rtguy007

You would probably be happy with this one. Appears to be really clean.

http://mobile.dealercarsearch.com/largephotos.aspx?id=6091227

http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=DCS_0&vin=3D7KR29C66G176813

Scratch that...it is the 6.0. The mobile auto trader site is horrible on showing details.

Do you guys have a brand preference?

Dodge or Ford. DH says just a 2500 or 250. I dream BIG for our next camper and wouldn't mind getting something bigger, but sadly no one at my house has bought into the if momma ain't happy philosophy.

My wife says the same thing.

So dreaming big.....travel trailer or fifth wheel?

Scratch that...it is the 6.0. The mobile auto trader site is horrible on showing details.

Do you guys have a brand preference?

All this tow vehicle talk got me looking as well. The wife is going to kill me. :D

I am blaming Nacole for getting me looking again. Well that and DH says he does want to go camping more, but doesn't trust our truck too much. So I found this nearby.

http://www.landersmclartydcjal.com/used/Ford/2008-Ford-F-250-0f5644c90a0a00de49e2c94aa1726d83.htm

Is it worth it to drive over and check it out? How much would you offer? We will have a trade.

http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=DLR_3&vin=1FTSW21R88EA76449

Check this one out.

http://m.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=401405840&zip=35801&endYear=2016&vehicleStyleCodes=TRUCKS&pageLayout=list&fuelTypeGroup=DSL&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&startYear=1981&searchRadius=25&mmt=%5BFORD%5B%5D%5B%5D%5D

All this tow vehicle talk got me looking as well. The wife is going to kill me. :D

I am blaming Nacole for getting me looking again. Well that and DH says he does want to go camping more, but doesn't trust our truck too much. So I found this nearby.

http://www.landersmclartydcjal.com/used/Ford/2008-Ford-F-250-0f5644c90a0a00de49e2c94aa1726d83.htm

Is it worth it to drive over and check it out? How much would you offer? We will have a trade.

http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=DLR_3&vin=1FTSW21R88EA76449

Looks like a good truck. Mileage doesn't seem bad for that year. I would be more concerned with the 4 owners in 167k miles. There may be something wrong with it since it has switched hands that many times.

Got my first tank of diesel last night. Cost was about the same as filling up the 1500. Got about 550 miles out of the first tank but still had a little under 1/4 of a tank left when I filled up. I am averaging 25 on the freeways and 22 in the city of the evic guage is accurate (my 1500bwas close). It looks like I will get much better mpg out of the Cummins but I am light on the pedal now so that could change.

So far the only thing I hate about it is getting it in a parking garage. The one at work I only have 2 inches of clearance between the top of the cab and the concrete support beams in the garage. It is nerve racking pulling it in there.

I'm curious as to the 5 radiators as they are not something you typically replace more than once unless they kept getting rocks thrown through it or had a lot of front end accidents. I could see the transmission going bad due to a bad radiator. Either way I would avoid this one as something doesn't pass the smell test.

I was thinking the same thing with the tranny going bad. I know some trucks run tranny fluid through the radiator in a separate set of pipes to help keep it cool. Not sure if the f250 does it but my Dakota and Ranger were both setup that way.

Got my wife into senses the last time we went. She was in for the signature for 2 hours. Came out looking relaxed and drunk at the same time. She said it was great. We may try a couples massage this time but I am not sure yet. I am not a person to go to a spa but she would probably like spending time with me and not the kiddos for a little bit.

Okay, so we thought we found a good fit, then we pulled the Carfax and saw that the radiator had been replaced...5 times in 4 years; along with a new transmission and a couple of other "minor" things.  All of this on a car with less than 50k miles.

 

Yeah...I say we buy this one!  

Wow.....that sounds like a winner. 50k miles and 5 radiators....something was really wrong there. What was the truck?

I have a 27-gallon Thetford, affectionately known as the poop-wagon. It hooks to the hitch, but you've gotta drive SLOW. Has a gauge to let you know it's time to close the valve. Think about where you're going to stow it, they're big.

Forgot about the stowing. They are big regardless of what size you get. I wouldn't recommend stowing inside the camper but that is just my preference on something like that.

18 gallon from camping world. It is possible to lift into the truck bed. We have been to some CG'S where the dump station is a mile or so up the road. Those waste tanks wheels don't like much over 5mph before they start to wear fast or fall off/apart. We don't dump black into ours (we don't fill black quickly anyway). Over a 5 day period we may dump 2 times if using the water frequently.

While your looking I to it, check camping world for a 45 gallon portable water bladder. Really handy when your site doesn't have water hookup but there is a fill somewhere close or in the park. This complements the waste tank well. The bladder folds up to be pretty small.

With both of those, your options on available camping sites and CG's can go up because you have a way to transport bulk fluids without hooking up and moving the camper.

I know your not a fan of camping world but that is the only place I have found the water bladder.

