F-450 pickup is a 4x4 diesel-only option. F-450 cab & chassis come with a gas option (6.8L V10 for a 2015 F-450 C&C) and available 2wd.

What cargo type and weight are you realistically looking at?

 

Good to know. I wasn't thinking of buying new but I may have to in order to get a chassis cab with 2WD and a gas engine. I'll have to compare cost and maintenance on a used 6.7L diesel vs. new CC gas. Any opinions on the 6.2L V8 vs. 6.8L V10?

As far as payload, it's not cut and dry. A service body weighs 900-1,200 lbs empty. It will have an unknown amount of weight in the toolboxes. A lift gate weighs 250-350 lbs. Camper tongue weight is 700 (empty). The bed will be empty when towing the camper except what's in the toolboxes. While not pulling the camper, the most weight I'll ever have in the bed will be a 2,500 lb. pallet of salt.

 

18" steel wheels on the truck? If so I think you're fine with the SRW, sounds like you can come in under 7000# on the rear axle.

V8 vs V10 - I don't think there's a practical difference in your application of hauling, both will have more than enough power to move the truck at it's max GVWR just fine. Both have long enough service histories with no glaring failures, it's really more a choice of truck and you get what engine you get.

 

The SRW F-350 I'm looking at has 17" wheels, if that matters. So you think that will be enough. Hmm. I'll trust your judgement. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't over-loading it.

 

My current equipment won't do what I need it to do, so I have to upgrade. No other way around it. In regards to debt, I'm not a fan. But, I do currently have a truck payment so trading in one payment for another isn't really that big of a deal. And I don't think anyone here just wants to spend my money. Everyone here has been very patient, nice, and helpful so far.

 

So F-350 SRWs with single 17" rear wheels typically have Load Range E tires with a load index of 121, or 3195# each and 6,390# for the pair. That will be your maximum rear axle weight rating. The while rear axle itself is rated to 7100#, the tires are your limiting factor in that truck. Factory 18s came with a 125 LI tire rated to 3640#, or 7,280# per pair, so the tires were rated for more than the axle, and the truck had a higher RGAWR on the VIN sticker. When you put the pallet of salt it, you'd be better off to put it as far forward as you can to transfer as much weight as possible to the front axle to stay under those rear tire ratings. If you're picking it up and driving it a half mile to the shop to unload, no big deal. Picking it up an hour away and running 65mph on the highway, then you'll need to be careful when you load it, and if you can break the pallet down and put some in the cab (not sure if you mean a pallet of bags like concrete, or a single container). Springs, rear axle, frame, all those things you don't really need to worry about overloading, you're well safe on those up past the tire ratings on this truck.

My truck puts 3440# on the rear axle with call it 200# of junk in the bed. For argument sake say that my bed itself is roughly even with your lift gate, add a 1k service body (1200 less the 200 of my junk), you're at about 2000# of usable weight left in the tires. If you found 18" wheels and tires you could add another 500# over that; if you found some 19.5" Rickson wheelss and put a commercial tire on the truck you'll won't have to worry about tire loading, and you might be better off overall in terms of tire wear in the long haul; that's something to think about when you see how long your first set of 17s last, and how many $800-1200 sets of tires you're willing to buy instead of getting a set of 19.5s. Hard $3K upfront for the commercial wheels and tires, but that's realistically three sets of normal 17s. It's up to you how comfortable you are with an infrequent overload, the tires are the limiting factor for you, and that's one rating I don't mess with. People can argue all day about GCWR and GVWR, but tires are things that can cause serious problems very quickly when you mess with them. A 121 LI tire only inflated to 65psi that gets loaded to 3500# can get damaged in a hurry.

 

That's a lot of numbers! I love it! I'm with you on tire safety. I have (been forced to) driven over-loaded commercial vehicles in the past and have had several blowouts on the highway. That's exactly what I'm trying to prevent. Even if it is infrequently over-loaded, I am really not comfortable with that. Unfortunately, I can't set the pallet in the front of the bed because then I won't be able to get it back out with a forklift. Based on your advice about wheels and tires, I think for my situation it would be best to just get the SRW F-350 and upgrade the wheels/tires in the near future (as I need to for weight). From what you're saying, if I get a set of 19.5 wheels and commercial tires I will have no issues with my payload needs, and that will be cheaper in the long run for maintenance than a diesel or even a gas DRW. I really appreciate all the info!

 

Commercial tires is another thing I know nothing about. If I went with the 19.5" wheel, what size/type of tires could I get without having to lift the truck?

 

245/70R19.5 are about 33x10, those would fit for sure. 265/70R19.5 should fit on a 2015 at 34.5x10.5, but that will be more dependent on the offset of whichever wheel you find. Rickson is one option:
Rickson Wheel Manufacturing

Don't put the cart before the horse though, factory 18's are still a good option, and cheaper. There are takeoffs from guys who buy new trucks and sell the factory tire/rims to upgrade, you can get 80%+ tires and wheels for $400+ pretty regularly. A 126-129 LI 18" is a good choice for a lot cheaper buy in cost, and will cover the actual rear axle's weight rating.

 

By your math, if I put the 18s on, I'll have roughly 2500 lbs capacity and a pallet of salt would make it full capacity. The 19.5 tires give me more tire capacity but it's still the same axle with 7100 lb capacity. Even though hauling a pallet of salt across town won't be a daily occurrence, I'm not comfortable with it loading the capacity to 100% (and that's with nothing in the toolboxes). Does the DRW rear axle have more weight capacity?

 

Yes, on the 9-10k line. I'd have to find the book to look up the Dana specs depending which year you got.

 

Sounds like I need to go the DRW route then...

 

I'd still ask how many pallets of salt you haul a year, and challenge you with asking is renting a trailer for single days a year significantly cheaper than the daily cost of a DRW versus this available and set up SRW? 2500# is not a heavy load for a trailer, you can buy a trailer that can handle that for less than the cost of the two extra tires you're adding with a DRW that you won't need daily. You can rent one for even less. This set up SRW, some factory 18 takeoffs eventually, and a trailer a few times a year versus the cost of a new truck? Seems like easy math if you're trying to start something profitable.

 

You know...that's actually a really good idea. Nobody does that. I like it. Thanks! Hey I noticed you live in Justin. Do you ever go to the races at TMS?

 

Been going for years, my in-laws were an inaugural PSL holders.