Thread:

ford diesel

Originally Posted by Hallett21

does the 350 and 250 tend to get the same milage? I can see where that dully gearing could drag your milage down but lets say you just had 4 tires would the 250 and 350 be comparable. Do they ride the same?

Hallett, other than the 6.uhoh litre engine, the 250 and 350 likely will ride the same. Weight rating will be higher for payload on the f350, some have helper springs to help with the overload. Others I believe have one extra spring in the rear pack.

My 02 f350 came factory with 4" lift blocks on the rear spring pack, and overload springs. The f250 back then had no overloads and 2" block on the rear springs. I know these things change over the years though.

I am almost postive the dually is an entire heavier duty chassis, rear end, front diff etc. The single wheel is a total different truck, andusually with the diesel in the singe wheel you only get 3:73 for a ratio option.

I have a 02 F250 SD crew cab with a 7.3 and love it....16 mpg

Any short comings of the 6.0 and later, can be over come easily by a good truck shop.

The 06 and 07s have the 6.0 motor which, more often than not, will have serious issues at some point in its life whether its a bad turbo, head gasket leak, oil/fuel leak, etc. I believe the 6.4 was introduced in 08, but with all the emissions requirements, they get terrible gas mileage. If I remember right, people were saying like 12-13mpg unloaded and <10 towing.

My dad has an 02 7.3L that gets 20mpg not towing and 14-15 towing (7000lbs). These motors will go several hundred thousand miles no problem. I test drove the new 6.7 and was blown away. Those trucks have a ton of power, but ride very nice. They handle the emissions requirements by adding urea to the exhaust as opposed to catalytic converters, so it gets ~20mpg not towing. Amazing truck.

I would suggest either find a 7.3 with low miles or spring for the new 6.7.
-Tom

Originally Posted by Hallett21

looking into buying a f250. I have been wanting to get something between the 2006 to 2008 range. Just wondering if there were years that were better than others. Looking for a 4x4 four door if that helps and yes I want a diesel. What's the honest fuel economy like? Are they a reliable truck? Any opinions or info on the truck at all would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Lots of excellent reading here.
Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - Ford truck and SUV owners and enthusiasts Community And Information Source.

I have an 08 F350 4X4 SRW drive. Keep 10 ply tires on it and haul plastic injection molds that weigh up to 5500lbs, as long as I can get them in front of the rear axle. It is a 4 door with short bed. It has the 6.4 and I have approx 110,000 miles on it. No issues yet, very good ride for a 1 ton, and the motor is definitely quieter than the 7.3 and 6.0. I had an 05 exact same setup and it was equally a great truck. The mileage was better on the 6.0 as I could regularly get 18 consistently on the hiway, but the 6.4 the 12-14 range is more like it. Depends on how hard you push it. 70 and below you will get 14-15. Anything north of 70, and it goes down. The 08 turning radius was greatly improved, as well as some of the interior appointments. I hope I never have anything go wrong with the 6.4 because it is crammed into the eng compartment along with about 4 sets of coolers and radiators......if I have no issues, I will definitely look at the new 6.7, it is supposed to get way better mileage although i can't confirm that. I hope to go 250-300K b4 I upgrade again. Ford makes an awesome truck! Good luck!

IVE BEEN WORKING NIGHT SHIFT THE PAST MONTH . . .SO I CANT SLEEP TONIGHT AND HERE IS MY DRAWN OUT 2 CENTS . . . . SORRY IN ADVANCE ! ! ! !

good info though....

FORD . . .

2003-2007 F250 - 6.0, Major problems more than likely (yes I know some of you got a "good" one....but seems 5 out of 10 did not! Nobody I know anyways....)

2008-2010 F250 - 6.4, much better than the 6.0, but gets horrible MPG. 10-13 mpg unloaded is very common complaint amongst owners, check the boards.

I would get a 03 or prior F250 with the 7.3, If it were to get one with no warranty. Pretty bullitproof, but the trans are 4spd and much weaker stock than the newer torqueshifts.

