A Look Inside My Engine, How It Died.
https://youtu.be/0-gAzrlLRfk Did something change here. Trying to post anything is all messed up. If you see a video link, you'll see my destroyed engine after all the work I put into it. Those...
Forum Discussion
Jeff, sorry to hear your trip and truck are ruined.
And moreso the long term effect or issue of getting a new solution.
You probably don’t relish my suggestions, as you haven’t in the past either, but your time with this truck is done. It was done a while ago but you’re resourceful enough keep it going every time. Just like you could now if you wanted to.
But like before, it’s still the right time to cut bait here. Maybe slap a junkyard 5.4 in it to sell it, if that makes financial sense, but that’s it. This truck hasn’t made long term financial sense for a while. And the issue is the deeper you get into it, the deeper you get into it and the harder it is to justify losing what you’ve sunk into it.
Trust me when I say this advice is coming from someone who understands the value of keeping old cars running and certainly understands the value of DIY repairs. Also from someone who knows enough to not get emotionally attached to a run of the mill piece of transportation and is almost allergic to spending more than necessary to achieve a goal.
I may be presumptuous here but on the assumption that a new or very gently used truck is off the table financially, your best bang for the buck is finding a low mile grampa 6.2 Ford (since your a ford guy, although it IS the best gasser combo of the 2010s era, 6.0 Chevy coming in second due to early ford 6.2s being very overbuilt in their transmission selection.
If you want a bigger truck, find a gasser dually although they’re pretty rare for obvious reasons.
Don’t be swayed by the med duty bug. Anything like that CV or similar is more of a challenge than it’s worth and basically a non starter for a truck camper.
One of the biggest issues being you end up with an over height rig, by ALOT once you get a big camper jacked up high enough to fit over the cab. Nevermind the full set of stairs needed to reach the door from the ground Ram 4500/5500 is the only viable option if you can’t make do with a “little” 1 ton.
Take any of these suggestions for what they’re worth if you secretly like them, tell the wife it was your idea and move on to happy er camping. PS, the wife might also like you not having a backlog of “projects” and the lack of propensity for failure when out on the road. Most wives don’t cherish those moments on the side of a road watching you play McGyver while trying not to get run over by a semi or stabbed by tweakers. Fun fact, they put up with it and squeak out a smile as to not be rude (actual story)
Time to go truck and camper shopping!!!
We're in agreement. I'll look at cost of setting up a 6.2 in my truck versus getting another vehicle. I think the future holds a S&S 11 foot TC, newer version if we can find a well maintained one. A larger truck is on the list too. I'm leaning toward about a 3rd year 6.7 diesel. A bit more research to go.
Most likely, I'll look for a decent boneyard 5.4, transfer my new oil pump, timing components into it and sell. The truck is a good truck. New suspension and steering parts all around. No rust, other than the bad luck with the engines, it has been a great construction and TC truck for about 18 years I've had it.
We shall see what the future brings.
For now, the target truck is a F550 4x4 dually 6.7 diesel. Whether that manifests itself is in the future.
Take care,,,
Honestly that sounds like a horrible idea. All around. Hear me out.
- Budget. None of my business but you’d be paying alot more for a diesel than a gasser and certainly wouldn’t realize much for fuel cost benefit in a 550. Not to be outdone by costly and finicky maintenance and very costly repairs for anything out of warranty. Even diy as you’re a phenomenal shade tree mechanic. Plus it’s a Flowerjoke. Not outdone by any for difficulty of repair, accessibility to components etc. you know all this from watching u toob and whatever else. Licensing, tonnage, 19.5 tires, suck in snow, I got off track but you get it.
2. Size and storage. Again I’m making a few assumptions based on pics and posts over the years, but a F550 or even a 450 is not only big but it’s pretty much the worst daily driver out there save for comparable trucks of another brand. Unless it’s a camper hauler and you don’t daily it , that kinda makes it a non starter.
3. Overkill unless you’re doing a lot more than just putting a loaded SnS on it. And you’re not one of those uniformed owners who thinks the 9999lb gvw of a 3/4 ton means it can only haul 1800lbs safely.
4. Even with a camper unless you figure out how to get a lot of weight forward and load the front axle, it will ride like a bag of bricks even with the camper. Get good dental and spleen insurance lol.
if you wanna up from a srw truck, a 1 ton dually helps a lot of the above concerns. And finding a gasser one isn’t impossible and they’re CHEAP compared to anything that burns diesel.
Lastly, I know you’re a Ford guy. So I’d be looking for a 6.2 dually F350, municipal special.
However throwing it out there, the best bang for the buck for a new or even few year old truck is with 2024 Ram duallies and 3500 srws right now.
