Ford F350 cf Silverado 3500

Hullo Jay,

with these imported vehicles, how effective is the warranty?

With a Toyota, for example, there's a dealer and a workshop everywhere. If these vehicles play up what, in reality, is done for you? Will the only help be a local RAC flatbed truck take your F/Silverado back to Melbourne/Gympie while you wait at Kalumbaru in your van?

I can't see it being anything other than a real headache unless you do what Steve Gibbs did, and buy a ton of spares and some diagnostic equipment (and just drive it to nearby towns, not the other side of the country).

OK, I'm a bit of a pessimist, but I think my suggestion reflects reality. And I also know I'm not being very constructive by providing you with an alternative that can tow the van you are considering. Sorry about that....

cheers

Stephen,
you are missing the point that Jay needs one of these vehicles to tow his van.

Do you have any other suggestion that might improve the possibilities for warranty with the towing capability he requires?

This issue affects many people, with the current towing limit of vehicles normally available here being only 3500kg. Many vans are approaching this weight, although up to 4400kg (as Jay's) is rather unusual.

Jay's questions are valid and worth hearing the answers to.

Ken

Hi Jay,
Nice to see you are back.
I am no expert!!!! but you had the F250 & I believe that the F350 is just a 250 with stronger suspension?( Please correct me someone if I am wrong)
So you are aware of spare parts availability for them, what you might not know is there is a F250 wrecking yard with heaps of second hand parts in Bridgenorth in Tassie.
So the F350 would still have the weakest link in the transmission, especially as you would probably be intending to chip it up, to cater for your extra weight. Yes you can get stronger transmissions to put in, which might be an option.

The other thing to be aware of is 350s come in either single or duel rear wheel configurations, I suggest that the duel rear wheels look good, but on our outback tracks even the F250 is sometimes a problem, so the extra width with the duelies would make them impassable.
I believe the weight carrying capacity is not much different, & towing capacity would be the same?
All things to check up on?
Sorry can't help you wth Silverardo's but in my opinion they are stronger built.

Warranty: my decision might come down to this topic.

I have requested both companies to provide me with their warranty documents.

I have been informed that Performax (PMX) which sells the Chevy self-insures. Your warranty for four years is with Performax.

I have also been informed that American Performance (AP) which sells the Ford does not self-insure and the warranty is laid off with a warranty claim company similar to when you buy a product from, e.g., Harvey Norman, and when you have a warranty problem you effectively deal with an insurance company.

One thing AP did say - not in writing yet - was that I could have the Ford serviced anywhere, and when I had a "fix-it" problem covered by warranty I could have the work done by a Ford dealer.

I do not know how much of a stock AP maintains of Ford parts; I am told that PMX does a lot of their own service and repair if you are in the area.

Any confirmation on any of this would be greatly appreciated.

Front end: there has been some suggestion that the front end of the Ford is stronger (?) than the Chevy. Something about the Ford having a live axel instead of an independent axel which is on our current F250. Frankly, it is times like this that I kick myself for not taking auto shop when in high school.

As I said in the opening I do believe that they will both do the job; I don't know how to decide which one will do a better job and at the end of the day is the difference substantiail?

Hi Jay,
My contribution is very small and certainly not all encompassing. However, we did call into Performax and look at the Silverado for a couple of hours and the warranty issue was one thing we did go into with them.

We were told that any Holden dealership would carry out normal scheduled servicing and repairs. On the subject of warranty claims away from the S. E Qld region, we were told that on approval of a claim, the closest Holden dealer would be contacted and given approval to effect the repairs to be reimbursed by Performax.

Any engine or transmission diagnostics requiring the use of computer aided machinery would be handled by the Holden dealer as they would have the necessary diagnostic equipment except they wouldn't have the particular software plug in for the Silverado. Performax have this plug in and said that they then put it in an air bag to send to the dealer in question. Then any diagnostic code help that the dealer needs, they then refer it back to Performax for a diagnosis of the problem.

IF everything happened like that, then it should all go smoothly.

We're not in a position to comment on the full import Ford as we have no experience of them.

The reseach we did into the Silverado gave us confidence in the Duramax engine as well over a million engines have been produced and appear to have a great reputation. The Allison transmission also seemed to be up to the task as well and Allison have been building transmission for all sizes of trucks and earthmoving equipment for decades.

The front suspension of the Silverado can be beefed up a little with tie rod sleeves and every little bit helps .....however, the suspension on the Silverado being independant, may give you a benefit over the F350 in the terms of turning circle. You would be used to the 7 point turns required in your existing F250, so it may pay you to check the turning circle specification of both vehicles.

Also on front end strength, don't forget that the Silverado is a 4X4 vehicle and even though the front suspension is not a live axle, it should serve you well for most applications unless you deliberately set out to destroy it by abusing it at high speeds over terror terrain.

We currently have a 100 series Landcruiser with Independant front suspension and for the last 5 years it has taken us and the BT to some of the outbacks roughest tracks...see our web site for more on that.

Our previous vehicle was a 100 series Landcruiser with a live front axle front suspension and we did have initial reservations about going to a new one with IFS. However we drive to the conditions as most do and it has never let us down.

As I said not all encompassing, but maybe some food for thought there to help you arrive at a decision.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Rick

For those that are following this thread I have now learned that both Performax and American Performance handle all warranty issues in house. When there is a problem you either go to a repair facility of your choice and they contact the seller to arrange the warranty work or you call the seller and they will recommend a facility.

I am going to see/sit in/kick the tires of the Chevy on 19 August and do the same to the Ford on 1 September.

At the end of the day when it comes to making the decision between the two vehicles what I am visualizing is the proverbial tire kicker stopped by the side of the road with the bonnet up, looking at the engine, and with one hand scratching his head and the other hand scratching his b..ls wondering what to do next.

I know there are a lot of happy Boggers with Chevys; are there any happy Boggers with Fords besides Steve Gibbs?

Well, I kicked the tires, scratched where a bloke is supposed to scratch :-) , drove both the Silverado 3500HD and the F450 DRW Cab Chassis, and hand downs the Ford feels like you are driving a well appointed truck and the Chevy feels like you are driving a lovely car.

We are either going to purchase the F350 Cab Chassis (3200kg payload) or the F450 Cab Chassis (4500kg payload) depending upon the cost difference.

We are purchasing the Cab Chassis rather than the Pickup because the payload of the CC is over 1000kg greater than the Pickup.

Having driven the Brazilian F250 for seven years, driving the 2011 F450 was a wonderful experience. The truck is so very responsive and the power steering is so so responsive that you can turn the wheel with one finger; the turning circle is probably 60% of the F250 turning circle.

Can't wait!!

Now we play "chasing the insurance" game.