kdbgoat said:
Well, I have found out the rears on F-350's and F-250's are exactly the same, part # fr part #. I also found out the later F-250's (2013 I believe) all have the 4" rear spring block instead of the 2" like some of the older F-250's.
Going to purchase FW, Do I need to be concerned width and the length?
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Well, I have found out the rears on F-350's and F-250's are exactly the same, part # fr part #. I also found out the later F-250's (2013 I believe) all have the 4" rear spring block instead of the 2" like some of the older F-250's.
I?m not trying to hijack you post here. I know trying to decide what to purchase and to make sure you make the right choice can be daunting and it?s a big financial decision. It can be a lot of fun too. I?d like to just like to share what we learned in this process and what helped us to make our decision.
We just went through the same process. I've been camping (RV'ing) since the early 60's. Our family has camped and owned every type of RV that has been made. My wife and I had been researching and deciding on which type and Brand of RV to choose when we retired. We spent the past 13 yrs. trying to decide and we just pulled the trigger a month ago. During that time, we drove to Tampa and other places that had large RV sales lots, which let us, look at many different models and brands. I've been reading, every forum, RV and Trucks trying to decide on what was best for us. 3 yrs. ago, a friend had an older motor home, he was thinking about selling. He and his family was finished camping and he told me if we would just pay it off we could have it. We've had a blast over the past 3 yrs., but it wasn't the RV we wanted to use to travel in.
We settled and had been leaning for the past 13 yrs. on a 5th wheel and had a few brands we were considering. Unfortunately, some of the manufactures are no longer in business, due to the economy a few years back. Others where bought out by Large Manufactures. Even though a lot of brands still have their "Brand Names" on their RV's these Large Manufactures control and own them. You would never know it; if you didn't do some research. I believe, and I could be wrong, but two of the Largest Manufactures own 85% of the RV market. In my opinion, this has hurt the RV Industry as a whole. IMHO monopolies never favor the customers. In the past 20 years the quality of most RV?s has tanked. Quality control, and customer service has suffered tremendously. All you have to do is talk to owners, look "closely" at the RV's on the lots or Google a "Brand Name" + reviews, to see how unhappy a lot of owners are. From reading and talking to owners, some owners brought a lot of it on themselves by not researching, or doing their homework before purchasing an RV. With all the information available on the internet all the information is there. I'm really happy that you didn't do that and you are here and researching and asking questions and not just taking the word of a salesman.
There are a lot of problems with the RV industry today. One of the problems is the "Parts" that are manufactured for the RV Industry. These RV Parts are made by only a few manufactures and today most parts have been outsourced to China. Again, in my opinion the "RV Parts" is being monopolized and it's bad for the RV Industry. Sure, it may bring down the prices so consumers can afford them, but what is the point if you are buying junk. All or most RV Manufactures today, purchase from only a couple of Parts Manufactures i.e. frames, windows, doors, AC units, jacks, axles, refrigerators, etc., to install into their particular "RV Brand". There are some quality parts that are still being made and installed in RV's, but these parts raise the prices of the RV and consumers want the cheapest price. With the competition being tight, manufactures trying to gain market shares and the customers wanting cheaper RV's, RV Manufactures opt to use cheaper made products, it's going to be hard to turn the RV Industry around.
So, if everyone is basically using the same parts than what's the difference between RV manufactures and the product they produce? One is the processes, materials, construction/production in building their products, i.e. Walls, Windows, Roof Construction, and Tires/Suspensions, etc. Second and the most important to us was and is Quality Control and Customer Service! This was the tipping point for us.
Most RV manufactures, have entry level, mid-level and upper level RV units in order meet their customers? needs and wallet, while trying to make a profit. No one is expecting to get a Top level RV at Entry or Mid-level price... but... "some" RV Manufactures are cutting corners, using inferior products, sacrificing quality control and customer service for the bottom line. This is not acceptable and until the buying public starts educating themselves and stops purchasing for these manufactures, it's going to be hard to turn the RV Industry around. Competition is good! Remember what happened to the US auto industry? There was little competition, they got complacent, started putting out shoddy work, then the Japanese stepped in and started selling a better built car and took a big part of the market share and what happened?
No, RV Manufacture is perfect or puts out a perfect product. Most are using a lot of the same parts. But... there is No Excuse for the Lack of quality control and the Blatant Disregard for the customer after they have your money. Unfortunately that is what is happening to a lot if consumers.