Chrysler/stellantis dealers is so full of them now, especially with the new 2025 refresh that gets a great auto trans finally that they’re giving them away. You can buy a diesel dually Tradesman, non HO with the 68 which is outdated as hell but refined to the max and actually very reliable high miles trans unless you’re beating it within an inch if it’s life. $50-51k gets you your pick of color and there’s hundreds maybe thousands on lots across the country. 1 dealer in KY has about 130 of them. All just over $50k. You get the best of the 3 diesels if you’re set in going diesel. You get a chassis and interior etc that’s 10+ years old and as bulletproof as they get. (Not that GM or ford has any real issue there either). And for a few more bucks than someone’s hand me down F550 flatwork contractor smelly piece of…..you have a new 100k warranty and you can lay the first fart in the cloth seats!! JMO
And 5. lol.
While a gasser is still your best bet, if you’re after a diesel like you’re thinking about, if you get a Cummins, you get an actual exhaust brake that you can control (sort of) that kicks and rips on every Downhill and downshift when you want it. This would be once of the top 5 reasons to get a diesel. Honestly both Dmax and ford exh brakes are lame by comparison.there is exhaust braking in every 6.7 power stroke, albeit different method than dodge uses, in 2015 they even made it so you could turn it on and off with a button. my 2014 will hold back 13500lbs of 5th wheel going down a grade 8 hill (average) for 20km with me only having to tap the brakes 3 times in the grade 13 part. in 2015 the system got way better. the problem with the Cummins is it is so slow, when I bought my truck in 2016 I tried them all new off the lots and the anemic drive quality of the Cummins coupled with the worst trans of them all put it in last place.
a jump from a 350 SRW to a DRW isn't worth it if you are wanting to go big with a camper. for example the DRW model of my 2014 f350 is only 500lbs more payload. I was looking for a drw until i found that out. going to a f450 is the exact same truck but with better tires , wider track front end and various other differences but yet the gvw is the same as the f350, but that's only for sales in the class I believe it will ride a lot nicer with the same weight in reality. and yes you can get some good 19.5" tires now, just have to look for them. the f550's are a tiny bit taller than the f350, we are talking an inch or two. but you have the option of getting a regular truck bed if you want it or put a flat deck on it. so I can't see it being to much of a issue, but if you get into the 650's and up they are massive
- Budget. None of my business but you’d be paying alot more for a diesel than a gasser and certainly wouldn’t realize much for fuel cost benefit in a 550. Not to be outdone by costly and finicky maintenance and very costly repairs for anything out of warranty. Even diy as you’re a phenomenal shade tree mechanic. Plus it’s a Flowerjoke. Not outdone by any for difficulty of repair, accessibility to components etc. you know all this from watching u toob and whatever else. Licensing, tonnage, 19.5 tires, suck in snow, I got off track but you get it.
3rd year or 3rd gen?
I have the 2014 f350 diesel, and the youngest I would recommend anyone find is a 2015. unless you don't car about the exhaust brake and different turbo
while I like mine, the turbo change alone in the 2015 and up is worth its weight in gold when you talking about tuning and they say reliability but I haven't had an issue with mine, I think that was more the 11 and 12 models. I think in 2015 they also went to a real exhaust brake which I would like for towing the 5th wheel although I can maintain a grade 6 hill with out touching the brakes with 13000lbs of 5th wheel behind me. For hauling the camper, it gets good milage and never has an issue with any hill, but because I only have a SRW with a heavy payload package I only have 4500lbs of payload so 4100 after myself, the wife and dog are all loaded up so I have my eye out for a cheep DRW in 350 or larger that U can make a dedicated Camper hauler and we can get a even bigger camper than the one we are looking at getting to replace my old 1990 slumberqueen. we can put the 901SB on this truck now problem, even the 910DB will work on it but I will be at my limit and possibly need a leaf pack modification to make it ride the way I want it to.
I have been looking at f550's myself lately but they are so expensive up here used because they all have service bodies on them.. I wonder how much you can sell the service body for.... but then I just have a cab and chassis that IU have to turn into a flat deck and build boxes to increase the storage.. something I am willing to do but it sounds like a lot of work haha
One of those truck camper bodies sure would be nice. Just need to get over the sticker shock.
It probably wouldn't be that tough to get out the welder and draw up a plan, DIY. I'm big on DIY as you know.
ya I could build my own flat deck pretty easy. but I was more wondering how much a service body could be sold for.. if it recoups a good chunk of the purchase and lets you build or buy a used flat deck and modify it for your needs it might not be to bad. I know I have been watching for 2011 and up f550 4x4's with he 6.7 diesel for one that has a good price. ideally I would like a 2015 or up but i am not opposed to a 2011 and up if the price is right.. a delete and tune will make it more than good enough.
