Ford King Ranch - Montana Owners Club

scrowba · 01-31-2005, 11:03 AM

Hello All,
Now that we have our 3685FL, it is time for a tow vehicle. We fell in love with the Ford King Ranch F 350, but the cost is steep. I looked around on the board to see if anyone has a King Ranch listed as a tow vehicle but have not been succesful finding you. If you have one, do you still think it was worth the extra cash for the truck.
Thanks
Karl

Broome101 · 01-31-2005, 11:15 AM

Would love to have one but an extra 10K for different leather and sunroof is a little steep for me, only other advantage was the ability to get 4 quad seating, but we needed bench in back for kids so not an option.I love the truck but just not practical when we bought ours for the diff. We too have 3685FL and love it.

Native Tex · 01-31-2005, 12:51 PM

scrowba the Lariat with all the sweet options will get you close to the King Ranch. That pretty saddle leather patina is since and smells great, but not for the $8K extra. The leather in the Lariat is good enough for me. Mine is five years old and has held up great. Got well over 100K and with a little love and care the leather will hold up just fine.

HomeOnTheRoad · 01-31-2005, 02:24 PM

Don't have one but have seen it. It's gorgeous. Far more than just different leather and sunroof.

1putt · 02-01-2005, 01:29 PM

I have monitored this forum off and on for over a year and don't post often, but I must to respond on this one. I can't sit on the side and let misinformation happen. I own a 2004 F350 PSD King Ranch SRW and paid invoice of $2,546 (list $2,995) for the KR package. The Lariat pkg. is required by Ford before the KR pkg. is added on. The KR pkg. includes 1)cab steps w/ lights 2)Telescoping power mirrors w/ heat 3)Leather seats, console, sterring wheel 4)Seat heating in front 5)Two tone paint 6)Accent mouldings 7)Bed mouldings 8)King Ranch branded accent pieces and probably a couple of other smaller things I'm forgetting.
We bought our Montana 3280 first and then decided a long wheel base 1 ton would be required to meet the weight guidelines. Being a native Texan myself, I too, loved the look of the KR and have loved every minute of it's 25,000 miles so far, 10,000 with the Montana. For after market stuff, I added the full woodgrain dash kit, woodgrain pillar mounted gauges, XM radio, DVD, and a Garmin Nav System to the interior...it's a head turner! I also added a Magnum Force air intake, velvet ride shackles, and Bilstein shocks. Runs very smooth while towing and very comfortable for 2 adults and 2 kids.
I just brought home a 2005 Montana 3400 YESTERDAY! That's right, traded the old Monty, but kept the truck...go figure.

scrowba · 02-01-2005, 01:58 PM

Now that's what I'm talkin about....

sreigle · 02-02-2005, 07:08 AM

Good info, 1putt, thanks for posting that. I do have a question, though. When you say the KR has Telescoping power mirrors w/ heat, do you mean it has **electrically** telescoping power mirrors with heat? Reason I ask is my Lariat has Telescoping power mirrors w/ heat. The mirrors adjust electrically but must be telescoped manually. Just wanted to check on that. Also my Lariat has two-toned paint. I know the KR has additional badges on the outside but do you know if the paint schemes are otherwise the same as the Lariat?

It just dawned on me I have the '05 brochure in a desk drawer. On colors, the KR has three two-tone color options, according to the brochure. One is the same as the Lariat (and same as ours) and the other two are unique to the KR. It looks like all KR are two-tone. Looks like the mirrors are the same. There are some additional KR features beyond those you listed, like quad captain chairs, but I think you listed plenty of differences to make the point that the KR is far more than just a little leather. The Lariat has leather, too, but the KR lariat is gorgeous.

jrgwdenner · 02-02-2005, 07:59 AM

Sounds like a beautiful truck, even more beautiful with the new 3400 behind it. Happy traveling.

capn chris · 02-02-2005, 01:32 PM

I bought a "slightly used" '04 F-250 SD 4x4 Lariet LB and I love it! It too, has heated mirrors and seats, 6 CD changer, turbo, etc. Leather is nice! Would have enjoyed the captains chairs, but the Lariet configuration is great. We pick up our '05 2955RL in the spring. Headed to Alaska for several months this summer. Looking for performance chip ideas. Happy motoring!

sreigle · 02-02-2005, 02:53 PM

We have the captain chairs in the front but not in the rear. I think the KR has them in both places.

