78 replies to this topic

[CougarCouple]

Hello all
This is a interesting thread and my opinion is it’s nice to have the choice. My work truck F250 diesel 2008 has had the cab pulled off to fix oil leaks, it is constantly getting fuel in the crank case mixing with oil necessitating premature oil changes. 10.3 mpg with 49,000 miles to date. If you put your foot down that truck goes, gobs of torque.
My personal 2016 F250 6.2 gas gets average 12.5 mpg. Has 26,000 miles loaded weighs 9140lbs so far no issues and drives real nice and definitely does not have the torque the diesel does.
I asked around to mechanics I know and all of them said if you aren’t towing heavy loads get a gas motor. Also where I work the diesels are being replaced with gas when needed, all new are gas.
I’m happy with my purchase, and glad we all have the choice to get what we want.

Russ

[Advmoto18]

Hello all
This is a interesting thread and my opinion is it’s nice to have the choice. My work truck F250 diesel 2008 has had the cab pulled off to fix oil leaks, it is constantly getting fuel in the crank case mixing with oil necessitating premature oil changes. 10.3 mpg with 49,000 miles to date. If you put your foot down that truck goes, gobs of torque.
My personal 2016 F250 6.2 gas gets average 12.5 mpg. Has 26,000 miles loaded weighs 9140lbs so far no issues and drives real nice and definitely does not have the torque the diesel does.
I asked around to mechanics I know and all of them said if you aren’t towing heavy loads get a gas motor. Also where I work the diesels are being replaced with gas when needed, all new are gas.
I’m happy with my purchase, and glad we all have the choice to get what we want.Russ

Russ

 

Ford had a very good, long run with the 7.3 diesel.  Sadly, the 6.0 and 6.4 were engines that failed owner expectations.  It is my understanding, both the 6.0 and 6.4 were made by International for Ford.   All the issues with both engines is well documented.  The 6.4 is not the same engine as the 6.0, but still had its share of problems.  With all the issues with the 6.0 and 6.4 Ford designed and built the 6.7 in short order to keep the Super Duty customer base happy.  But, those owning 6.0 and 6.4 engines weren't taken care of by Ford.  A sad note IMO.

 

Bill

Edited by Advmoto18, 27 September 2018 - 01:21 PM.

[klahanie]

CougarCouple's story about the troubles with the 6.4 diesel remind me to add another piece of advice:

 

3) don't buy a vehicle you think you will have problems with.

 

While saving for a new truck I followed the 7.3 then the release and subsequent issues of the 6.0 and 6.4 engines built to Fords light truck calibrations. Eventually thought, I got tired of waiting and, being a little concerned about ordering a first year, new Ford 6.7 and a new Ford transmission, ordered a 2010, the last year of 6.4. I only bought though, because I thought the vehicle would be okay.

 

From what I've read online many would never have bought a 6.4, or even said a nice thing about one !, esp after the issues with it's predecessor. Not buying guaranteed they'd never have a problem with that particular engine.

 

I say, great, buy what you want - you're going to anyway !

 

btw we've had one issue with the exhaust filter but otherwise our 2010 has been a good vehicle and we are happy to have it.

 

One thing to mention about that 7.3 vs a new 6.7 - Torque.

 

Ace made a fair, same era comparison between gas vs diesel output. Do that comparison for a 2018 Ford gas 6.2 and diesel 6.7 and the difference is ~80-90% more, depending on gearing. Begging the question, do we need that much torque for a pop up camper now than we did 15 years ago !

 

But the point is, engines, and the vehicles they power, have changed over the years. That makes used vehicle recommendations tough without at least narrowing down the age range and service criteria.

