if the F250 is a 4x4, the turning radius will be as wide as the f350
no matter how you drive it, the 460 will have a love affair with the gas pump.
imho, a dream truck at your age is nothing but a joke. if the truck survives 'till you're 21, you will have beat all the oddsmakers in Vegas.
every kid who gets their lic at 16 will have gotten into a wreck before they are 18 and will have gotten into a major wreck by the time they ae 21. I have yet to be proved wrong and I am the parent's first call. Why? I own a towing company. If I do the pickup before police rotation gets to it, the cost savings are enormous.
my vote? buy both. when you blow up the gasser, and it will be sooner than later, transplant the diesel into it.
I guess I escaped that statistic
The 1999 F150 4.6L/5-speed that I paid my own cash for in 2007 is still goin' strong as my current daily driver. Done up to towing 5-7klbs regularly for a few years, 2 years of commercial snow removal and about to wrap up quite a few years now at college. Only accident in this truck was rolling a doe into a ditch at 15mph on an icy road; no damage. (I've had a fender bender in my old Taurus that I drove for 2 years while commuting more, but 1 busted headlight and I was good to go.) Enough about me.
I'd personally lean towards the smaller truck that will get
your job done. You are shopping in a currently "low" gas price time but a big truck will still eat $$$. I almost bought a 1997 F250 w/ 460/E4OD when I was 16 (in 2007) but I knew I didn't want to spend all my money on gas. 9-10mpg in that truck vs. the 14-16 in my F150 doesn't look like a lot, but 50% better gas mileage makes it sound like a much bigger difference. I know for a fact, now also owning a bigger 1994 solid-axle F250 and having driven quite a few more over the years, driving my F150 with a better handling suspension (real IFS front) and overall lighter and more nimble truck kept me out of some trouble. Big trucks don't stop, turn, go, or get fixed fast or cheap. My F150 isn't a little bumming around vehicle (like that aforementioned Taurus), but I'll be the first to admit it drives nice while still being a full-size. Slam on brakes and turn HARD to avoid trouble in F150? Hairy situation, but keeps all 4 on the ground with 4 wheel ABS to boot. Do the same in the F250: hope it can lock up a tire or two, pray the body roll doesn't take the rest of the truck with it, and try to find a new diesel core support when the one on the truck destroys whatever it was I was trying to not hit.
My 24-year-old 2 cents of opinion.