1putt · 02-02-2005, 04:17 PM

Steve, you are correct, it has "manually" telescoping mirrors and in 2004, I only had 3 options of paint colors. I suspect the Lariat has more paint choices than white, brown, or green. The KR does have the option of choosing quad captain chairs or a bench in the rear which is what we chose (can pile in more kids!) Overall, this has been a fun and competent truck for our situation. I'm a bit concerned about weight issues with the new 3400. I'll be weighing the new rig soon and hope I don't have to trade up for the beefier new '05 F350. If I do, I'll be happy to negotiate with my fellow MOC members for one great ride!

sreigle · 02-03-2005, 05:08 AM

Sounds like you have a beautiful truck, 1putt. Our Lariat has one of the KR color combinations, white/arizona beige metallic. The KR is sure a beautiful truck.

You shouldn't have any problems with the weight. Our 3295RK scales at 13,980, which is a couple hundred pounds more than the GVWR on your 3400 (using '04 specs) so you probably won't be pulling any more weight than we do. We first towed it with a '99 F350 V10 and that did a very nice job. We then towed it with an '03 F350 with 6.0L PSD, torqueshift, 3.73 gears, pure stock and it did a fantastic job. The '05 F250 we have now is higher rated than our '03 F350 but that F350 did a perfectly beautiful job with it. The 3400 advertised pinweight is a whole lot less than the pinweight (3120 actual) on our 3295RK so I really don't think you'll have any problems with towing the 3400 with that truck. I think you'll find a lot of people doing just that in this forum. With the '03 we were over the trucks GVWR and GCWR but within the GAWR on both axles. We put 51k miles on that truck in 16 months, much of it towing, and the truck never wavered. Each and every oil change it was still on the full mark. I never added any oil between 5000 mile changes. That engine/transmission combo are terrific. You will be just fine.

Sue · 02-03-2005, 07:04 AM

Ahhhhhhhhh........King Ranch....The envy of all horse people. Some of the really well off horse people have them. They are the "bomb". If you have the extra $$ go for it.

1putt · 02-03-2005, 08:41 AM

[You shouldn't have any problems with the weight.]

For me, one of the more attractive features of the 3400 is the lighter pin wt. I looked back at a couple of old weight slips and saw that on one trip my F350KR w/2 adults,2 kids,full tank, and a couple of bikes was 7900lbs. The old 3280 with 1/2 tank fresh water and a weeks worth of "stuff" came in at 9300lbs on the axles + 2640 pin wt. (11940 total)which put me over on GVWR by 640 lbs, but under GCWR by 160 lbs. Both GAWR were never close to overload.(Must be all those "heavy" King Ranch decals that loads me up!!!)

Our longest trip, 5980 miles in 31 days, started out at 20,600 lbs GCWR. I didn't bother to check GVWR as I knew about 20% of that extra 600-700 lbs was being applied to the pin. Based on the weight listed above, I assumed I was now about 900lbs over on GVWR. So, I shifted some weight out of the truck (and front of the trailer) to the rear of the trailer and went happily on my way.

Long story short(er), the rig performed beautifully the entire trip thru the mountainous west. Being from Houston, where the highest point is the Houston Ship Channel bridge, I was a bit anxious until I purpously climbed the first mountain pass I could find on our route (Raton Pass). Piece of cake! and it was raining too. The Tow/Haul feature became my best buddy, especially while descending a pass in So. Wyoming when I realized I had NO trailer brakes

. Apparently, the cord had pulled out of the socket while driving. The spring was missing on the door that semi-locks the cable in place.

Anyway, I'm hoping the 3400 lesser pin wt. will solve the GVWR issue even though the dry wt. is more than my old 3280. Also, the 3400 at 2 ft. longer has a 1 ft. shorter wheelbase (dist. measured from truck rear axle to trailer axle) than the 3280.