[CougarCouple]

Hello
Hi Bill I remember when I first started reading this forum. I liked all the real world posts that were are on this site. All the motor vehicle corporations have had good and bad motors, vehicles. Heck I would be willing to bet some have even torpedoed a great vehicle. I just wanted to share my experience with these modern trucks which I have experienced. To be fair I have never taken my work truck on a trip. And it might go a week and not go over 40 mph, nor leaving a 30 mile radius. I think you can bullit proof those motors but why should you have to. I was not trying to bash the diesel, any of them, being perfectly honest I think anyone having had the luck to drive on would agree they are awesome. A friend of mine who has worked at Ford commented that the 6.7 has been in the European market for some time with a good track record. Please don't think that I am against diesels I just wanted to provide my experience.

Klahanie your comments are spot on and I'm sure y'all are not the only truck owners to experience positive ownership. I think we all need to realize we are in a society moving forward. My 6.2 gas motor would be a very different if not for the 6 speed transmission. Last month we went to Colorado. On the return trip, we came back to Vegas down I15 from I70. We drove with a Dodge Diesel truck pulling a loaded large tandem axle trailer doing between 75 and 85. We stayed together all the way to St George. I usually just drive the speed limit or look to get good fuel mileage. I was definitely putting my foot in the skinny pedal. Mileage 12 mpg, my load was most certainly less.
I don't think for a minute that the gas motor comes close to what these trucks with diesel motors can do. I do think the gas motors can do what a loaded popup needs them to do. If the costs were the same I might be driving a diesel today, but alas they are not. I/we like our truck no regrets best thing is it takes us to awesome places. It's great to have the option to buy what you want, and the why " I say great buy what you want, cause you can" tourque is a awesome thing to experience. ( humor here not trying to offend. )


Russ

[Jeromelo]

Chevy 2500HD crew cab 8' bed 6 liter V-8...4500 lb travel trailer 9.5 mpg average 65-75 mph...13-14 mpg mixed driving no load.

Edited by Jeromelo, 28 September 2018 - 09:46 AM.

[Advmoto18]

I suspect many of us owning diesel trucks are driving far more capable trucks then we need in terms of tongue and towing weight capacity.

 

I learned a long time again, buy more truck than you will ever think you might need.  There were far too many times when my F-150s (1980 versions) were incapable of safely towing off-shore fishing boats.  Further, I found my last 7.3L F-250 incapable of towing my fully loaded Hawk camper without suspension mods due to its 8600# GVWR.  Not to mention its relatively low GVWC number which made it impossible to safely tow a off-shore fishing boat with the camper in the bed.

 

Thankfully, current generation Ford trucks  (2016+ F150 and 2017+F250/350) have addressed many of the GVWR and GVWC ratings of the previously generation F models.

 

With Ford now offering far more capable suspensions then any previous generational trucks in the same class, with gas and diesel options, customers now have a much better choice today than a mere 2 years ago to align a truck with their needs.

 

Upfront costs for a diesel SD is between $8-10K more than a gas truck.  I'm on my third diesel Super Duty.  The first one I owned for 17 years.  The second, I owned for 13 years and the current owner now drives it daily.   I'm now driving a 2016 diesel F-350.  

 

Resell value for a well maintained Super Duty (diesel) is exceptional so you recover a large percentage of your upfront costs when you sell the truck.  I paid $32,000 for my new 2003 and sold it in 2016 for $23,500.  I invested about $7000 in after-market parts over the years for recreational activities.  Such expenses are often difficult to recover when you sell.  The $23.5k for my 2003 truck was simply due to the high demand of the 7.3 trucks with low mileage, not used for commercial activities.  So I had a fantastic ROI on this purchase and the additional money spent on the diesel engine was a solid investment.  I'm hoping the same holds true for the 2016 when I sell it in 2031when I'm 78!  The 2031 Super Duty will probably be my last diesel Super Duty!

