F 250 Quality

Barrie, The F250 is noisy because of 7 litres of diesel up front and little if any sound deadening on the firewall. I dont think it is obtrusive to the extent you get annoyed from extended travel. The level we have the sound system at (certainly not loud) is higher than any engine/road noise. The best thing to do is test drive one for yourself ! Compared to the 97 model Landrover Defender we had for work its as quiet as a titmouse with 3 times the amount of torque for 50% more weight !!! The finish is not like a jap import I grant you but its not like a Willys Jeep/LR Defender either. The F250 is primarily a work horse, termed "SuperDuty" in the USA. Dont expect plastic woodgrain, velour or carpet ....if you want that go buy a Cruiser Sahara and sleep better at night knowing you have the softest hood lining in the business ! [smile] Depends if you want to be all "Tow" or all "Show" .... towing a 3-4 tonne Bushtracker is serious business. Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Having purchased a Series 100 Landcruiser V8 petrol and having towed our 18ft Bushtracker with it - it did the job as we were told it would but we found it did work hard and you felt every semi that passed you suck our outfit into their slipstream ...let alone the mirrors being whacked into the car door everytime one passed with gusto!! Of course an elactised strap fixed that but that feeling of being overwhelmed somewhat persisted. We have made the switch and are much happier with the F250 than our very nice LC. No, we don't miss the plastic woodgrain and velour trim - we have found the interior of the effie to be practical and well laid out and don't agree with some that have commented on the said rough finish or lack of bits and pieces. Its all there and more and the grunt that comes from under the bonnet is the thing that puts the grin on F250 drivers faces. Noisy.... nah.... thats just reminding you whats to come when you need it!!!! They are a fantastic vehicle to drive and have awesome power... we were out on the Hay plains last week with BT on back and boat atop, and overtook a LC with a pretty ordinary van on the back, took no effort to get up around and back with the LC & van quaking in our slipstream! As Anthony points out you tow a Bushtracker real easy... behind an F250! Cheers, Helen

Helen

Thanks for all that. We have a Nissan Patrol C/c
which does not have leather saets or woodgrain. A straight work truck on the farm that doubles up for van work. I had heard a few silly thigs about the Effie which I thought I should check out. Finally, how good is the aircon ( we are in WA) Heard it was lousy and how do you go shopping in it. My wife is concerned she will have trouble.
regards Barrie

Thanks. No not looking for a luxury vehicle. We have those for town work. We have a Nissan Patrol Cab/Chassis which we use on the farm as well. No just heard a few silly things and thought we should check it out. By the way how does is ride with and without the van ( figured it should be better than the Nissan because of the longer wheel, base), is the aircon ok and how do ypou go in shopping centres. My wife worries about it a bit.
Regards

Barrie

Barrie, I know that the 4x4 writers say that the F250 build quality is poor, but I cannot find anything wrong with ours so I really don't know what they are talking about. We had a 100 series T/D before F250 and found it had a super quiet motor, and a good ride but now with the F250 find that there is a lot more engine noise, especially when stopped, but we both think that the ride in the F250 is better than what the Landcruiser was, especially on long trips. For those who would like to quieten their F250 down, we had ours rust proofed with the bitumen painted on the entire under body. Boy what a difference it makes. Vertually NO road noise in the cabin and only a little engine noise when moving. Our Corolla has a lot more noise than the F250 does now. The ride quality in F250 is good both with and without van on. With the van on though, there is much less pitching due to the longer wheel base than what there was behind Landcruiser. Also there is just so much more room for the occupants. Shopping centres. Well what can I say. They are NOT a shopping trolley. They will not fit in a normal length car park, so you have to look for a double one. This nearly always means that you have to get some exercise and park towards the rear of the carparks. The turning circle is terrible and they are wider than most 4WDs so manouvering into tight car parks is not easy. We take the Corolla shopping. As a tow vehicle they would be hard to beat. You certainly feel a lot safer in the F250 towing a large van than in the Landcruisers and Nissans towing the same sized vans. Fuel economy I think is about the same for all vehicles or maybe the F250 is just a little more economical due to the big motor not having to work so hard with a heavy load in tow. Our F250 is 2.5 years old and has 102,000 kms on the clock, and we have no regrets at all changing to it. Brian