The reason, we purchased the 5th wheel we did, we felt like we were getting the best product for the money, but what sold us is the customer service after the sale. I've read so many stories, of how the company stepped up and took care of the customer after the sale. It was obvious that customer service matters to them. After we ordered ours and were waiting for it to be built, I was trying to get in touch with the area Rep to ask a question. I tried a couple of times and hadn't heard from him. I emailed customer support off their corporate web site at 8:50 pm one night to have someone to contact me, because I wasn't sure I had the right name and I wasn't sure my message was getting to him. Within 1 minute, my cell phone rang and it was the Marketing Director of the company. Needless to say I was shocked. He assured me that I will be hearing for the person, by the next morning. After I hung up, within 3 minutes I had another phone call for the area Rep... My wife and I thought Wow! He apologized, he was out of town at a Rally and hadn't checked his messages in a couple of days...He was calling me from the road... now that is customer service. One more issue we had. After purchasing our 5th wheel and getting it home, I came down with flu like symptoms. I started helping my wife to load the 5th wheel, but after a few hours I went to bed and was in the house for 3 days. The 3rd night we had some rain, but nothing big. That night, without knowing it we had tornadoes in our area. The next morning my wife said, I think you need to out here and look. Our 18' awning was left out and my wife didn't know to bring it in, got twisted and was wrapped over the front slide. Worst part is there was some confusion with our insurance ... we thought we were covered, but we were not at that time for comprehension or collision...Yeah! Anyway I called the Manufacturer and they worked it out to get me the arms and other parts to me at their cost.
We purchase a 2017 Grand Design 384GK-R (Residential). It's 40 1/2' GVWR 16K. We had G rated tires, Gen prep, champagne colored furniture, and dishwasher. Our Tow vehicle is a 2017 Ford F350 Dually, King Ranch 3.55 axle. When we were deciding on which model to get I was looking more at a 36'm but the wife liked the layout of the 40 1/2. It was a good decision. When we were still waiting for it to be built, we were offered a paid hosting job for 6 mo's out of the year with a few other couples at a camp ground in north AL. I'm now glad, we got the larger unit. We took a trip up there at the beginning of Jan. We drove, through the Smokey's to Charlotte,NC to Columbia, SC Atlanta and home to Pensacola, FL. Truck pulled great and RV is fantastic. We had a jack that was leaking, so it is being replaced now and I'll pick it up this week. No other issues with the RV and I at the POI, I went over everything with fine-tooth-comb and it is built solid. The leak didn't show up for a couple of days. The Awning arms will drop shipped to me and I'll get that taken care of before we leave for our host adventure later this month.
I write all of this to say? Yes, look at the floor plan, the size of the unit, lay on the bed, the construction, suspension, tires, window, paint or stickers, and all the other stuff mentioned. I urge you to Google the manufacture of the unit you are thinking of buying and look at the reviews of people that bought them and what and how many problems they have had. How long did it take for the manufacture to send the part to have your RV fixed and how long did it have to sit at the dealer before the dealer got the part.
There are stories, of customer having their RV sit at the dealer for several months waiting on parts because the RV manufacture is blaming the Parts manufacture or Dealer and/or the Parts manufacture blaming the RV manufacture, while the customer is making payments with the Warranty clock is ticking away. Sound unbelievable? Do your homework and research.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy your RV and TOW as much as we are.
We just went through the same process. I've been camping (RV'ing) since the early 60's. Our family has camped and owned every type of RV that has been made. My wife and I had been researching and deciding on which type and Brand of RV to choose when we retired. We spent the past 13 yrs. trying to decide and we just pulled the trigger a month ago. During that time, we drove to Tampa and other places that had large RV sales lots, which let us, look at many different models and brands. I've been reading, every forum, RV and Trucks trying to decide on what was best for us. 3 yrs. ago, a friend had an older motor home, he was thinking about selling. He and his family was finished camping and he told me if we would just pay it off we could have it. We've had a blast over the past 3 yrs., but it wasn't the RV we wanted to use to travel in.
