Area13 wrote:
garryk6 wrote:
I currently own two 2000 V-10's and a 2002 5.4V-8. The 5.4 combined with a 6spd manual and with everything loaded up at 10,800lbs and 3.73. It gets 13-15mpg traveling around Alaskan highways, byways and gravel roads. The V-10's vary. They are in two Excursions. One has factory 3.73 gears and stock 265x75x16 tires, one has 4.30 gears and 35x12.50x16.5 tires. both auto. The one with 4.30 gears has banks headers, exhaust, and a Whipple supercharger. On the highway they both get 13-15mpg. Around town the 3.73 gets 8-9 and the 4.30 gets 8-10. But seat of the pants, the 4.30 and Whipple V-10 beats my old 05 6.0 diesel, and my old 02 7.3 diesel hands down. I have owned all these trucks, and have enjoyed them all, but the diesel maintenance and living on an island with no diesel experts, and no highways turned me off the diesels...
Just my personal experience.
Garry
I have driven both the V10 and the 7.3 for years. What is the "Diesel Maintenance" on the 7.3? Don't get it? I change the oil once in a while and just drive it. It is one of the last non emission trouble free diesels you can get.The 7.3 is a MONSTER towing, especially low end and is MUCH better on fuel than the V10. With a few mods I run over 600 Torque on it and barely tap the skinny pedal to pull huge loads. The V10 is nice and quiet, but don't pass any gas pumps. IF the 7.3 needs work (if ever), very simple to work on. Just my experience currently owning both.
Thanks for the clarification, for others information. I will caveat the diesel issue to the physical sitting of the truck. I live in Alaska, but had my 2001 CCLB Dually 4x4 7.3 psd ZF-6spd with stock 235-85-16 and 189K miles was sitting in WA state. Because my family who was watching it for me, did not like driving the "beast" it sat for three years. Ended up chasing battery drain issues, that came from the glow plug solenoids and some other minor issues. also had the cam sensor issue, but not too big a deal. And it always seemed to be cold blooded... after a trip to WA and getting it going, I traded it straight across for a 2000 Excursion V10 auto 4x4 with 110K and have had little to no problems since. It tends to sit too, but not as long, as my family is more prone to drive the gas Ex than the old diesel. If I ever move back to the lower-48, I would consider another 01 or 02 7.3 6speed 4x4 dually. The 7.3 and the 6 speed got me almost 20 mpg on long highway cruises when I kept the speed to the limit.
But the oil changes are cheaper with the V-10, and I am not fighting the glow plugs any more, and so that was my experience. Living on an Island in alaska, is not for diesels, since the driving length is like less than 14 minutes, and the diesel is barely warming up, so either you have to start it early and idle forever to defrost the thing, or drive to work cold... that is why I now drive gas in Alaska. Even with the block heater, my 6.0 Ex would hardly every warm up.
Just my observations,
Garry