I'm wrestling with the same question. We just got home from 4 months and three weeks of meandering thru the southwest, the west coast, B.C., Alaska and the Yukon tent camping out of a AWD Honda CR-V. During the course of the trip, especially during the month we spent camping at Texas Springs in Death Valley, we were repeatedly impressed with Four Wheel Camper set-ups. We were so impressed that we decided to buy one before we started traveling again. We visited the FWC factory in Woodlawn, CA and tried to place an order since the wait for a new camper is now running about four months. When the salesman asked us what kind of a pick-up truck we owned we hit our first snag.
Until I saw the FWC equipped campers I had never even considered buying a truck. Now, I'm leaning in the direction of buying an F-150 XLT. I think the 4.6 engine is better suited to my driving style, slow, safe and economical, than the 5.4. And, I am really put off by that E-85 flex fuel B.S., but a comment in this thread about brakes has given me pause. Would a 4WD F-150 with a Hawk in the bed and extra rear springs installed by FWC be suitable for something like the Engineer Pass in CO? We are not aggressive off-roaders, but we spend plenty of time on dirt and gravel, i.e. the Dempster Highway to Inuvik and a recent trip, which would have been much more enjoyable with a FWC, across the Denali Highway in AK. I drove an F-150 yesterday and it was impressive. Do I actually need an F-250? By the way, I am really enjoying the WTW website and forums. Thanks for your input.
I've had the Grandby on both an F150 and F250. My F150 was a longbed, 4x4, with the 4.6 which was a good motor for puttin around town or not hauling any load but for me it just wasn't up to the task of hauling a camper and gear and a few dogs. Put that load and hit some hills it'll always be dropping down a gear if not two and you won't have any mileage benefit doing that. I had bags in the rear but if you add the camper and accessories, water, conglomeration of crap I carry (extra tools, farm jack, tow chain, my daughter and three dogs) and I am sure I was right at capacity which isn't really good. So I picked up a used F250 7.3 diesel and it is a lot better in that hills are no longer any strain, I do at times pull a trailer and now hardly notice it, the F250 has more interior room which is nice on big trips. We did the Haul road, and Cinnamon Pass, Stony Pass and the hideously tight rough road to Creede
So I am very pleased with the F250 for my current use, it has capacity, strength, and power, and the 7.3 is durable and pretty economical. I think the F150 would have taken some lumps by now. I bought mine for about 10k, put a couple more into it to get it where i wanted and have added 35000 to the odometer and am heading to Newfoundland next
Since I don't have a lot invested in it the camper stays on it plus and the F150 is my run to town truck. The F250 7.3 isn't a good vehicle for running little errands. A smaller truck would be more nimble, tighter turning radius, etc. but once you load the 150 with the camper, etc it's not very nimble anyway. And now I am running much less that my total capacity which is always good.
