Differences between a Bricknose F350 and Bricknose Super Duty? Value?

[dieseldirt]

I am looking for a 7.3 IDI Dually to buy as a dump truck for my tree trimming biz.
I have seen a few but they are all Bricknose (87-91) - I wish I could find an OBS (92-94) F350 4x4 with an IDI only seeing PSD's so far

I have found a couple of Super Duty IDI's and I know these are all 2wd but are they any better than a 2wd F350 of the same era?
I think they have a higher GVWR but why exactly?

My favorite truck at the moment would come as part of a package with some other equipment, but I am thinking this truck is worth about $3000-$5000 to me because it already is set up with the special arborist dump box to chip wood chips into.
It is a 2wd F350 (late 80's) with around 100k miles, 4spd, recent clutch, recent master/slave, recent GP's and controller (a good sign), and the guy says it has very little rust, which could mean anything around here. Dump body is PTO driven not electric/hydraulic. All the other ones just have a plain old electric/hydraulic contractor dump body.

Is it stupid to go with a 2wd F350 when there are Super Duty's around? A full load of wood chips and 5,000# chipper really max out a 1 ton. Too bad, I really don't have time to buy a Super Duty and do a 4x4 swap. If I get the F350 I would have to get air springs ASAP.

Anything special I should look for on a Bricknose? I know I have to check if the firewall has been reinforced around the clutch master cyl or if it's all cracked. And the usual stuff, blowby, fluid contamination, smoke, etc.

Thanks!!

 

[icanfixall]

Any idi super duty you look at will have a straight front axle under it. The rear gear ratio will be really high like 5:13 or higher. Sad but thats all there is offered for those super duty rigs. They have a much higher weight rating too and ride horribliy if unloaded. Ask towcat bout that. Here in cali they are outlawed in 2014 in think. Might be 2015 but not sure. Funny thing is the same engines are in our vans and trucks but thats ok.... For now till some tree hugger wakes up...

 

[franklin2]

Are all the f350's you are looking at cab and chassis trucks? They have reinforced frames and although the rear springs are narrower than a pickup, they are much more leaves in the stack. That would be something to watch out for. Is it a converted dually pickup or a cab and chassis truck? And if you look hard enough, you may come across a cab and chassis f350 that is already 4x4 from the factory.

We have a 89 f350 cab and chassis truck with factory 4x4, 7.3 idi and zf 5 speed. It has a dump bed on it, and when we haul stone, 3000lbs seems to be the limit for it.

 

[dieseldirt]

Good to know.... Yes it sounds like you guys are really getting screwed by CARB.... Sounds like they are going after the commercial type stuff first, for example with brush chippers you can still keep one on private land but better not be caught pulling one down the road or on a job site after the 2014 compliance date.

IIRC the OBS and Bricknose Super Duty's have a 15000 GVWR, much higher than the F350's

What makes them so much higher, frame reinforcement, suspension etc, what else?

It is so easy to overload a 1 ton if it was just a suspension issue I would get some air bags.

Do the super duty's have a better braking system?

Like I said the one I am serious about is only a f350, seems silly to get the lower GVWR and still only have 2WD

 

[towcat]

f450 idi's have the highly desired hydroboost braking system and the 4 wheel disc brakes. this package was very well engineered by ford. f450 towtrucks dominated the market for quite a few years as a result.
springs and axles are uniquely f450, but the rest of the truck is proposedly the same. in my commercial bodybuilder handbook there shows a difference in the RBM(resistance bending movement) in a f450 frame, but others have pointed out the f350 frame is no differenc in dimensional size or thickness.
one more thing, there is no way to avoid commercial truck insurance with a f450.