Whew, why does it take so long to discuss weights???

sreigle · 02-03-2005, 01:06 PM

Good info, 1putt. Thanks.

I see our President drives a King Ranch as his personal vehicle on the ranch.

The "beefier" 05 models apparently are a bit heavier than the '04 models. I put ours on a scale. Crew Cab, Lariat, Shortbox, diesel, automatic, pretty full cross-bed toolbox, Reese hitch in the bed, rhino liner, 3/4 tank of fuel (holds 29 gallons on the shortbed). No people. It scaled at 7960 lbs. Most of the increase must be the new frame. GAWR is up as well as GVWR and GCWR, too.

You found out towing what the rest of us 6.0 and torqueshift owners already knew. Awesome combination.

Native Tex · 02-03-2005, 03:27 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by 1putt

I have monitored this forum off and on for over a year and don't post often, but I must to respond on this one. I can't sit on the side and let misinformation happen. I own a 2004 F350 PSD King Ranch SRW and paid invoice of $2,546 (list $2,995) for the KR package. The Lariat pkg. is required by Ford before the KR pkg. is added on. The KR pkg. includes 1)cab steps w/ lights 2)Telescoping power mirrors w/ heat 3)Leather seats, console, sterring wheel 4)Seat heating in front 5)Two tone paint 6)Accent mouldings 7)Bed mouldings 8)King Ranch branded accent pieces and probably a couple of other smaller things I'm forgetting.
We bought our Montana 3280 first and then decided a long wheel base 1 ton would be required to meet the weight guidelines. Being a native Texan myself, I too, loved the look of the KR and have loved every minute of it's 25,000 miles so far, 10,000 with the Montana. For after market stuff, I added the full woodgrain dash kit, woodgrain pillar mounted gauges, XM radio, DVD, and a Garmin Nav System to the interior...it's a head turner! I also added a Magnum Force air intake, velvet ride shackles, and Bilstein shocks. Runs very smooth while towing and very comfortable for 2 adults and 2 kids.
I just brought home a 2005 Montana 3400 YESTERDAY! That's right, traded the old Monty, but kept the truck...go figure.

1putt it souds like you have a sweet ride. You will like the way the 3400 tows. The 3400 has an excellent balance with the kitchen slide being over the axels more evenly balancing the weight.

Montana_381 · 02-04-2005, 03:47 PM

Of course, there ARE those who'd prefer to avoid using pickups altogether.

For them, the http://www.hitch-buddy.com people have the answer!

With this unit, the pin weight becomes a non-issue.

Native Tex · 02-06-2005, 02:03 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by scrowba

Hello All,
Now that we have our 3685FL, it is time for a tow vehicle. We fell in love with the Ford King Ranch F 350, but the cost is steep. I looked around on the board to see if anyone has a King Ranch listed as a tow vehicle but have not been succesful finding you. If you have one, do you still think it was worth the extra cash for the truck.
Thanks
Karl

scrowba I may have to eat my previous words and agree with 1putt regarding the KR edition. After reading all the good sutff I went and drove one yesterday. It was the F350, 4x2, single rear wheel model with all the whistles and bells. I must say that I was very impressed. I may have to succomb to the new truck bug that I have been resisting to for some time. I think the hardest thing to do in selection of a KR is to decince upon one of the three colors. Everything else is already there. What a ride!

scrowba · 02-06-2005, 02:10 PM

It is driving me

, I like the Dark Copper, but the Oxford White will allow me to put graphics on the side to match the Montana...
The Truck is the only make out there with that type of interior, I can not find anything from GM or Dodge to even come close.

Native Tex · 02-06-2005, 02:13 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by scrowba

It is driving me

, I like the Dark Copper, but the Oxford White will allow me to put graphics on the side to match the Montana...
The Truck is the only make out there with that type of interior, I can not find anything from GM or Dodge to even come close.

Man o Man! We have the same idea. I have the Oxford White with Arzona Beige trip currently and it really looks great with the Monty...it is also easier to keep clear.

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