Howdy all, first visit here, I'm a regular on a Ford forum.

Anyhow, I've been slobbering all over the Power Wagon ever since they came out again, and I'm thinking of buying one soon. I've always been a Ford fan, but Ford doesn't have anything from the factory like the Power Wagon has to offer. My lifestlyle has begun to demand a truck like the Power Wagon, so I'm very close to pulling the trigger. I'll be nosing around and asking some questions... maybe between my homework and some of you folks you'll have me converted soon enough!

BTW, this will be my first ever brand new truck purchase... I am tired of buying used and my next truck is going to be new, regardless of the brand. I currently have a 2001 Ford F-250 Super Duty 4X4 Lariat, Crew Cab, Short bed, 6.8l V-10. My reasons for looking at the Power Wagon are as follows:

1) Off-road capability - Obviously Ford or nobody else for that matter offers locking diffs, diconnecting front swaybar, 33" BFG AT tires, 4.56 gears,and a winch on their truck, straight from the factory. I tow my camper to the Wyoming mountains as often as I can, then drive around on the rocky, snowy/muddy forest trails to get to my fishing/hunting destinations. I have never actually been stuck in my truck, but I know I can do better off-road wise than what I have.

2) Quad cab - I need room for passengers in the back seat (Family of soon-to-be 5) but length is extremely sensitive due to the winding forest roads. My Crew cab Ford is too big, but a super cab is too small. The Quad Cab fits right in the middle


My primary concerns about the switch to Dodge are: I've heard that the body and interior aren't as durable as they should be... and I have some reservations about how well the Hemi will tow. I've seen first hand that the Hemi runs great when its empty... but throw a load on the back and its luster quickly fades. I suspect that gearing is a solution to that problem (Ford is the same way), so I'm hoping that the 4.56s on this Power Wagon will make me happy. I don't expect it to tow as well as my V-10 does, but I do look for it to do better with the lower gearing than what I've seen out of a standard Ram 2500 with the Hemi.

Any suggestions/what to look for/comments (other than flaming) are welcome. Especially helpful would be comments from other previous Ford owners, particularly those with experience with the 3-valve 5.4 Triton or the V-10.

Thanks in advance... I look forward to my Power Wagon test drive!

 

fords current 6.8 v10
2007 ENGINE SPECS

2007 - Max HP - 362 @ 4750 rpm
2007 - Max Torque - 457 @ 3250 rpm



Dodge hemi 345 hp
375 torque

Dodge diesel 325 hp
650 torque

 

We have an 08' PowerWagon w/6 speed G-56 manual transmission. If you are worried about towing -DON'T. We have a 30' toybox camper that weighs 10500lbs loaded. Our 04'Hemi w/5speed auto pulled it fine except it was geared wrong. even with 4.10 gears when you hit the hills it either screamed in 2nd or lugged in 3rd. If you drove 45 you were fine. If you drove 70 you were fine. It did'nt work for us that is why we got a manual this time. We have not towed yet as it is winter-but this thing is geared so low I have no doubt it will be MUCH better than our old truck. 1st gear is 6.29 2nd is 3.54 3rd is 2.64. our auto was 3.0-2.34-1.43. The manual has gears ratios right in between our old truck plus you can hold it in gear as long as you want. Gas mileage sucks I hope you know that. But even still this is BY FAR the best truck I have ever owned. It absolutly amazes me what it can do without even spinning a tire. I have COOPER STT's on it for winter. 1st gear low range is 78-1 our other truck was 33-1. During hunting season we got a storm of 2.5-3 ft of snow. While the bumper was plowing snow the right tire broke through the ice- I stopped & got out and looked to find the front right tire amost totally sbmerged and the suspension flexed so much that the tire top was even with the bottom of the doors. I continued on without spinning a tire (the sway bar was disconnected but the axels were not locked). 1st gear @ 3500rpm is 1-2 mph. I really like the granny gear. If you like the 08s get one cause the 09s don't look as good IMO. They do have some great features though. I am sad to say because of the bad mpg & high gas prices they probably will discontinue them soon. I will not get rid of ours until it dies-gets wrecked or they put a small deisel in it.

 

05 Hemi QC. I've pulled my trailer (8000#+) back and forth between FL, and AZ many times. The engine is MORE then strong enough to pull anything you put behind her. They offer it in a 3500 class truck. I have the 3.92 gearing, and the worst i'v ever done is on a trop from FL, to Ohio. The hills dropped me down to 3rd a few times, but never "screamed" like tractor's did. it bumped it up to 4500rpm, but not much more then that.

 

Have you considered buying a qcsb 4x4 cummins slt or somethign and just having lockers, winch, tires and disconnecting sways installed? I have priced it out and it's about the same price to do that than it is to get the power wagon, and that way you get the cummins. The Hemi will pull your stuff fine though...as long as you do not care about miles per gallo haha.

 

If I were to decide to go diesel it would definitely be Cummins... but I don't want a diesel, for many reasons... it is heavier up front (bad for off-road), harder to start in cold weather (can't plug in when hunting in the mountains in November @0 degrees F), and as my daily winter driver, I only drive 2 miles to work... hard on a diesel. If I couldn't get a Power Wagon I probably would consider another 2500 and add on the mods later, but only because of the Quad Cab configuration.

Thank you for the input on towing and off-roading, one of my burning questions has been partially answered by Tractor. was wondering how the standard tranny performed - Dodge website says autos are available with 4.56 gears, standard tranny with 3.55 gears. That muddies up another consideration for me - auto vs. manual trans. I like the control of a standard, but I've been in plenty of situations in the mountains where an auto was best also. The gears were a real surprise - I was wondering if the gear ratio in the manual trans made up for the taller gearing than what is offered with the auto. Looks like it does?

Anyhow, I found a PW at a dealer 24 miles from here... not the exact color I want, but matches up well otherwise. I thought maybe with the $4500 rebate it would come down to my price range, but after crunching some numbers and talking it over with the household boss, it looks like I might have to wait a year or two to get it. So, I didn't even go test drive it.

Any word on what the '09s might be like? I am woried about the possibility of the Power Wagon package getting discontinued before I have the chance to buy it.

Thanks again....

 

Are you set on buying new?

 

Yes, unless the Power Wagon gets discontinued before I make my purchase. Then I will have to decide whether or not to buy used if I can find one.

 

def. go with the 2009 hemi. much more power and many other things. check out our 4th generations ection. it has a lot more info on the 09's.

 

The power wagon is built for off road, othier wise, not practical, I used to own nothing but Ford's, if your use to the 3/4 ton truck, stay away from the 1500 ram, thier now where close to the truck that the 2500 ram is.

The 5.7 hemi will out class and out pull the v/10, I'm not sure what the 3v verision of the v/10 is rated at, But in my mind, Dodge gas engines get better mpg than Ford and have more power across te torque band, fords have low end grunt, but quickly get lost at higher rpms.

Dodge paint sucks and the asthetics are no where as good looking as Ford, but my 06 2500 ram has been a dam good truck. 5.7 6sp

THe 1500 ram has issues with automatics and rear diffs, and the with the 6sp hemi combo, a 373 is standard, ltd slip 373 amd 410 are the only rear gear chiocces in a 2500