F-150 vs. F-250?

[redneckryder]

i am not trying to start a war. i swear. i am just curious about the difference aesthetically. I know most of the differences mechanically, but i got a few questions. i am lookin into getting a 78 or 79 ford, bypassed a few 250's because of the leaves (coils ride better in my personal opinion of the trucks i have been in) but then i got to thinking....if i want it to ride like a car, i would buy a car. so..to get to the questions:

1) do the 250's ride really rough?
2)personal opinions pro' and cons of 150's and 250's?
3)any body differences inside or out between the two?
4)i dont do any heavy 4 wheeling, but this truck will see the trails and the sand, opinions on which is better to wheel?

 

[countryboytn]

1) From my experiance, their not to bad.. but like you said, it's a truck not a luxury car.

2) I'v always like the F-250's for the beefier running gear, and bigger motor options

3) Can't answer this one..

4)If you plan on going with a suspension lift, I would go F-250 for the leafs, alot cheaper to lift than coils. If you don't plan on lifting it, I don't guess it would matter to much.

 

[miottimouse]

i have giving up on f150s for a number of reasons mainly,
9"rear end weight is carried on the axel/bearing
dana 60 is full floating meaning weight is carried on the houseing itself
dosnt mean much untill you break and axel at 60 mph and the tire/wheel is gone
and your rideing on the backing plates trieing to keep from rolling
f250/350 [above 6800lbs gvw] have duel piston front brakes and bigger rears
the stiff ride can be toned down a bit by removing a few leafs in the rear and i used f150 springs in front with 3" spacers
every thing else body wise is the same as far as i can tell

 

[Jolly Green]

The bodies are the same. The differences are in the springs and axels. As miottimouse explained, the D 60 rear in the 250 is more desirable, but the 9 inch is a good rear-end too.

The ride? I don't think the 250 rides much rougher than the 150.

 

[tomtoc]

i haven't owned anything this old, but my comparing my 97 f250 to my 93 f150, they rode about the same. i think the longer wheelbase on the 250 smoothed it out a little bit.

 

[Skandocious]

Tom wasn't your 250 a 2wd? That would have made it coil sprung in the front like the F150, which WOULD make it ride about the same.

 

[tomtoc]

Tom wasn't your 250 a 2wd? That would have made it coil sprung in the front like the F150, which WOULD make it ride about the same.

do you have to be right all the time?

you are correct - forget everything i said

 

[Skandocious]

To give a little more perspective... My brother's 97 F250 4wd is leaf sprung all around and it rides WAY rougher than my 95 F150 with coils in the front. We've both got 4" lifts with add-a-leafs on our leaf springs so the trucks are just about equivalent with each other. Especially after getting my Bilsteins the ride in my truck is a lot more tolerable.

 

[1985 Ford F-150]

I would base your decision on what your gonna do with the truck. Such as are ya gonna do any heavy hauling or towing? If your just gonna be drivin the truck by itself with no load and aint gonna tow a trailer very often then you would probly be fine with a 150. Ive towed many heavy loads with my 85 and it did alright the nose was up in the air some but it handled the load fine. The 250 will ride alot rougher than the 150. The 150 will make it alot more fun to four wheel on long trips off road and it wont beat ya up near as bad as a 250 will. I took my 76 up campin and it beat the hell out of me on some of the roads up there. You can also get the same motor in a 150 as ya can a 250 those years.

 

[countryboytn]

You can also get the same motor in a 150 as ya can a 250 those years.

I stand corrected!

 

[bigun72]

4)If you plan on going with a suspension lift, I would go F-250 for the leafs, alot cheaper to lift than coils. If you don't plan on lifting it, I don't guess it would matter to much.

false...... from wat i have seen coils are alot cheaper......

 

[Skandocious]

false...... from wat i have seen coils are alot cheaper......

False. (assuming Tyler was speaking about add-a-leaf's and now lift spring packs)

Rough price for lift coils = $150
Rough price for add-a-leaf's = $75-100

Example:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EXP-24612/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EXP-13128/

 

[countryboytn]

False. (assuming Tyler was speaking about add-a-leaf's and lift spring packs)

Yup!



Or you can always go the cheap route and throw some lift blocks under it. (would NOT want to run it on the street with this setup on the front though...)

 

[Skandocious]

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever use lift blocks on the front. Did I forget an "ever" in there?

I wouldn't recommend them for the rear either... Axle wrap for starters... But definitely don't use them on the front.

 

[countryboytn]

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever use lift blocks on the front. Did I forget an "ever" in there?

I wouldn't recommend them for the rear either... Axle wrap for starters... But definitely don't use them on the front.

I said, wouldn't recommend it for the street!


On the back it wouldn't be as bad, and if your on a budget it would be the easiest/cheapest way to go..(as long as you didn't go overboard and throw a 8'' block in there! )

 

[Skandocious]

Oh I wasn't specifically talking to you. Just making a general statement.

 

[bigun72]

False. (assuming Tyler was speaking about add-a-leaf's and now lift spring packs)

Rough price for add-a-leaf's = $75-100

who is gonna put a shitload of add-a-leafs in to git lift?!

http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-23208_superlift_coil_springs__8___-_9__lift__pair_.htm

 

[Skandocious]

Well nobody ever spoke about how much lift... I'd say the average lift for a daily driver is around 4" which can be accomplished with 1-2 AAL's on each side.

 

[bigun72]

that dont seem like it would quite give u 4"s

 

[Skandocious]

4" lift kit-- yessir it will. Granted, a 4" lift kit really means 4" in front and 2.5" in the rear.

My 4" lift kit = 2 AAL's on each side, and lift coils in the front.