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Old 12-30-2018, 12:50 PM   #1
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Question Ford F-250/350 likes / dislikes / options? generally speaking

Hello wise people of the Escape Forum.

For people who own an F 150-250-350... what are your likes / dislikes / happy to have options? generally speaking.

In the long term we may well buy a 2019 or 2020 Ford F350 (big cab with 4 real doors) with an 8' bed, and single rear wheels.... as we may switch to a Hallmark pop up camper. We will custom order it, for sure, with the specific things that are good for that setup.... been researching this a bunch on many other forums.

Pretty much sold on the Ford F-350. Yes it would be good to have that much weight capacity.

The 2020 model is rumored to have a new 7 L v8, plus a new heavy duty 10 speed transmission.

thanks!

J.
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Old 12-30-2018, 12:53 PM   #2
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https://www.tfltruck.com/2018/03/202...10-speed-next/
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Old 12-30-2018, 01:14 PM   #3
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The Hallmark truck camper looks like a really nice unit
We have been looking at 3/4 and 1 ton trucks .
From what we’re seeing there is not a huge difference in cost between the two
We’ll see come Spring !
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Old 12-30-2018, 01:50 PM   #4
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John,
My buddy just purchased an F-350 for his new fifth wheel. There was almost no inventory and nothing that was configured the way he wanted. Had to order it in October. Still waiting for the truck, even though it's rumored to be in his city for the last two weeks.
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Old 12-30-2018, 01:56 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
The Hallmark truck camper looks like a really nice unit
We have been looking at 3/4 and 1 ton trucks .
From what we’re seeing there is not a huge difference in cost between the two
We’ll see come Spring !
Heya Steve - I have been researching for a while. Given how lovely the Escape is for thermal insulation and solidity.. and how nice the fit and finish is on our Escape - it makes me very fussy about a possible shift to a pop up.

Four Wheel Campers are nice, but fairly basic, and metal on metal can cause thermal transfer to the inside. Hallmarks design avoids this entirely plus also gives more strength, I think. Yet still has 4 flexible seams to handle the inevitable flex.

Steve are you leaning towards a Ford as well? Yes a remarkably similar price between F250 and F350. I am told springs are the main difference.

J.
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Old 12-30-2018, 02:05 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Losangeles View Post
Hello wise people of the Escape Forum.

For people who own an F 150-250-350... what are your likes / dislikes / happy to have options? generally speaking.

In the long term we may well buy a 2019 or 2020 Ford F350 (big cab with 4 real doors) with an 8' bed, and single rear wheels.... as we may switch to a Hallmark pop up camper. We will custom order it, for sure, with the specific things that are good for that setup.... been researching this a bunch on many other forums.

Pretty much sold on the Ford F-350. Yes it would be good to have that much weight capacity.

The 2020 model is rumored to have a new 7 L v8, plus a new heavy duty 10 speed transmission.

thanks!

J.
My dad had an old F 350 fleetside….it was a total tank and rode like one! Not sure the Hallmark would be enough weight to soften it up some. If it were me I would look at the F 250 and a diesel. I have seen the Hallmark campers and they are VERY nice. There are times I miss my slide in pop up...mostly when we find rough roads or places that are tough to get into/turn around with the Escape. I do really enjoy my escape. Hope you find what works for you!
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Old 12-30-2018, 02:19 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Ian and Sue View Post
My dad had an old F 350 fleetside….it was a total tank and rode like one! Not sure the Hallmark would be enough weight to soften it up some. If it were me I would look at the F 250 and a diesel. I have seen the Hallmark campers and they are VERY nice. There are times I miss my slide in pop up...mostly when we find rough roads or places that are tough to get into/turn around with the Escape. I do really enjoy my escape. Hope you find what works for you!
Thanks for the thoughts. I test drove a new F 350 and it was ok. Not terribly tank like.

We won’t go diesel as we go way off the beaten path where there is no diesel.

Plus it adds about $9,000 and 900 lbs. Both very bad for our needs.

Would not ever drive enough to get the $9,000 back.

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Old 12-30-2018, 02:25 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Ian and Sue View Post
My dad had an old F 350 fleetside….it was a total tank and rode like one! Not sure the Hallmark would be enough weight to soften it up some. If it were me I would look at the F 250 and a diesel. I have seen the Hallmark campers and they are VERY nice. There are times I miss my slide in pop up...mostly when we find rough roads or places that are tough to get into/turn around with the Escape. I do really enjoy my escape. Hope you find what works for you!
My buddy owns a Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel , nice truck , nice ride
The payload for his truck is under 2100 lbs due to the Diesel engine , if It had the gas engine the payload would be over 2700 lbs
So I am not sure that a 3/4 ton diesel truck would necessarily work with a Halmark camper
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Old 12-30-2018, 07:41 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
We have been looking at 3/4 and 1 ton trucks .
From what we’re seeing there is not a huge difference in cost between the two
There's little cost difference because there's little difference in the trucks. I'm not saying that you can just change a part or two and make an F-250 into an F-350 (for example) or vice versa, but there are relatively few components which differ between them, within any brand, so the cost doesn't change much. Just configure for your requirements; which of these models that turns out to be isn't very important.

In contrast, there are substantial mechanical differences between the lighter-duty light trucks (F-150, GM 1500, Ram 1500, etc) and the heavier-duty light trucks (F-SuperDuty, GM 2500/3500, Ram 2500/3500) of the same brand, such as different engine choices and different suspension designs, and almost entirely distinct sets of chassis components.
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Old 12-30-2018, 08:05 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Losangeles View Post
We won’t go diesel as we go way off the beaten path where there is no diesel.

Plus it adds about $9,000 and 900 lbs. Both very bad for our needs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
My buddy owns a Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel , nice truck , nice ride
The payload for his truck is under 2100 lbs due to the Diesel engine , if It had the gas engine the payload would be over 2700 lbs
So I am not sure that a 3/4 ton diesel truck would necessarily work with a Halmark camper
This is a well-established problem, and it's good to see that it is understood. When Nissan introduced the heavier "XD" version of their Titan, with an optional diesel, it became apparent that the diesel is so heavy that moving up to the XD gives you a choice of a diesel or more payload... but not both. Trying to get both (in brands that offer a complete range of choices) becomes an exercise in escalation that easily leads to a very expensive truck which weighs five tons... empty.
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Old 12-30-2018, 09:38 PM   #11
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We has a 2000 F-250 with the V-10 pulling a 28' Arctic Fox years ago. Did a great job.

One of the things I like about a Ford is that virtually anyplace you travel in North America you can find a mechanic and parts. Pretty much the same with a Chevy or Ram. Less the case with imports. Finding an import vehicle specialist in most small, rural communities can be challenging.
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Old 12-30-2018, 09:51 PM   #12
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We has a 2000 F-250 with the V-10 pulling a 28' Arctic Fox years ago. Did a great job.

One of the things I like about a Ford is that virtually anyplace you travel in North America you can find a mechanic and parts. Pretty much the same with a Chevy or Ram. Less the case with imports. Finding an import vehicle specialist in most small, rural communities can be challenging.
We see very few foreign trucks in our area . We have 3 Ford dealers , 2 GM dealer’s and a Ram dealer within a 25 mile radius of our home . The closest import dealer is about 85 miles away plus many of the local auto repair shops don’t want to work on imports
As Ed Colorado said parts are also hard to get for imports and they have to be shipped in from out of town .
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Old 12-30-2018, 10:15 PM   #13
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Of course those folks who drive imports might say that you really don't need to worry if there' s a dealer nearby because their quality is so good that they rarely have problems.

Never thought when we bought my wife's Toyota 20 years ago that our niece, atrociously hard on cars as she is, would still be driving it trouble free after all these years. It just purrs along making routine runs to Calgary and back.

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Old 12-30-2018, 10:36 PM   #14
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I assume that when people say "import" they mean "from a manufacturer originally based outside of North America", since this identification is about companies, not vehicles. No pickup trucks are manufactured outside of North America for sale here, so there are no actual imported pickups (due largely to high import tariffs charged by the U.S. for many years on imported trucks).

The Ram and Colorado/Canyon diesel engines are imported (from Europe and Asia), Ram transmissions are a German design, the Colorado/Canyon and new Ranger designs are North American adaptations of Asian and Australian trucks (as is the Tacoma), the new Ranger engine is a Ford adaptation of what was originally a Mazda design. The reality of modern motor vehicles is that few of them have a clearly localized origin... and that makes for better vehicles. Up in the heavier pickup size - the F-250/350 of this discussion - the vehicles are much more "local", because this style of vehicle is little used outside of North America; the only "import" manufacturer of a pickup this heavy is Nissan (the Titan XD).

The practical reality is that local availability of dealerships and parts does vary by brand, and that can be important if you need repairs and parts. I would rather wait a couple of days for parts to come in when I need them every few years, than to need more parts but have them on the shelf locally, but priorities vary.
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Old 12-30-2018, 10:57 PM   #15
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The Toyota Tundra is pretty American. Designed in Newport Beach, California, engineered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, engine is built in Huntsville, Alabama and the final assembly takes place in San Antonio, Texas.
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Old 12-31-2018, 10:25 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
As Ed Colorado said parts are also hard to get for imports and they have to be shipped in from out of town .
Steve even Ford dealers in fairly large cities cannot keep everything needed in stock. For example in October had our daughter's F150 in the Ford dealer in Columbus GA, had to wait a day to get a part in from the Atlanta warehouse.
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Old 01-01-2019, 10:24 PM   #17
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John,
My buddy just purchased an F-350 for his new fifth wheel. There was almost no inventory and nothing that was configured the way he wanted. Had to order it in October. Still waiting for the truck, even though it's rumored to be in his city for the last two weeks.
Cool. Feel free to post any thoughts here once you get a chance to check it out.

J.
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Old 01-02-2019, 02:47 PM   #18
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Just finished a 6700 mile round trip to Chilliwack and back in a 2018 F150 XLT.
I have never had a more comfortable, easy, quieter, long trip in either a car or truck.
Couldn't believe this is a truck. Even my wife tolerates a 500 mile day in it without a single complaint.
I did several 650 days both towing and empty.
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Old 01-02-2019, 02:59 PM   #19
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Anyone looking at a F250/F350 may want to look at Roush Racing upgrades- https://www.roushperformance.com/veh...uper-duty.html
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Old 01-02-2019, 03:06 PM   #20
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Just finished a 6700 mile round trip to Chilliwack and back in a 2018 F150 XLT.
I have never had a more comfortable, easy, quieter, long trip in either a car or truck.
Couldn't believe this is a truck. Even my wife tolerates a 500 mile day in it without a single complaint.
I did several 650 days both towing and empty.
Hi: rotorbudd... What did you do with your wife for the other 150 miles? Alf
escaoe artist N.S. of Lake Erie
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