We settled and had been leaning for the past 13 yrs. on a 5th wheel and had a few brands we were considering. Unfortunately, some of the manufactures are no longer in business, due to the economy a few years back. Others where bought out by Large Manufactures. Even though a lot of brands still have their "Brand Names" on their RV's these Large Manufactures control and own them. You would never know it; if you didn't do some research. I believe, and I could be wrong, but two of the Largest Manufactures own 85% of the RV market. In my opinion, this has hurt the RV Industry as a whole. IMHO monopolies never favor the customers. In the past 20 years the quality of most RV?s has tanked. Quality control, and customer service has suffered tremendously. All you have to do is talk to owners, look "closely" at the RV's on the lots or Google a "Brand Name" + reviews, to see how unhappy a lot of owners are. From reading and talking to owners, some owners brought a lot of it on themselves by not researching, or doing their homework before purchasing an RV. With all the information available on the internet all the information is there. I'm really happy that you didn't do that and you are here and researching and asking questions and not just taking the word of a salesman.
There are a lot of problems with the RV industry today. One of the problems is the "Parts" that are manufactured for the RV Industry. These RV Parts are made by only a few manufactures and today most parts have been outsourced to China. Again, in my opinion the "RV Parts" is being monopolized and it's bad for the RV Industry. Sure, it may bring down the prices so consumers can afford them, but what is the point if you are buying junk. All or most RV Manufactures today, purchase from only a couple of Parts Manufactures i.e. frames, windows, doors, AC units, jacks, axles, refrigerators, etc., to install into their particular "RV Brand". There are some quality parts that are still being made and installed in RV's, but these parts raise the prices of the RV and consumers want the cheapest price. With the competition being tight, manufactures trying to gain market shares and the customers wanting cheaper RV's, RV Manufactures opt to use cheaper made products, it's going to be hard to turn the RV Industry around.
So, if everyone is basically using the same parts than what's the difference between RV manufactures and the product they produce? One is the processes, materials, construction/production in building their products, i.e. Walls, Windows, Roof Construction, and Tires/Suspensions, etc. Second and the most important to us was and is Quality Control and Customer Service! This was the tipping point for us.
Most RV manufactures, have entry level, mid-level and upper level RV units in order meet their customers? needs and wallet, while trying to make a profit. No one is expecting to get a Top level RV at Entry or Mid-level price... but... "some" RV Manufactures are cutting corners, using inferior products, sacrificing quality control and customer service for the bottom line. This is not acceptable and until the buying public starts educating themselves and stops purchasing for these manufactures, it's going to be hard to turn the RV Industry around. Competition is good! Remember what happened to the US auto industry? There was little competition, they got complacent, started putting out shoddy work, then the Japanese stepped in and started selling a better built car and took a big part of the market share and what happened?
No, RV Manufacture is perfect or puts out a perfect product. Most are using a lot of the same parts. But... there is No Excuse for the Lack of quality control and the Blatant Disregard for the customer after they have your money. Unfortunately that is what is happening to a lot if consumers.
The reason, we purchased the 5th wheel we did, we felt like we were getting the best product for the money, but what sold us is the customer service after the sale. I've read so many stories, of how the company stepped up and took care of the customer after the sale. It was obvious that customer service matters to them. After we ordered ours and were waiting for it to be built, I was trying to get in touch with the area Rep to ask a question. I tried a couple of times and hadn't heard from him. I emailed customer support off their corporate web site at 8:50 pm one night to have someone to contact me, because I wasn't sure I had the right name and I wasn't sure my message was getting to him. Within 1 minute, my cell phone rang and it was the Marketing Director of the company. Needless to say I was shocked. He assured me that I will be hearing for the person, by the next morning. After I hung up, within 3 minutes I had another phone call for the area Rep... My wife and I thought Wow! He apologized, he was out of town at a Rally and hadn't checked his messages in a couple of days...He was calling me from the road... now that is customer service. One more issue we had. After purchasing our 5th wheel and getting it home, I came down with flu like symptoms. I started helping my wife to load the 5th wheel, but after a few hours I went to bed and was in the house for 3 days. The 3rd night we had some rain, but nothing big. That night, without knowing it we had tornadoes in our area. The next morning my wife said, I think you need to out here and look. Our 18' awning was left out and my wife didn't know to bring it in, got twisted and was wrapped over the front slide. Worst part is there was some confusion with our insurance ... we thought we were covered, but we were not at that time for comprehension or collision...Yeah! Anyway I called the Manufacturer and they worked it out to get me the arms and other parts to me at their cost.
