Id buy a v6 f150 myself, the 4l60e just adds too my dislike of chevy trucks. I dont trust mine too pull a utility trailer and its been rebuilt once already.
Id buy a v6 f150 myself, the 4l60e just adds too my dislike of chevy trucks. I dont trust mine too pull a utility trailer and its been rebuilt once already.
93gsxturbo wrote: The voice of dissent here - I bought a 2002 F250 4x4 crew cab lariat short box with a manual trans and a 7.3 diesel for $13500. I would advise you to do the same. Gets high teens MPG, sweet diesel rattle, fun-ish to drive with the manual, and its a real truck if you need to do truck-like things. The Lariat interior is a great place to spend some time. For meeting your criteria: -Budget roughly $10-12k ideally, could maybe stretch to mid teens for the 'perfect' truck (I got mine for $13,500) -Reliability is paramount (After the atom bombs hit, 7.3 diesels and cockroaches will be the last things around) -Cheap to run and low money pit potential (Maintenance costs will always be higher with a diesel, but by buying right you recoup that when you sell it. IE my last truck was bought for $9800 at 240k miles, ran it to 305k miles and sold it for $8500 - not gonna do that with a gas motor) -Decent mpg, at least similar to the XJ (18 avg)(no problem with a 7.3) -Min 4-5 year life at ~20k miles per year (again, no problem with a 7.3) -4wd would be preferable, but I'd consider rwd (plenty of 4WDs available, RWD has a very low buy-in) -Extended or crew cab would be nice, but I could live with a regular cab (all 3 configurations were available, but the extended cabs are shorter than the Chevy or Dodge variants. I would go crew cab if you want room for more than 2 people) -Stick shift would be sweet, but I realize this is something I'll likely have to compromise on (7.3 with a manual and 4x4 was available in any combo - if the one you get is a base interior you can always swap it out to a Lariat with a little digging.)
The 7.3 Powerstroke is probably the most appealing of the diesels for me, on paper anyways. I've driven a Duramax and a 24v Cummins a handfull of times each, but never a Powerstroke. They're both sweet engines, but the Duramax trucks in my budget seem to be higher milage or otherwise suspect, and mostly LB7s so injectors are an expensive inevitability. The problem with the Cummins is that I'm not sure I wanna drive a Dodge of that era.
I like the body style of the 99 up Super Duties and the 7.3 doesn't seem to have any major trouble spots. How do the trucks themselves hold up? What are the common maintenance items and intervals?
Furious_E wrote: The 7.3 Powerstroke is probably the most appealing of the diesels for me, on paper anyways. I've driven a Duramax and a 24v Cummins a handfull of times each, but never a Powerstroke. They're both sweet engines, but the Duramax trucks in my budget seem to be higher milage or otherwise suspect, and mostly LB7s so injectors are an expensive inevitability. The problem with the Cummins is that I'm not sure I wanna drive a Dodge of that era. I like the body style of the 99 up Super Duties and the 7.3 doesn't seem to have any major trouble spots. How do the trucks themselves hold up? What are the common maintenance items and intervals?
The trucks themselves hold up very well. Ford does a MUCH better job with quality of materials and assembly, particularly on the interiors. A GMT800 with 100k most likely has holes in the seats and coating worn off all the buttons. An F250 with even 200k likely shows none of the above, and our family has owned four of each so its not a fluke. Same evidence happened when I was in charge of fleet maintenance for a utility company. The GMs just don't hold up to wear and tear as well as Ford.
The 7.3L will need fuel filter changes, but all it takes is a 3/8" ratchet. There is a square hole in the lid for the filter and its right on top of the engine. Super simple. It will need a glow plug relay every 60-100k. They're also right on top of the engine and $50.
Because of the HPOP injection (uses high pressure oil to drive the injectors) I do recommend 14 quarts of oil every 6000.
At 200k you'll probably need a cam position sensor. I forget... $100? Its on the timing cover.
The E4OD/4R100 is a great transmission, but not perfect. It will take more abuse than any of the half-ton options from any brand.
Don't discount the Dmax. We have two right now. I'm a die-hard 7.3 stroke fan, but the Dmax has won me over. The Allison is a sweet transmission. Get one 05-07 for the "best" ones. Earlier ones had injectors under the valve covers and had injector issues. Later ones had DPF and urea which is just an added complexity.
Dmax is also very easy to turn up the juice. Dad has an 04 with 30-over injectors, intake, exhaust, air dog fuel pump, and a 5-pot chip that puts 938 lb-ft to the ground, or just a flip of the switch and its a stock puppy dog. There is something impressive about stabbing the pedal and turning the tires into smoke while doing 65 on the highway.
Great info, thanks Curtis!
How do the ZF 6 speeds hold up behind the 7.3? I gather that diesels tend to be understandably hard on clutches, but do the manual boxes themselves seem to hold up better than most autos? Is that the same ZF box used in the exceedingly rare manual Duramax trucks?
I'm certainly not discounting the Duramax, aside from the injectors they seem to be pretty solid motors overall, just saying it seems the dollar goes a little further on the 7.3 PSD. They're also infinitely harder to find with a stick (I know, I know, the Allison is supposed to be magic but I just like rowing gears, damn it!)
How about miles on a diesel? I'm kind of having a hard time recalibrating myself here. How much is too much and is it worth paying say $15k for a 150k mile truck vs say $9k for a 250k mile truck? Is there a sweet spot in terms of reliability/depreciation?
And how do we feel about trucks with tuners, exhausts, ect? Reason to avoid, or acceptable?
I'd avoid anything tuned if you can. The diesel tuner market reminds me of the early import scene - lots of shoddy players and a lot of owners shooting for the moon on power without worrying about longevity. It seems to me that somewhere between 200k and 250k is the sweet spot for value, but that may be market dependent.
I've never heard of any problems with the ZF in the Fords. Around here if you are willing to drive a 2wd Extended cab there are some good to great deals to be had. If you want a 4dr, or 4x4 - prices go up FAST. If you have a manual, 4dr, 4x4, short bed you can nearly name your price.
dropstep wrote: Id buy a v6 f150 myself, the 4l60e just adds too my dislike of chevy trucks. I dont trust mine too pull a utility trailer and its been rebuilt once already.
Mines pulled out and back to Lincoln multiple times, pulled the vette home from Arkansas, the swift to Rockford and dozens of home project things. Dad's 4L65 lasted until 190k miles with 2 fluid changes it's entire life.
Like many things on the internet, it's blown out of proportion. Except Honda transmissions. That's been covered up.
For trucks you might consider a fly and drive to rust free areas
http://macon.craigslist.org/cto/5945584814.html
http://macon.craigslist.org/cto/5968494377.html
http://macon.craigslist.org/cto/5962742605.html
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/wat/cto/5948839367.html
Cruising eBay this morning, I came across this guy which conveniently happens to be right across town. It's a 99 Cummins Ram, 5 speed, 4x4, quad cab with 200k on the clock. Went to take a peek at it this afternoon and it's got a super clean body and undercarriage (it had clearly been undercoated but nonetheless looked solid) and looks to be in great shape. Definitely didn't come from around here. No one could be found to bother for a test drive, but I'm gonna call and see if I can set one up for tomorrow.
Thoughts on this one? Not a killer bargain, but I don't think $11k is out of line for the condition either. Are the "53 block" motors really a concern for the average user, or does that supposed weakness only come into play if you set everything to kill? What about the VP44 injection pumps? I know they're expensive when they do fail, but what's the expected life? Any signs when one is going bad?
My 2000 Dodge Cummins had 309k on the original 53 engine when I sold it and I still see the guy that bought it using it every day for his landscaping business.
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