NEW TRUCK

On the bright side, I traded the truck, a 2000 Ford F350 for a new 2005 F350 cab and chassis with a very nice aluminum flat bed in July. The new truck can carry the weight of the trailer without being overloaded. GCWR is 23000 and the GVWR is 13,500. It is an extended cab. The 4 door was never really used and it just adds to turning radius. The small rear doors are nice and provide for easy in/out. The new coil spring suspension and front end design really improved the turning. I got it with the PSD 6.0, 6 speed stick, 4x4, DRW XLT, loaded with nice extras. I really like the flat bed over the pickup. So far with only 5000 miles it is doing well. Some minor problems with surging but the Ford dealer is working with me. It is more powerful the older 7.3 PSD. I prefer the stick shift even though it has taken me a while to get use to it. I think there are too many problems with the automatic. Based on reports from the Ford Truck list (thedieselstop.com), there are enough problems with the 6.0 and now the problems of the 5 spd auto are showing up. I decided I could live with the low RPM torque of the stick, learn how to get it rolling then get on it above 1500 rpm. I have to allow for a bit longer merge lane run then I did with the automatic as well as learning how to shift fast. I had the rig out with one horse loaded for a weekend, water in LQ and horse water on the hay rack, it weighed in at 19,100 lb. Not bad. This rig will be well under the safe load limit specs with two horses. Pictures are at the imageevent site  www.imageevent.com/vmaxept

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