Barrie, Our F250, who goes by the affectionate name of "Mother" ('cause she's a big mother of a truck) is a brilliant tow vehicle. Even truckies have commented over the 2-way that it's good to see a sensible and well set up rig that can keep up with the traffic flow and still have that little extra bit of power if needed. I guess what some people might mean when they talk about lack of options etc., is what my initial reaction was - if we purchased any other vehicle for $80k, you would at least get full leather interior, heated seats, fully adjustable seats (as in height, lumbar etc.), you know, all the little nicities that a girl looks for in a vehicle. However, as the beloved husband was quick to point out "it's a truck, not a car - you are paying for the sheer grunt of the thing". And he's right! (don't tell him I said that tho...). It IS a truck, whose primary job is to tow a 3500kg Bushtracker. She can certainly be a bit of a bugger to park, but as Brian said, you just have to wlk a bit further. However, if I lived in the city and spent my shopping days in undercover cramped Westfield car parks, I would insist on a smaller shopping car-t. As for the noise - what noise? I hadn't even noticed. Mind you, my normal shopping car-t whilst at home is a troopie, which is certainly a downstep from an Effie, for noise and ride and room. I often have women remarking "do you drive that thing?", but it just takes a bit of confidence, and no worries. (Just like the time in far north QLD when - due to Graham being hospitalised 400km away - I had to hitch up the van all by myself and get the rig back and set up in a park near the hospital. Something that all of us girls should know how to do - you just never know when you might have to! Jan

Hey Barrie, Haven't tried the air con in the Effie yet. Its tooooo cold to try it out here near the Alps of Victoria just yet....brrrrrr has it been a cold year....... for sure!!! 2 meters of snow and climbing at the local snowfields. I didn't think the air con in the 2003 LC 100 series was too flash, didn't perform anywhere near as well as the 'climate control' air con in our 2000 Holden Berlina which is fantastic. Shopping... if the Effie is to be your only car, well your wife will get used to its size no doubt and as Brian advised you avoid the under cover storey car parks and walk a bit further. Jan is right ....it is important that the girls all need to know how to hook up the BT and drive the rig with whatever tow vehicle ... as with Jans example. Also shared driving is part of everyone having a good time why should the fellahs have all the fun! Cheers, Helen

Brian

Thanks for all that. I do like to do my research before I plunge into new
vehicles. A few more questions if you don't mind. ( when you do a test drive
you never really get the full feeling). how is she on corrugations , with
and without the van , do you find you are only stadling the outside of bush
tracks and therefore always in the rough, how do you like the tyres. I have
heard there are not too many options available for more off road/highway
tyres.

Regards

Barrie

BJ Salmon
Bismark Investments Pty Ltd
PO Box 1286 Subiaco WA 6008
Ph/Fax 08 9381 2939
Mobile 0418 910185



