2005 Ford F350! - Montana Owners Club

DrivesBGM · 06-16-2004, 01:25 PM

This site 2005 Ford was just brought to my attention by my son.

The 2005 F250/350 will have a 16,500# 5th Wheel towing capacity!

I have been VERY pleased with my Chevy but I wanted a Ford from the beginning. And in 2001 the Chevy had a ton towing capacity greater than the Ford. Looks like the playing field might level out this Fall!

Craig

vickster · 06-16-2004, 03:20 PM

Craig - Thanks for sharing info on new 2005 F-350 Ford's. Hubby got all excited and really liked the new features of built in break controller and the larger 17" tires. Kill-joy here had to tell him to get over his excitment and put his wish in for next year's Father's Day gift ideas!!

DrivesBGM · 06-16-2004, 10:59 PM

At first I was excited about the 17" tires also. But then I got to thinking that it would raise the bed of the truck too high for towing my Montana level. Will just have to wait to see!

Craig

FredG · 06-17-2004, 06:08 AM

All of the new Dodge Ram's (2003+) come with 17 inch Rims and we've had no problems.

Fred

NJ Hillbilly · 06-17-2004, 09:49 AM

I'm just not that crazy about buying 6 expensive 17" tiress since the 16" are so readily available.

I also read that they will be including a built in factory brake controller. I would guess that they would drop the ball (like they and all other mfg's do often) and install a cheesy timed one instead of inertia or brake operated like the Jordan. Maybe they went back to the old days and tapped the hydraulic system to read amount of braking needed. Probably just wishful thinking.

John

vickster · 06-17-2004, 12:18 PM

The larger 17" tires shouldn't be a problem if your hitch adjusts up and down to make appropriate adjustments to maintain a level unit.

sreigle · 06-17-2004, 12:21 PM

I haven't had a chance to peruse that site but will do so. I am surprised about the tow rating. Just a couple of years ago Ford downrated the f250/350 apparently because it was stealing sales from the F450. They must be feeling the pressure from GM and Dodge. I'd like to see some kind of standard criteria for setting tow ratings rather than each manufacturer defining their own criteria.

I also heard the 6.0PSD will in either 2005 or 2006 be bumped above 600 lb/ft of torque. Sounds like the horsepower wars of old.

Rob Cooley · 06-17-2004, 04:38 PM

I like what I read about the new F350.

Montana_1631 · 06-27-2004, 05:20 PM

I went to the 2005 F350 site and it has kind of surprised me at what Ford has done and I like what I read. The transmission set up sounds like the same one that Chevrolet uses and a friend of mine swears by it. I would like to get further information on the truck but it sure looks good on the web site.

Puz Pigpen

sreigle · 06-28-2004, 06:22 AM

Has anyone heard the source for the brake controller? I share John's reservations about that. However, in the pictures it shows what appears to be an LED voltage readout. The only current addon controller I know of with that is the Prodigy. There may be others but that's the only one I know of. Maybe that's just a coincidence but now I'm wondering...

Montana_1631 · 06-28-2004, 01:09 PM

I went up to the ford dealer in Yuba City, Ca. and talked to the fleet manger and he says he was briefed from the engineers at Ford and this is what he told me. The brake controller is suppose to be one of the finest on the market as they tapped into the brake system and into the computor so this system picks up all the signals needed to apply the proper brake on the trailer. They have remodeled the F450 frame and it will be a 7 cross member type frame and they have put in the allison 5 sp. auto with the tow/haul feature and their is still the tranny temp gauge in the instrument cluster in the dash to the right of the speedo. He says they were able to increase the tow capacity due to fact that they have done a little to the engine (didn't say exactly what), the new tranny, and they up graded the frame and the brakes, suspension,, and the steering system. At the present that is all the info I have found out so I hope this helps some of you a little bit.

Puzzie Pigens

Montana_1631 · 06-28-2004, 01:14 PM

Sorry folks but I just remembered another item and that is that it will have a 4:10 limited slip rear end but you can get a 3:73 also but it will not be limited slip. According to my man it will be early August before we see the truck or brochere's on it. But time will tell.

Puzzie Pigpens

sreigle · 06-28-2004, 03:47 PM

Well, that's a bummer. I like the 3.73 in ours and it is limited slip. Or maybe that's just the 4x2 that won't be limited slip? Hmmm.

