hard brake line chafe through, luckily it let go in the driveway. No one would touch it. I wrestled the 8' piece out and spliced in a new section. What if that happened in the middle of nowhere Montana? The MH is too big for a cover, so it's $200 a month for covered storage, $1200 a year insurance and about $1000 a year in maintenance and winterizing. I also own a F150, Wrangler, 65 and 67 Mustangs. Too many things to keep up, so I am thinning the herd down to the truck, Jeep and a TT.

 

That is a nice color combo. If it has the rear axle option with increased gvwr over 10,000 it will have the same rear suspension and axle as an F350 but with 65psi instead of 80psi in the tires.

 

I use to lease travel trailers when we were big into off roading. ATV in the bed and medium sized travel trailer worked fine.

Anyway, hell of a lot easier than owning one. But only travelled a few extended weekends a year and within 500 miles from home.