Good luck

Are the sites close together? My sister and I have both talked about taking our families there.

Looks good. Hopefully it will give you years of trouble free use. Congrats on the new PUP.

You will love your truck for towing. The hitch adaptor is under your back seat or it should be. Report back on your mpg.

Checked behind of every nook and cranny in the truck including under all 4 seats. Couldn't find the adapter. Ended up picking one up from the dealer today. Kinda pricy for what it is. $33 plus tax but it fits well compared to the adapters that don't have the stop ring to align the holes without messing with it.

Ryan

Curious how your day of truck hunting went. Updates?

Thanks Frank. Do you have the number you called? Mine is doing something very similar.

My 5.7 hemi did the same thing going over jelico and up the mountain to Elkmont in the smokies. The engine was not the issue as much as a low rear end ratio with the 6 speed auto. The trans would slam shift when it had to change gears. It was not a pleasant sound.

The goal with torque is to have it peak at the right spot in the rpm range when towing over the mountain. At least that is what I would say in your case. More is better but 570 is a lot to start with. Then again, my experience with the 5.7 hemi and a 5.9l v8 from chrysler was the peak torque was to high up the rpm range for towing heavy stuff. Hence where the diesel comes in.

Diesels normally won't run over 4k rpm at a max in most conditions. 2000 rpm would mean your max torque is in the middle of your rpm range. For towing it is probably just fine there. At 1600, it would be fine there as well. You just don't want it much over the 2k rpm mark otherwise you will be running the hell out of the engine.

I would be more concerned with the rear gear ratio. If you can get something around a 3.73 in a diesel, it will probably be your best bet. On the new ram 2500, you can only get the 3.42 with the diesel which is a little low for me but it still pulls really hard being that low.

Hope this helps.

With all this tow vehicle talk recently, I have spent more time lurking here than posting. Mainly because I have been kicking around the idea of buying an older 3/4 ton diesel to tow with. I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on what they are selling for around here used with 250k+ miles on them and they are 10 years old. So after some thinking and looking around, I figured out that adding another vehicle to my driveway was not feasible without trading in the 1500. Now I loved my 1500 and hated to part with it but I pulled the trigger and traded it in only after owning it for 2 years. I now am the proud owner of a 2015 Ram 2500 Laramie with a diesel. Found out my employer discount was 1% under dealer invoice and it also allowed me to stack all additional discounts available from the factory on it. After all was said and done, I was able to shave 16k off the original list price of 61k. Factor in the negative equity I had in the 1500 and I still came out ahead. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Didn't want to pay more for the payment but at the same time, you can't put a price on your families safety. With the 1500 I was a few hundred pounds away from overload and it would scream like a banshee going up any mountains. Now I can tow up to 17000 safely and have the additional payload to on the truck.

Here are 2 pics. Believe it or not, the truck is a really dark green but the crappy weather isn't cooperating and it looks black. Go figure.

Now all I need to do is find the class 5 to class 4 adapter for my hitch so that I can readjust it. I can't wait to try out towing on my next outage.

I am really going to miss my 1500. I loved that truck. Just hope I didn't make a mistake in the long run.

Ryan

All this tow vehicle talk got me looking as well. The wife is going to kill me. :D

Heading to Deer Creek State Park this weekend. Drove through last weekend. Looks like a nice place to kick back and relax for a few days. There is nothing near it but looks pretty relaxing if you just need to get away for a few days.

Should have shown it where Body Wars used to be. LOL

I forgot about body wars. Was terrified of it when I was a kid.

Anchor Down RV Resort Dandridge TN just outside of Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg TN...

You know they offer group discount rates for GG and such......Just sayin'

That would be awesome. But I couldn't go down and not stay at Elkmont. It would be like cheating on the wife. Been going there for years. I know it is primitive camping but it is really peaceful and there is something about staying up there I can get away from.

Gotcha. The ones I listed above were all season for options for that size. Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

 

Thanks for the pointer. It gives me something to work from when talking with the dealer.

NP. I was able to go back and check with your options and did get the smaller tires you found. Lord knows why ford does that.

On a side note, it looks like the 20" and 18" tires are about the same price from a few different dealers. I would prefer the 18s for towing but if you want the 20s, I wouldn't sweat the replacement cost of tires since it was about the same from what I was seeing.

Good luck with you new truck.

Gotcha. The ones I listed above were all season for options for that size. Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

Did the build option for both an xlt and lariat, extended cab, eco boost, max tow, 3.55 and 3.73 rear end, and 18 tire size on a 2015 f150. The size of available tires to choose from only shows a 275/65r18. Unless I am missing something I can't find the option anywhere for the 265/60r18. Also checked with discount tire and tire rack and for a 2015, they only show the 275/65r18 size for an 18 inch rim.

What was the specific packages you chose or wanted. Wondering of that is where I am missing something.