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
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
While I’ll admit, the last 6.7 Powerstroke I towed with was an early model, good to hear it actually works well. That said I’ve driven newer ones as well as LML and L5P Duramax and the exhaust brake seems non existent in daily driving.
Whereas the Cummins exh brake is there, every time loaded or unloaded, hill or no hill just as you’d except it to come on.
I’ll still maintain that class 4-5 trucks are horrific daily drivers and suck even worse with loads that are just on the rear axle and not significantly loading the front axle. Lots of seat time in flatbeds and dump bodies. The only ones that ride ok are service trucks where a bunch of weight is forward enough of the rear axle to make the front springs comply a bit and keep the tires from riding like flintstone wheels.
of course the 45O pickup has more capacity than a 350 with the same gvw. It’s also stiff but not as stiff as a 450 chassis cab model.
to each their own but if the op is after a dually for his stated use a 350/3500 is the best fit.
it is a different way of doing the brake. I think cummins adds a separate exhaust brake, ford in the early ones did some sort of magic but it works fairly good, (I have a 1st gen 6.7, just the last year) in 15 they went to a different turbo setup and use the veins in the turbo to make the exhaust brake, works almost as good, takes up less space makes the programing a little more involved, then at some point they added a button so you could turn it off and on. in my old 7.3 I added a box that turned the exhaust back pressure valve into an exhaust brake.. surprisingly it worked half decent.
a F550 as a daily driver kind of wouldn't be my first choice for one reason. the unloaded ride, yes the rear suspension is stiff, mind you on tame roads it would probably be fine. we drive them all over a mine site and they are absolutely horrible for what we use them for, but they do turn sharp. they must be good for campers, it is the most popular overlander build platform out there. mind you they are changing to liquid springs so that might be the difference right there. if I can find a F550 diesel 4x4 cheep, I'll jump all over it.. then see how many thousands those liquid springs are haha
None of the big 3 class 1-5 trucks have ever had a standalone exhaust brake from the factory.
The ole cold weather warmup backpressure valve on the 7.3 you mentioned was probably the closest to an inline exhaust brake of any of them. And that was 25 years ago.
All the diesels in this category class 1-5 began having exhaust braking capability and/or programming when they went to variable vane turbos in the early to mid 2000s. Concept is the same for all of them. Only Cummins figured it out much better than the other 2. To be fair I haven’t driven the latest Gen of Dmax or Powerstroke and they work too, but those that use both or all 3 and going have their brand loyal blinders on readily admit one stands out from the other 2.
Regardless, “overlander” vs typical truck camper is a big difference. Typically in weight. Hence the bigger trucks. (Although plenty of that “need” in the folks building fancy overlanders is fueled by the cool trend to spend 10s of thousands lifting a huge truck.)And the reason most of them convert to air or hydraulic suspension like you mentioned is because otherwise they’re like driving a $200k covered wagon at far faster speed than a wagon can go!
A lot of it is stretching to make the application “work” at a huge cost of expensive modifications to make it palatable where it matters the most. It’s backwards logic.
Some make sense. Folks who have monster TCs and other heavy gear and usually towing somewhat heavy in conjunction. Most I think just want a u toob channel and are more about the “build” than being rough tough “overlanders”. Because if they were, a vehicle that weighs too much to be towed by a normal tow truck or pulled out by a normal winch or normal vehicle, with rock hard tires (oops there’s another 10 grand for big soft tires) and 150”-220” wheelbase and 9’ wide is in no way a good “overlander”. It’s a much better over the road…er.That's ok. Jeff is now tracking right again for his needs. Great discussion though!
I appreciate and agree with most of what you have said.
Friends have alerted me to a nice 2015 F350 supercab at a decent price with a 6.2. That would be a good truck for me and not break the bank. Being retired, I do need to be careful of my spending as it may have to lastt me 5 or 20 years.
Pictures if I buy it.
Awesome! That would fit the bill nicely.
And as a F350 it will still have the 6r140 trans, same as the diesel.
Right around 2015-16 ford downgraded the F250 6.2 to the 6r100. Still more than suitable but the 6r140 is basically indestructible behind a 6.2 gasser.
That era of superduty 6.2 is one of the best trucks out there. Had 2 different ones as company trucks and the first one I beat pretty relentlessly, towing 14-16klbs in the cascades regularly. Never as much as a hiccup out of it.
