2011 Ford F-250 super duty gas truck-6 month review

2011 Ford F-250 super duty gas truck-6 month review

It has been 6 months since we bought a new 2011 Ford F-250 super duty gas truck. This is the first gas super duty that the company has bought since the early 1990’s. It is a 4 door, 4x4 with the 7 ft box and it is a lariat which means that it is fully loaded.

The reason that we bought the gas truck instead of the diesel is for a couple of reasons;

1. This truck will only be hauling or pulling trailers 25% of the time. We own other trucks that are diesels    that do the majority of the pulling and hauling.

2. The gas truck was $9800.00 cheaper than the diesel truck.

3. Unlike previous decades, diesel prices are not cheaper then gas prices and sometimes they can actually be more expensive.

4. We had owned a 2008 Ford diesel and disliked the fuel mileage so much that I couldn’t bring myself to buy the brand new diesel without giving it a couple of years to see were the fuel consumption ends up.

At the six month mark of owning the truck we have 25,000 km’s on it and are very impressed with a lot of the features that the truck came with. Things such as the rear-view camera come in handy when hooking up trailers, or backing in a tight space. When hooking a trailer up with the camera I am able to completely eliminate the need for another person standing by the hitch directing me. I also don’t have to get out of the truck to look to see if I have ended up perfectly under the hitch with the ball.  The digital display works really well and gives you more information than most people will ever need to know about your truck.

The truck has an impressive four wheel drive system. It has the typical four wheel drive system but with a twist, it has an option to lock the rear end at the pull of a button even when you are not in 4x4. I have found that leaving it on eliminates the need sometimes for having the 4x4 on because it allows both back tires to spin which can be enough to keep you moving. The system turns itself off when you go over 50 km/h and immediately turns it back on when you drop below 50 km/h. It works the best when you are pulling a trailer or are hauling a heavy load with the more weight on the back tires for traction.

The fuel mileage on the truck is not as good as I thought it would end up. At the moment I burn 17 litres per every 100 km’s I drive. This is better than the diesel trucks that we own but is not as good as what I have heard that the new diesel trucks are getting.

Another thing that I have realised is that it is a lot cheaper to have an oil change done on a gas truck at around $50.00 (done by the dealer) compared to what the going rate of $120.00 for the new diesels to get an oil change.

What I have noticed is that the gas trucks have a nicer ride then the diesels and I believe that has a lot to do with the gas trucks being a lot lighter in weight compared to the diesel trucks. They have lighter springs installed, which helps the ride of the truck be a little smoother.

It’s rather nice not to worry all the time were I’m going to buy my diesel next; I just pull into any old gas station and fill up. With our diesel trucks we were always worried about water being in the diesel and so we would drive out of our way to a reputable location to purchase diesel.

Overall we are really pleased with the truck and would buy another one if we needed too. Ford’s interior finishing’s have come a long way with the fit and finish of the truck being extremely comfortable and making the daily drive from worksite to worksite more comfortable. I would recommend this truck to anyone that is looking for a truck that is comfortable, can work hard, pull a big load but doesn’t want to spend the extra money for a diesel engine.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders inc.