Thanks for the info.

sreigle · 06-28-2004, 03:50 PM

Yes, it does. Thank you for checking that out. The controller sounds interesting. One question for you. Did you mean the Ford TorqShift transmission or is he saying an Allison will be used? And the F250/350 frame will have that 7 cross member frame, right?

The trans temp gauge is nice to have but I wish they'd make it a real gauge. I had to go to aftermarket gauges to get good readings. Same with water temp.

Thanks again. Appreciate the info.

Montana_1631 · 06-28-2004, 07:21 PM

Steve and Vicki he did not mention the allison so I'm assuming it is the ford torque shift. The new truck will have the 7 cross member frame. The tranny temp looks like a gauge but I can't tell you how accurate it is going to be. The other problem I had on the 2004 and I don't have a 2005 to look at yet I couldn't find an external oil cooler for the tranny so you might know about that. I know that the Chevy does but all I could find was the radiator and the air condensor. On the tranny isn't the torque shift a allison tranny?

Puzzie Pigpen

sreigle · 06-29-2004, 10:47 AM

No, the torqueshift is a ford design and got a lot of kudos from the magazine tests. I think both it and the allison are winners.

My '03 F350 has the tranny gauge in it also but I don't like it. It works the same way as the engine temperature gauge. Not sure about the oil pressure gauge. Anyhow, those two gauges are glorified idiot lights. They work as analog gauges below some preset temperature. At that point they go to a fixed location on the gauge. The needle will stay there for a wide range of temperature. When the temperature exceeds that upper threshhold the needle will swing into the danger range. I'm not sure if it becomes analog again above that point or not. I had heard this and am able to confirm this when comparing the dash gauges to my autometer pillar pod gauges. For example, engine temperature stays about center on the dash gauge when towing, regardless of ambient temperature, percent of grade, etc. Meanwhile, the autometer gauge is reacting to the actual changing engine temperature. Same with the transmission gauge.

I'd have to go look but I think the tow package in the Ford has an external radiator for the transmission but I'm not sure. In any case, the transmission seems to run what I think is cool. In another thread I've asked for some opinions on what is "normal" for transmission temperature. For example, today I drove to Topeka and back, about 170 miles total, running 75 mph on the turnpike. The tranny never got above 145 degrees. That's pretty typical. Last December, with temperatures up to around 55 it rarely reached more than 125. So if there's no external cooler then it must not need it?

Montana_1631 · 06-29-2004, 07:13 PM

Steve & Vicki I found the product sheets that the Fleet manager gave me at Yuba City and the 6.0L DI Power Stroke with the torque shift standard rear end is a 3:73 non-limited with the 4:10 as an opitional choice. Sorry Steve but I didn't know whether the torque shift was an allison product or not but it sounded like the one that Chevy uses so I assumed it was. Bad assumtion. The Fleet manager gave me about 12 pages of all the packages and the measurements.

Puzzie Pigpens

sreigle · 06-30-2004, 07:51 AM

Puzzie, no reason to be sorry. I just thought if they were switching to Allison there must be a reason why. Since I have the torqshift, obviously if Ford dumped that transmission it would send up lots of red flags in my mind. Thanks for clarifying. It may be that only the 4x4 has the limited slip 3.73 in my truck's year.

Montana_1631 · 06-30-2004, 09:46 AM

Steve & Vicki I would like your opinion on something and that is, is the limited slip that important with the dually 2 wheel drive unit. Some of the RV and Ford fleet manager seem to think that it is not that big of item with the dual tires on the back anyway but I'm not sure as I have never been involved with this type of truck.

Puz Pigpens

sreigle · 06-30-2004, 03:26 PM

Puzzie, I can't really help you on that one. I don't have a dually and never have. Ours is single rear wheel. With the prior F350 (SRW also) and 3.73 non-limited-slip, I only rarely had to worry about having just one drive wheel. When we were weekenders, leaving one park in the rain was where I'd worry. I had to come to a stop on an uphill on smooth concrete pavement. Overuse of the throttle on takeoff would send that one wheel spinning. While I like the limited slip and think it's better, I don't think that eliminates the non-LS as a decent towing truck. With two wheels on that end of the axle would probably further reduce the potential problem, I would think. Anyone here with some real knowledge about this?

You may also like: