F350 Short Bed/Long Bed

[Bob & Lee]

I searched and read till my head spun. I am looking at a F350 I think now DRW with the 3400 and our Stuff, the chart show the short bed has a higher cargo weight than the long bed but with adding the slider weight you don't gain any.is the long bed ride better? Is the longer bed in the way that much. I see that a lot of you have the LB. PROS/CONS?

Bob

[BB_TX]

I have an '07 F350 SRW crew cab long bed and really like it. The only downside (to me) is that it takes an acre to turn it around. And it can be a little hard to park in lots that don't have a wide aisle. But I have gotten used to parking out in the lot a ways.
But I don't need a slider. And the extra bed leaves a lot of room to put stuff in. I carry two 26" bikes in front of the hitch and more stuff behind it. I can even put another bike behind the hitch. The bikes lay flat enough that I can roll back my sliding cover near the hitch to prevent theft.
I had an '04 F250 SRW crew cab short bed before this one. It only took 7/8's of an acre to turn it.

[ALAN]

I have an F250, CC short bed. I stayed away from the long bed based on my previous truck which had a long bed and took for ever to turn corners and park. Since I use the truck for everyday driving this was important to me. The difference in length was only 14" inside the bed between the SB and LB, so I did not think too much about carrying capacity. I admit that at times this extra 14" would have come in handy. You will save money on the hitch probably equal to the extra cost of the truck so if parking in the south 40 doesn't bother you, then the long bed may be the truck for you.

As you can tell from my post on capacity, at least a 1 ton (F350) is the way to go. I wish now I had done so.

Alan & Kathy

[stiles watson]

One gets used to what you have. I have the F350 DRW long box. I have gotten used to parking, turning and the space the truck takes. I prefer the long box because of its size for hauling with the hitch out. I can manage the hitch I have alone, something I would not be able to do if it were a slider.

I may be wrong, but I think if you get a DRW, your only option is a long box. If that is so, and you want a dually, then the question is moot.

[mcgiver2]

Well i put my 2 cents in here i have owned 4 F350 drw and 1 F250 and i never go back to a single wheel i drove the F250 6 months but the second day i owned it i knew i made a mistake getting rid of the F350 , i love the stability of drw and i drive it ever day and i can deal with parking so my vote is DRW by the way i don't own a F350 anymore its a Chev 3500 now ..........Allen

[bsmeaton]

We elected the SRW SB 350 because of the maneuverability and fit in the garage. It tows the 3400 fine, in fact, very comfortably. The downside is I need the slider hitch and use it to park the rig in storage as well as some campgrounds.

[Waynem]

I just recently traded my F-350, DRW, Crew Cab, long bed, and trailer for an MH. To do it over again i would get the same thing.

Yes, the turning radius is considerably longer than a short bed, but not by that much in my opinion. If I could not pull into it, I could back into it. Example would be the VA parking lot in Houston, TX. I never parked in the back 40 if there was a space up front. Yes, it required a 15 point turn, but it was doable. I used to have people stop walking, and I wouldn't be surprised if the were betting, to see who or what I would hit. I never hit anything. I used to do the same thing with a 2 1/2 ton Mercedes (Now there was a truck) with a custom made 8 foot bed. Whatever you get just takes a little bit to get used to.

Recommendation is a 1 ton DRW (Short bed/Long bed - your choice)

Edited: My personal opinion, and not knowing how sliders really work, is that I would not want to get out to set/reset a slider every time I wanted to make a 90 degree turn, and I have made many of them. I understand there are some "automatic" sliders out there, but I do not have the faintest idea how they work. Always used a long bed!

[kmh3212]

The 2008 and 2009 4x4 DRW F350 has a wide track front axle option that has a real tight turning radius. It is great! It came standard on my new (used) 2008 F450 450 DRW and it turns like a VW. I think I saw a 2008 SB dually on the lot not that I would want one.

[richfaa]

I think it is pretty much determined by how you use the truck. We have the CC,LB Dually. It is a pain in the butt to get around in..To long, to wide, big turn ratio. It is so much of a pain that we are also driving our Honda to Florida this winter so we don't have to drive the beast around as a daily driver.However.... We needed the truck to stay within all specs & ratings and we wanted the extra room in the bed hence the long bed. When we looked at the big picture we wound up with the truck we needed..Not what we would have liked to have...

[sunshineduo]

Well, I'll pitch in my 2c worth as well since I did quite a bit of head-spinning research prior to finding the truck we eventually purchased. For us, when it was all said and done, we are extremely happy with the long bed (172" wheelbase) F350 Crew cab DRW. You do have to pretend that you have a trailer in the back all the time but I haven't found places that we can't get too. We can stil make drive-throughs and covered parking. We are absoulutely happy with the ride at speed and with the Monty attached, it is stable and easy to handle even though it takes a few more turns of the wheel to go lock-to-lock. It's not nimble by any sense, and I've had to learn a lot about backing the Monty because it requires a lot of lead-in with the big turning radius. I wouldn't trade it though.
We have the B&W companion hitch that comes out of the bed in less than 5 minutes and leaves us the full carrying capacity of the long bed. If you open the little rear sliding window and push a 16 foot long piece of trim up to the dashboard, you can close the tailgate on the other end

We talked long and hard about this part of the rig and decided to go big with the TV. We now have a lot of margin with the capacities, and have been satisfied with everything about the truck except, of course, fuel economy.

Besides, if you have the 4X4 package, getting out of most parking spots may be done just as easy whether you go forward or backward

[iowaone]

We selected the SRW CC SB F350 because of the maneuverability and it fits in the garage. It tows the 3400 fine very stable. I have the B&W Campanion hitch can turn nearly 180 degrees never really a problem though you do have to watch it on very uneven ground.

[billhoover]

The SB has a little more cargo capacity than the LB because it's a bit lighter. We like the long bed. As noted above, you get used to it, lots more room, and more stable as a towing platform.

[Bob & Lee]

Thank All for the responces. I think I am going to go with the F350 CC,LB,DRW. What a monster, but it will feel no pain and I should be able to pull all the Montana Line. Thanks again for all your input and experence.

Bob

[stiles watson]

When you get that truck, consider the B&W Turnover Ball with the Companion Hitch. I really like the one I have and, as I said, I can remove it from the bed of the truck without help.

Another extra that is very helpful is the pullout step in the tailgate. I would not have ordered it, but it was on the truck I bought off the showroom floor. I am glad to have it and now I would order it. So much easier to get in and out of the bed.

[iowaone]

I agree with Stiles on the tailgate step and the B & W Hitch they both are great additons that I wouldn't be without now.

[sreigle]

Bob, I was always very happy with the ride in our 2005 Ford shortbed crewcab. The crewcab has a longer wheelbase than the supercab and standard cab and thus will ride better.

FYI, unless it has changed since 2005, the 4x4 has the new front suspension with a far shorter turn radius than the 2 wheel drive which has the older twin-I-beam suspension. At least that was the case with the 2005 models.