CHEVY . . .

2001-2004 LB7 duramax - Good mpg, good power when modded, but have injector issues isolated to that series of duramax. Injectors are expensive to replace, and its a crapshoot if they'll fail again or not. Some guys go 200k no problems, some replace a couple every 50k. Transmission is pretty good, first edition of the 5spd allison.

2004-2006.5 LLY duramax - Good mpg, no more injector issues, but the early 04-05 trucks had overheating issues. Simple fix, install LBZ mouthpiece on the induction system, this seems to set them straight. Has more smog crap on it than the LB7 it replaced, but didn't suffer much, if any, reliability issues with the addition of egr.

2006.5 - 2007 classic LBZ duramax - Good mpg, awsome HP and torque stock, got the 6 speed allison transmission which was beefed up to handle the additional power. No more overheating like the early LLY, and the internal components of the motor were stronger and upgraded compared to the pre -06.5 motors.

2007 NBS - 2010 LMM duramax - Very similar to the LBZ motors, with addition of the DPF filtration system to meet federal emissions standards. DPF causes the MPG to suffer considerable, as with other brands as well. MPG can be brought back up to same as the prior gen LBZ trucks with deletion of the DPF and programming.

-SO WHATS THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHEVY'S? THE DAMN IFS 4x4 front end! Even left bone stock, they wear out rather quickly, and dont give the solid steering, tracking, and durability of a solid front axle design. Wheel bearing cartidges similar to the half ton trucks are used, and they are known to fail, especially when aftermarket larger wheels and tires are used. Especially wheels with large positive offsets.

AND FINALLY DODGE . . . .

03-07 - Common Rail 5.9 Cummins "B" series motors, all fairly the same. Turbos got bigger in 2004.5, thats about it. HP/TQ ratings increased every year practically, starting off with the 235 / 460 CA emmissions 2003 truck, all the way up to the 2007 HO 350 horse, 650 lb ft torque motor. Honest 19-20 highway mpg for 4x4 models, with deletion of the Cat, a good exhaust and a programmer. Mine gets 20 fairly consistenlty, even on 35" tires. 4x4 versions have solid front axle, great for offroad, towing, general alignment and tracking, even when lifted. They ride rougher than the chevy's though because of the solid front axle. The transmissions are the weak link, plan on building the tranny sooner than later if you've got a chip on it, or do alot of towing. The motors are bullitproof. However, the dodge trucks aren't put together anywhere near as well as the fords, or the chevy's even. Interior plastic dashes known to crack, cloth seat upholstery is thin, door hinges flex where bolted to the door jamb....they're just not built as well. I have one, i know!

Moral of my waaaay to long story.......PICK YOUR POISON!

FORD 7.3 - Great motor, weaker 4spd trans, tough truck but a little dated

FORD 6.0 - Bad motor (most of them), good trans, tough and nice truck

FORD 6.4 - Ok motor, but complicated, BAD MPG, good trans, tough and nice truck

CHEVY LB7 - OK motor ( injectors), GOOD MPG, good trans, nice truck, bad 4x4 front end

CHEVY LLY - Good motor (add mouthpiece to early ones), GOOD MPG, see above 4 rest

CHEVY LBZ - Great motor, GOOD MPG, Great trans, nice truck but still bad 4x4 front end!

CHEVY LMM - SAME AS LBZ, when DPF is deleted. Everything same as above....

DODGE 5.9 (03-07) - Awsome motors, BEST MPG, arquably worst trans, Tough truck, great suspension, cheap interiors and some build quality issues.

DODGE 6.7 (08-) - Some growing pains compared to rock-solid 5.9, but overall pretty good. MPG suffers with DPF, good with delete but not as good as 07 and older 5.9's. MUCH BETTER TRANS...6spd comparable to allison in the Dmax

SO . . . . PICK YOUR POISON!