Thursday, October 30, 2008

Our New Honey - Ford F-350 6.8L V10 Short Box Dually

Now that's a mouthful.

We had a truck in the back of our mind's for next summer but as things turned out I was made a deal we couldn't refuse and therefore we have a new TV. 24,000 miles on a 2005 is pretty nice. The previous owners did pull a fifth wheel with the truck but parked in unless they were camping so therefore the below average miles. (or so the dealership says)

I pulled the TT to the storage facility on Tuesday night and WOW, I mean WOW. The 1500 worked fine but this is a MONSTER. Really its hard to tell you are pulling anything and that is VERY cool. Mileage in the 1500 ranged from 8 to 13 towing but the engine usually had to work pretty hard, especially in the hills. The ease of towing and power associated with this truck means it wont have to work so hard so I fully expect to get at least 10 to 13 with this truck if not a bit more. I've heard from some of the guys on the RVNET forum that claim to get 12 to 16 when towing so we will see. Driving style is the biggest factor in maximizing MPG anyhow. The one time I did get 8 (actually 7.5) was going 75mph down the interstate into a head wind and being in a hurry (really does nothing for mpg)

A few things that are taking a little getting used to.

A. Duallys make the back end exactly the same width as my TT. SOOOO, no curb checks yet but my driving habits have changed a bit and I drive it just like the TT is behind it. (NO MORE FAST FOOD DRIVE THROUGH BUT THAT CAN'T BE A BAD THING)
B. You don't sit down into it, you climb up into it. In the silverado I could get in and sit without using the running boards to get in, NOT ANY MORE.
C. The BLIND spot on the passenger side is REALLY a blind spot. A lot of cars are shorter than the back end of the truck and are HARD to see even looking over your right shoulder. I've got blind spot mirrors built in so that helps a bit but I have to be very careful. I actually almost took out a little Honda Civic who was traveling right in my blind spot the second night I had the truck.

Anyhow, I know I'm a geek but I am pretty excited, and the best thing to boot is that my truck payment went down almost $100 a month although now I have 60 months left instead of 8. Insurance is only up $150 for the entire year, better than I expected.... YAY

Until next time...

No comments: