Pickups Have Sure Come a Long Way...

[AirgunSavant]

I have seen a huge QC improvement underneath on the F350's
Going from a 2011 to a 15 the underneath is far better detailed and the body hardware is much improved. No complaints there.

 

[RoadRaceJosh]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
Can you even call them "pickup" trucks anymore? The truck bed is shrinking, and the cab is growing.

Can you even drive a ATV into a F150 and shut the tailgate? What about a full sized piece of plywood?

Not everyone tows a trailer.


Even my long-bed 1954 Dodge only has a 7.5' bed, so no, I can't close the tailgate on 8' goods.

 

[mjoekingz28]

I think there is a ringer or the dynometer is all hopped up on high voltage.

 

[Scum_Frog]

A crew cab with an 8ft bed is one crazy long vehicle!
The short box on my F150 is perfect size for what I need it for to bring me on my adventures.
For most people unless your dealing with a work truck a long bed is just not necessary.
It's plenty of space to haul most of what I haul, if I need more room that what my trailer is for
With the gate down 8x4's slides right in. .
I have always liked the look of a short bed anyway on both standard and extended/crew cabs.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Joshua_Skinner
Originally Posted By: meep
^^^ what's wrong with the boxed frames? I thought they were supposed to be the best?


They are stronger for the weight, but tend to trap junk and rust through. I'm happy to live outside the rust belt.


Yup! C channel frames like the current super duties have generally won't rust to the point they break. But anything with a boxed frame is doomed to only 15 years or so of service. 15 years isn't exactly brand new, but considering I paid $12000 for a brand new Focus and I expect it to last 10 years minimum, I'm going to expect a $60,000 truck to make it a lot longer than that.

 

[jimbrewer]

I was always told that the Ford diesels in "marine trim" as inboard boat motors were much more powerful than the truck ones. Supposedly the truck ones had to be detuned to keep from breaking the drive shaft. Maybe there was some truth to that.

If you show some restraint on the option box, you can get good value. The thing I like is the ability of a truck to go from first car to second car to third car. That saves the friction of selling wholesale and buying retail every few years.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
gee, my 1984 F150 has a measly 120 hp and 220 torque. it's a slug.


Given how trucks have grown in size, your '84 probably would fit in the back of this new Super Duty.

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
Can you even call them "pickup" trucks anymore? The truck bed is shrinking, and the cab is growing.

Can you even drive a ATV into a F150 and shut the tailgate? What about a full sized piece of plywood?

Not everyone tows a trailer.


Interestingly enough, the Superduty F-250 has a slightly longer short bed than my C-15 Chevy. You can get the tailgate closed as you can't quite get mine closed with the same 4-wheeler in the bed. I think the F-250 ext cab short bed is about 3" longer than the standard short bed on the Chevy C-15 extended cab. Now, the extra short bed on the crew cab trucks is almost useless at 5 1/2'.

 

[Tomioka]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
I was always told that the Ford diesels in "marine trim" as inboard boat motors were much more powerful than the truck ones. Supposedly the truck ones had to be detuned to keep from breaking the drive shaft. Maybe there was some truth to that.

If you show some restraint on the option box, you can get good value. The thing I like is the ability of a truck to go from first car to second car to third car. That saves the friction of selling wholesale and buying retail every few years.


That might ring true. Dodge Ram Cummins engines mated with the manual box are detuned to ~600 lb-ft of torque. Autos get full power at ~900lb-ft of torque.

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
I was always told that the Ford diesels in "marine trim" as inboard boat motors were much more powerful than the truck ones. Supposedly the truck ones had to be detuned to keep from breaking the drive shaft. Maybe there was some truth to that.

If you show some restraint on the option box, you can get good value. The thing I like is the ability of a truck to go from first car to second car to third car. That saves the friction of selling wholesale and buying retail every few years.


I find that very hard to believe. Usually marine engines are detuned when compared to their automotive counterpart...espcially in the large diesel engines used for commercial type work. The duty cycle even in an F450 will more than likely be orders of magnitude easier than that of its marine counterpart. Boats are going "uphill and into the wind" all day every day. They never get a light load.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Short bed = Never

Marine diesels generally do make a lot more power than road diesels, since they generally need to be making more power for their weight, and cooling is unlimited.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Now, the extra short bed on the crew cab trucks is almost useless at 5 1/2'.


It all depends on how you use it.

I have a 5' bed, and use it all the time. It carries 4x8 sheet material flat on the bed floor with the tailgate down, which is what anyone has to do who doesn't have an 8' long bed. I carry furniture in it. I hauled a bunk bed with trundle, a full size dresser with mirror, and two twin mattresses to NC from my folks' house in FL earlier this year. In one trip. In my 5' bed.

I find tremendous amounts of utility in a 5' bed, and actually have no interest in something I can't easily garage. If I bought a full size truck, the only configuration I would consider is a 4-door with the shortest bed they make.

 

[jimbrewer]

Originally Posted By: DriveHard
Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
I was always told that the Ford diesels in "marine trim" as inboard boat motors were much more powerful than the truck ones. Supposedly the truck ones had to be detuned to keep from breaking the drive shaft. Maybe there was some truth to that.

If you show some restraint on the option box, you can get good value. The thing I like is the ability of a truck to go from first car to second car to third car. That saves the friction of selling wholesale and buying retail every few years.


I find that very hard to believe. Usually marine engines are detuned when compared to their automotive counterpart...espcially in the large diesel engines used for commercial type work. The duty cycle even in an F450 will more than likely be orders of magnitude easier than that of its marine counterpart. Boats are going "uphill and into the wind" all day every day. They never get a light load.


Well, I'm seeing stuff about Ford Power Products selling a 7.3L diesel that makes 330hp compared to 250 HP for truck version. I presume it's related to the superior cooling available in the water. Still, it's doubtful that that would break the driveshaft.

So I would put what I heard in the "grain of truth" category.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: DriveHard
Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
I was always told that the Ford diesels in "marine trim" as inboard boat motors were much more powerful than the truck ones. Supposedly the truck ones had to be detuned to keep from breaking the drive shaft. Maybe there was some truth to that.

If you show some restraint on the option box, you can get good value. The thing I like is the ability of a truck to go from first car to second car to third car. That saves the friction of selling wholesale and buying retail every few years.


I find that very hard to believe. Usually marine engines are detuned when compared to their automotive counterpart...espcially in the large diesel engines used for commercial type work. The duty cycle even in an F450 will more than likely be orders of magnitude easier than that of its marine counterpart. Boats are going "uphill and into the wind" all day every day. They never get a light load.


But they can have a REALLY big cooling system (ie, the ocean)...I recall the highest power rating for the 5.9 Cummins was a marine tune. Also, I think the emission rules are less strict.