SHould I maintain my 250 or buy new one?

I had two 6.0 diesels, a 2004 F250 and a 2007 F350. Both were pretty much trouble free. Traded for a 2012 F350 6.7 diesel, not because of concerns about the 2007, but because I made the mistake of browsing the new truck lot while in for routine service.

If it is something you plan on keeping long term I would consider trading up. The new 6.7 tows great. I can get nearly 20 mpg highway if I keep my foot out of it (which is hard for me to do). I get 10+ towing a 35' high profile 5er towing at highway speed limits. It would do better if I kept it below 65.

Local Ford dealers routinely advertise Superdutys at $12K to $14K off sticker. That makes the sell price a little more attractive. Shop newspapers and local dealer web sites for best deals then get them to compete.

Trade it for a pre-2007 Dodge or GM, or a newer gasser. Do this yesterday.

akronharry wrote:
Background: I have a 2005 F250 diesel 4x4 with 65k on it. It is in relatively in good shape. I have a gravel drive and the truck sits out there in Ohio weather. The underside has some surface rust and the calipers have been replaced a couple of times. Other then that, no issues. I am retiring this summer and we are planning on traveling the country for a few months with our travel trailer.

My question is should I take my 2005 and take a chance it may die in the middle of nowhere or should I make my one time life investment and buy another new diesel? DO the new diesels have better mileage and what did you pay for a newer f250 diesel 4x4 with a crew cab? Thanks in advance

I recently completed a trip from Michigan to Los Angeles with my new TV. The trip was in the winter and I had no problems with road conditions or the TV. During the trip while passing through farm country I saw 8 - 10 new Ram's pulling a 30' fifth wheel flatbed trailers. These truck trailer combinations were the new 30,000# pulling class. Over halve of these truck/trailer combinations had a Ford HD diesel truck riding on the trailer. The Ford trucks all had some body parts missing, hoods, grilles or entire cabs. My guess is they were scraped trucks that were going for repair or re-power.
MM49

Double post

New or newer becomes the issue. Starting in 2007.5 the three big guys all produced diesel engines that got considerable lower mileage, which did not go back up until the DEF models came out.

So with Ford you need to jump ahead to the 6.7 at least. Dodge to the late 2013's with DEF and I am not sure on the GM what year that was. Towing mileage should be in the 10-12 MPG range.

Both the new GM's and Ford's use the Bosch CP4.2 injection pump that is known to fail once in awhile and is a very expensive out of warranty repair, with Ford in some cases blaming it on the user's fuel!

RAM still uses the older Bosch pump, and if you get the one with the Aisin 6 speed auto(medium duty truck tranny), it is a great rig. I would love to have a new SRW 3500 RAM. With the 7K RGAWR they will handle a trailer with 3500+ pin weight!

Now the down side! These new trucks cost 3 or 4 times what many of us paid for our first house in the early 70's!

Going into retirement with a 9 year old truck might not be the best plan! Mine was 5 years old when I retired in 2006. It now needs tranny work.

Chris

Stranded in Houston

That you even asked the question says you have a glimmer of doubt in your mind.

I'm more afraid of a 6.0 that has had less than 10,000 miles per year than I am of one with 300,000 miles. Yes, I am serious.

The 6.0 has a reputation of failing big time, typically when you most need it to be reliable.

IMHO I would go for a new gas truck for the amount of miles you drive. The new ford gasser is rated to pull up to 15k ish lbs depending on configuration.

Plus, not $13k HPFP failures to deal with :D

Good luck no matter what you decide.

You can take some preventive measures to try and resolve the 6.0's issues before they grenade the top end. They may or may not work. They key seems to be to monitor the oil temp and the coolant temp and shut down the truck if they get more than 15 degrees apart. More than that and 'they' say that it means there is a major problem brewing. They say that shutting down and getting the truck immediately repaired prevents the chain reaction failures associated with this motor.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Heck, a new one could die in the middle of no where just as easily. :E

Since yours is an infamous 6L personally I would drop it on someone else and buy a new one. Yes you now have to add DEF for emission compliance, but other than additional cost it seems to be doing OK.

Wow! My 06 GMC 2500 duramax has 150,000 on it and it's just broke in. Diesel well maintain will run 300,000+ miles. JM2C.