> From: 'NoosaBushtrackers' <bmfox@tpg.com.au>
> Reply-To: 'Bushtracker Owners Group' <BushtrackerOwnersGroup@groups.msn.com>
> Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 03:13:30 -0700
> To: 'Bushtracker Owners Group' <BushtrackerOwnersGroup@groups.msn.com>
> Subject: Re: F 250 Quality
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> New Message on Bushtracker Owners Group
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> From: NoosaBushtrackers
> Message 6 in Discussion
>
> Barrie, I know that the 4x4 writers say that the F250 build quality is poor,
> but I cannot find anything wrong with ours so I really don't know what they
> are talking about. We had a 100 series T/D before F250 and found it had a
> super quiet motor, and a good ride but now with the F250 find that there is a
> lot more engine noise, especially when stopped, but we both think that the
> ride in the F250 is better than what the Landcruiser was, especially on long
> trips. For those who would like to quieten their F250 down, we had ours rust
> proofed with the bitumen painted on the entire under body. Boy what a
> difference it makes. Vertually NO road noise in the cabin and only a little
> engine noise when moving. Our Corolla has a lot more noise than the F250 does
> now. The ride quality in F250 is good both with and without van on. With
> the van on though, there is much less pitching due to the longer wheel base
> than what there was behind Landcruiser. Also there is just so much more room
> for the occupants. Shopping centres. Well what can I say. They are NOT a
> shopping trolley. They will not fit in a normal length car park, so you have
> to look for a double one. This nearly always means that you have to get some
> exercise and park towards the rear of the carparks. The turning circle is
> terrible and they are wider than most 4WDs so manouvering into tight car parks
> is not easy. We take the Corolla shopping. As a tow vehicle they would be
> hard to beat. You certainly feel a lot safer in the F250 towing a large van
> than in the Landcruisers and Nissans towing the same sized vans. Fuel
> economy I think is about the same for all vehicles or maybe the F250 is just a
> little more economical due to the big motor not having to work so hard with a
> heavy load in tow. Our F250 is 2.5 years old and has 102,000 kms on the clock,
> and we have no regrets at all changing to it. Brian
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> To stop getting this e-mail, or change how often it arrives, go to your E-mail
> Settings.
> http://groups.msn.com/BushtrackerOwnersGroup/_emailsettings.msnw
>
> Need help? If you've forgotten your password, please go to Passport Member
> Services.
> http://groups.msn.com/_passportredir.msnw?ppmprop=help
>
> For other questions or feedback, go to our Contact Us page.
> http://groups.msn.com/contact
>
> If you do not want to receive future e-mail from this MSN group, or if you
> received this message by mistake, please click the 'Remove' link below. On the
> pre-addressed e-mail message that opens, simply click 'Send'. Your e-mail
> address will be deleted from this group's mailing list.
> mailto:BushtrackerOwnersGroup-remove@groups.msn.com
>

Barrie, Never really had a problem on bush tracks, most that are just wheel tracks have wide wheel tracks so there is still plenty of room for the F250 track. In the Kimberleys on the rough stuff I took the weight distribution bars off to make it easier to negotiate sharp dips etc, and then when we were back on roads where a bit more speed could be used we did feel a bit of pitching from the van until the weight bears were put back on. In general the F250 gives a good ride both with both van on or without on all types of road surfaces. I will be interested to see what the other say. Tyres, The Goodyears that came with the vehicle were a good tyre and I took mine off at 82000 because I didn't think that they had any more than 10,000 left in them. Didn't have any problems on any type of surface with them. We now have Bridgestone Duelers but had to go up to 285 from the 265 standard size to get the speed and load rating. This meant that the inside of the front mud flaps had to be removed to stop the tyres rubbing on them. Brian

HI Being a newbie with only a few months under my belt, I think the make or break factor is that the 7.3ltr F250s are now rated at 4500kg. Given prior discussions about the weight of the larger BTs - how heavy is it really? - the towing capacity should probably make the difference in choice of vehicle. Before the upgrade we used a Reece 76509 WDH system and an AT35. We have now changed to a fixed 6T rated ring on the drawer bar, and the verticle cone mounted on top of the Reece. With Anthony's guidance we were able to reconfigure the Reece so that we now have almost 50mm between the bottom of the drawbar and the top of the WDH bars. Hitching couldn't be easier! Simply back to the drawer bar watching through the rear mounted camera and when I see the cone in the ring - bingo! Jackie just drops the other come on top of the ring and screws down the locking nut and everything come together. No more worries about a silly millimeter either preventing the pin from locking or locking the pin and creating problems releasing. Six weeks to party time! Cheers, tgintl/jay We are currently exploring the vastness of Australia. Details of our adventure are posted at www.geocities.com/luvntravln. <o:p></o:p>