We purchase a 2017 Grand Design 384GK-R (Residential). It's 40 1/2' GVWR 16K. We had G rated tires, Gen prep, champagne colored furniture, and dishwasher. Our Tow vehicle is a 2017 Ford F350 Dually, King Ranch 3.55 axle. When we were deciding on which model to get I was looking more at a 36'm but the wife liked the layout of the 40 1/2. It was a good decision. When we were still waiting for it to be built, we were offered a paid hosting job for 6 mo's out of the year with a few other couples at a camp ground in north AL. I'm now glad, we got the larger unit. We took a trip up there at the beginning of Jan. We drove, through the Smokey's to Charlotte,NC to Columbia, SC Atlanta and home to Pensacola, FL. Truck pulled great and RV is fantastic. We had a jack that was leaking, so it is being replaced now and I'll pick it up this week. No other issues with the RV and I at the POI, I went over everything with fine-tooth-comb and it is built solid. The leak didn't show up for a couple of days. The Awning arms will drop shipped to me and I'll get that taken care of before we leave for our host adventure later this month.
I write all of this to say? Yes, look at the floor plan, the size of the unit, lay on the bed, the construction, suspension, tires, window, paint or stickers, and all the other stuff mentioned. I urge you to Google the manufacture of the unit you are thinking of buying and look at the reviews of people that bought them and what and how many problems they have had. How long did it take for the manufacture to send the part to have your RV fixed and how long did it have to sit at the dealer before the dealer got the part.
There are stories, of customer having their RV sit at the dealer for several months waiting on parts because the RV manufacture is blaming the Parts manufacture or Dealer and/or the Parts manufacture blaming the RV manufacture, while the customer is making payments with the Warranty clock is ticking away. Sound unbelievable? Do your homework and research.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy your RV and TOW as much as we are.
Well, after doing a LOT more research on the differences between an F-250 and an F-350, Here's what I found. This applies to 2011 to 2016 years. There are essentially two different spring set-ups for these models. One set-up has a helper spring and one doesn't. The ones without the helper all have the same spring rate regardless of part number. The ones with the helper also have the same spring rate regardless of the part number. Either spring set-up on an F-250 has a RAWR of 6100# max. Either spring set-up whether with helper leaf or not can yield a 7000# RAWR on an F-350. The rear axles are identical on SWR's. The actual axle weight rating of the 10.5" Sterling axle is 9750#. As stated before, some of the earlier F-250's had a 2" block, and they all eventually got 4" block like the F-350's. The one big variable is the rating of the tires and wheels. What it boils down to is the F-250 and the F-350 are mechanically identical. The only real difference is the sticker on the pillar.
Also one must research what springs are installed on the front of a particular truck. There are various ratings on them and each part # is available on both the F-250 and F-350. The snowplow package springs are the heaviest at 6000 rating.
So, the next time you see an F-250 pulling something that should be pulled by an F-350, just remember they're not necessarily being unsafe, just might be illegal depending on how they have it registered in their state. My F-250 has a GVWR of 10,000# on the sticker, but I could get it registered for 11,500# in various states.
FWIW, up until two years ago, my nephew owned a Ford dealership, and still has good contacts with the factory. He has been a great help with my research.
Also one must research what springs are installed on the front of a particular truck. There are various ratings on them and each part # is available on both the F-250 and F-350. The snowplow package springs are the heaviest at 6000 rating.
So, the next time you see an F-250 pulling something that should be pulled by an F-350, just remember they're not necessarily being unsafe, just might be illegal depending on how they have it registered in their state. My F-250 has a GVWR of 10,000# on the sticker, but I could get it registered for 11,500# in various states.
FWIW, up until two years ago, my nephew owned a Ford dealership, and still has good contacts with the factory. He has been a great help with my research.
jims94vmx
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
- Posts
- 110
What gearing did you go with? I am finding it hard to believe that the exact same F250 with each having the HD payload package of 10k but one having 3.73 is rated to tow 12,500 lbs while the exact same truck with 4.30 can tow 15,300. I understand gearing, but big difference. Hard to find a 4.30 geared truck in my area (Lehigh Valley Pa.)
We are looking at 5th wheels in the 10-12k range. Crazy right?
We are looking at 5th wheels in the 10-12k range. Crazy right?
I have the 3.73's. That's all I need to tow what I own. 4.30's are hard to find around here too. Loaded correctly, I'd have no issues towing a 12,000# fifth wheel. I do have the snowplow package which gives me the heaviest front springs (6000#).
