2WD 7.3 offroad?

[ZG]

Wow...sweet boat!

 

[madmax718]

I had a 2wd truck, if you get some good weight over the rear, you can do quite a bit. If you get one with an overhang that has a rear water/blackwater/grey water tank, it will counter balance the weight of your engine (if the weight is past the rear axle).Luckily even then 2wd fords have good ground clearance.

Get some good tires, tire chains (As you said) a good winch, and some sand boards.

The pickups that get stuck are for 2 reasons (as mentioned). 1. no traction to move forward, or 2, the front wheels are pushing the dirt/sand/snow so hard that the rear is loosing traction. That pounds per square inch for "skinny" tires works against 2wd trucks (in the front) when you sink down.

 

[bfdiesel]

You can buy chains, put weight out behind the rear, get better tires, buy a winch, put in a rear locker, ect. and it still will be 2wd and prone to long days useing a lot of that stuff. I like your idea of a 4x4 in your future, just look for a good deal and then if you need all the rest of that stuff get it then.
I used to go a lot of places in my old 2wd f100, but it had a 240 I6 and would float the front over stuff. You will not float that 1200 pound engine over much.

 

[BCHauler]

As was previously suggested, narrower tires with good tread and weight in the bed will give you a lot of traction. An LS or locker help even more. My 2wd f150 is suprisingly surefooted in the snow with good tires and a full bed.

 

[brp]

I have read that it is basically a bolt-on proposition to convert your F250 to 4x4. Maybe you could look into that, an ARB, winch and tires and you are probably looking at around the same cost. I really like the 7.3, part of my rationale.

 

[Buliwyf]

As was previously suggested, narrower tires with good tread and weight in the bed will give you a lot of traction. An LS or locker help even more. My 2wd f150 is suprisingly surefooted in the snow with good tires and a full bed.

Yeah. Snow with pavement under it.
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A Superduty, even a 4x4 with nice mud terrain tires, sinks like the Titanic with tall skinneys. You need some width to keep from breaking through rain soaked grass. Once you break through, even mud terrains are nearly useless up here. Tire chain rule, but only if they don't dig down to china, and dig forward instead. So the normal wider 285/75 r17 or 305 to 315/70 r17 type tires are my choice. I give up onroad snow grip for offroad flotation. Onroad snow drifting is too easy anyways.
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So it depends on terrain. But don't forget about the tire width/ truck weight ratio. Adding weight ain't something I ever want offroad, and onroad in snow, I could do without.