 

In-so-far as MPG is concerned.  I've never kept a fuel log other than to note MPG of the last tank.  I do that simply to track which stations offer fuels with better fuel economy.  Bio diesel is more expensive per gallon, has less BTU (127,250 for B20 v 129,500 for #2) resulting in greatly reduced fuel economy in my 2016 Super Duty.  So I try to avoid B10 and B20 fuels when I can.  I also try to avoid stations that have a low diesel fuel demand.  Like Jet A fuel (which is diesel fuel, just gone through more filtration) diesel fuel goes bad within 30 days without additives.  And many stations (Loves, Pilot, T/A and your local high demand diesel stations) do not purchase diesel additives because they have a high turn over rate in their in-ground tanks.  You will know when you have purchased a tank of degraded/aged diesel fuel, your MPG will go way down due to a high percentage loss of BTU.

 

While I've been retired from the airlines for many years now, I still fly a Diamond DA-42 a bit.  It has 2 diesel motors on it.  Flying into smaller airports without regularly scheduled airline service requires me to pay particular attention to the Jet A going into the airplane.  Simply put, I have to be mindful I'm not getting old, and possibly contaminated Jet A.  I tend to carry over aircraft techniques to my truck.  Far too anal perhaps, but, flying habits are hard to break, even driving thousands of miles across instead of over Earth.  I firmly believe the same holds true for our diesel trucks and getting the best MPG.  Avoid stations with a low demand for diesel.  Try to avoid bio diesel, especially B20.

 

I am not familiar with Dodge or Chevy trucks...at all.

Edited by Advmoto18, 28 September 2018 - 12:32 PM.

[Happyjax]

When I was test driving trucks I drove them all. This was going to be a big investment for me and I was not knowledgeable at the start.

 

Thanks to this forum I did not make the mistake of buying too small a truck. I had originally thought of an F-150 with the aluminum body.

 

While the numbers on that truck can be impressive it is a 1/2 ton truck, and as I am planning on being in the non public places where help might be scarce I opted for the 250.

 

When test driving the 250's I drove both gas and diesel. I get the attraction to the diesel truck. It had crazy power and was quiet......but I need to buy a camper and the extra 8 grand will go far in that endeavor.

 

If you need power and torque or just want a monster truck.....(which I suspect is often the case) then go diesel.

 

If you are using the truck for normal payload and towing gas will do.

 

In the end we get what we want (or can afford) and hopefully we choose a safe option.

 

I love that there are so many gear heads here which taught me tons about trucks. I feel good about what I bought and know that I am within the parameters of safe driving with whatever pop-up I get.

 

There was just a post on FB about an individual who bought a Ram 2500 Mega Cab with a short bed and put a Lance 855s with an 8'11" floor on it. Can't understand why he is getting overload messages from his truck and it handles very poorly...... Of course the dealer told him his truck would carry it.....

 

That could have been me had I not found you:)

 

Glad to be here!

[ntsqd]

My justification for diesel was and is mileage. Not from a "how inexpensively can I go there?" perspective, but from a "how far can I go before I need to find a fuel station?" perspective.

 

I don't buy new. At the time that I bought the used diesels in my price range were roughly in the high teens unloaded while the gassers were barely breaking into double digits. Made the decision simple.

 

Since then I've changed the fuel tank from 35 gals to 60 gals. Which means our range, based on actual observed mpg, is between 800 and 1200 miles. Which WELL beyond what my bladder can do! That means we buy fuel where we want to rather than where we have to.

 

For the P-pump 6BT guys, I put a TST 250HP fuel cam in the IP. That and a 4" exhaust with a 60" truck muffler are the only engine mods. I did re-gear from 3.54 to 3.73 to offset the 315/70-R17's.

IF I keep my foot out of it we see mpg's the same as stock. Half of my reported mpg's in this thread are with that cam in place. With my foot in it the truck is an entirely different critter than stock. Not going to out-drag any of the electronic diesels, but it drives much better.

Edited by ntsqd, 28 September 2018 - 01:16 PM.

[smlobx]

".... I'm hoping the same holds true for the 2016 when I sell it in 2031when I'm 78! The 2031 Super Duty will probably be my last diesel Super Duty! ..."

Bill I like your thinking and hope I can keep up with you!