John,
I ordered a 2016 F350 XLT SRW 4×4 short bed supercab. I can’t advise you on the more personal choices nor can I address some of the newer electronics. But a couple of choices I made may be pertinent.
Your tire choice between the BSW vs OWL mostly centers around the lettering. Just personal choice. Both tires are same size and rating and A/T. Unless the black sidewall tires that you say are “4×4” have a more aggressive A/T tread which would make them noisier on the highway vs the white lettering tires. If the OWL tires truly do not have a “4×4” designation, then maybe they are quieter. But maybe you want a more aggressive tread and don’t care about the highway noise. But check – it actually sounds like they might be the same tires except for the lettering – if so, I can’t see paying extra to advertise for the tire manufacturer.
Not a Ford option but aftermarket: Since I am often a long way from where a flat tire can be fixed and might be driving on my spare for hundreds of miles, I did not want an unrotated, brand new spare ever being put on the truck with older and therefore slightly smaller, tires. So I bought an aluminum wheel from HubCapHeaven that matched the OEM 18″ aluminum wheel exactly, put a TPMS sensor on it, and mounted the spare on that. Now I do a five way tire rotation, including the spare, and will always know whatever tire ends up as the spare will be same “size” as any of the other tires on the four corners. Downside is I have to buy a set of five at replacement time. But the upside is my five tires last 25% longer than a set of four.
The electronic locking axle is very helpful if you get stuck a long way from anywhere. I ordered my Ford with the 3.73 electronic locker because I often have to drive on highways. The 4.30 will obviously help in many respects on rough terrain and hills, but will be slower and have poorer mileage on the highway. But really, it’s what you want for climbing hills and rough terrain. Your choice.
I did not order the skid plate package as I am weight conscience with my rig but with a pop up it is likely not an issue. If the weight is not a concern, get them for peace of mind.
Not sure it was on your list, but the cab steps I got from Ford were the composite type. The others are made of steel and no matter how nicely the chrome looks on the show room floor, the underside of them gets raked with gravel, mud, sand, water no matter how good your front mud flaps are. Then the steps rust from below. IMO, the composite ones are better because of it.
I would get the camper package, as did I. The camper package will add the rear stabilizer bar which, although not as heavy as the Hellwig sway bar, it has suited me fine. If you don’t order the package, you are likely going to want to install the Hellwig or similar sway bar. Or if you know you prefer the Hellwig, then don’t order the camper package to avoid paying for something you will be removing. But in the Ford camper package literature they make it sound like the camper package is required to get the “slide in camper certification”.
But I would not get the snowplow package unless you really are going to put a plow on it. If you order it, I would bet you might end up with a front end that is too stiff. The camper does not add that much weight to the front as does a cantilevered snow plow. And the Camper Package will max out the front springs for a camper unless already selected by other options. But the snow plow front springs are something else all together.
Jeff
thanks much Jeff for all the good info. 🙂
J.
