I have found an F-250 I want to buy, but it has the snow plow
option(heavy duty front springs)....i was told it will make for a very
stiff ride...anyone have any experience with this? Thanks.

mailhost wrote:
plough option...
most of (at least the better installs) the newer trucks today with
snowploughs attached have had airbags added to the front springs around
here so when the plough is off they can be deflated and your ride
returns back to original (at leats here in manitoba canada)

first off what year F250??
also a F250 rides like a 3/4 ton truck which it is, not a car.
<mailhost> wrote

it is a new 2005....the vehicle i have now beats the crap out me, so i
cant imagine i will disappointed with this truck's ride...i was just
wondering what others thought

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 18:56:00 -0400, mailhost wrote:

mailhost wrote:
Most newer trucks ride waaaayy smoother than their predecessors. Partly due to
technology, largely due to customer (yuppie) outcry which forced the Mfgrs to seek new
technology. When trucks became popular about ~20 years ago, the manufacturers started
to move away from I-Beam suspension, manual steering, etc. Things went a bit too far
the other way though. Now, the softer ride comes at the expense of hauling\towing
capacity. Folks want a truck that rides like a car. That F-250 with the plow package
you are looking at will ride way better empty than an F-250 from, say, 1985 with some
ballast in the bed. They were pretty rough. The F-350 was even stiffer.
At work I routinely drive a 1989 F-350 4x4, 460 cid. That thing will beat you, and
itself, to death without ~3-400 pounds of sand in the bed. With a loaded 30' enclosed
car trailer it rides pretty nice.
I really like the newer F series trucks (+1995- 2005?). They are a tough, good
looking truck. You just have to think in terms of 90's-00's trucks compared to a few
years ago when buying one.
IMHO, pickup trucks weren't made to drive around unloaded.
There was a time when Ford trucks would eat U-joints in the rear driveshaft if they
were constantly driven unloaded. The driveline was set up to be under load (through
the 1970's). My 74 F-250 Camper Special would toss a rear u-joint in ~5000 miles if I
drove it around unloaded. It was almost a maintenence item like an oil change.

You could order that option with a 2004 F-150. Assuming the other
F-series trucks had it too.