Ford F350: Which motor?

[mbloof]

Greetings,

My 97' F250HD 5.8L V8 has ~125K miles on it and I'm lucky to get 200-250miles out of the stock fuel tanks (16+18gal). I keep thinking larger more power might be just the ticket - however can't decide on which motor I want - only that another 5.8 is out of the question.

My TC sits on the PU 97% of the time. It took me 15yrs to put 30K miles on my current PU.

I can't decide between:

- Modern 6.8L V10's (gas) are rated at nearly 400HP coupled with 6 speeds.

- Older 6.8L V10's (gas) might come with 4 or 5 speeds.

- Modern 6.4L Turbo V8's have the 6 speed trany, but not sure on mileage (+expensive new)

- Older 6.0L Turbo V8's have 4-5 speed tranies, not sure on mileage and not sure if this motor is desireable.

- Much older 7.3L Turbo V8's (with 100-200K miles on them) can sometimes be had for a "song", I've heard great things about this motor (and fuel mileage). I think they only offered a 4 speed auto at that point.

- Currently I'm leaning used or new V10.

(I'll likely only get < 25K miles on this)

Comments?

[bcbouy]

hedgehopper wrote:
mbloof, you seem to be saying you want a more powerful engine to get better mileage. Generally, the opposite is true: All other factors being equal, the more powerful the engine, the worse the mileage.

If your only complaint is range, why not add another tank?

not entirely true.cylinder deactivation,turbo charging,direct injection hyway vs city driving,6 speed trans vs. 3 all affect mileage vs power. my hemi gets the same mileage as my old 4.7 with almost double the hp.

[stickyeye]

Upgrading solely for mpg increase with the amount you drive is a losing proposition. But if you just want a new truck or looking for more power pretty much any newer motor will do the job just fine with a TC unless your also towing heavy behind it, then diesel. If you run high elevation mountain roads a lot a turbo diesel is much less affected by altitude and having an exhaust brake is nice. Also the lower rev in a diesel is nice. I have a 05 Dodge Ram 3500 diesel for my TC but use an 08 F350 5.4 gas 4.10 rear for work that has a cap and equipment weighing around 2500-3000lbs with no problems at all moving along although it does rev higher and shift more, normal for gasser. I get around 10-11 mpg mixed driving with the F350.

Good Luck

[nycsteve]

6.2 gasser.

[hedgehopper]

mbloof, you seem to be saying you want a more powerful engine to get better mileage. Generally, the opposite is true: All other factors being equal, the more powerful the engine, the worse the mileage.

If your only complaint is range, why not add another tank?

[mbloof]

nomadictxn wrote:
As a former 5.8 l F250 owner, I would even consider the 5.4 l engine a huge upgrade.

Really?

I've pretty much written off the 5.4L as being to similar to my current 5.8L.

While there are some fairly inexpensive 'deals' on 97-03' 7.3L's with less than 200K miles, I'm thinking newer and larger gas motor.

I have a Golf TDI - you have to drive +5000 miles a year to have any reasonable payback on something new AND expect to pile up a few 100K miles to boot. Currently retirement is +6yrs out.

The local new truck lots are stuffed full with CC-TD's, ether of the features are a 'fail' to me. I don't need+want a CrewCab and I surely don't need to pay the "TD TAX" again. (I'm already paying it on my VW Golf!)

It seems that extended cab trucks are rare around where I live. It might take a while to find a decent 06-10 V10 with reasonable mileage on it.

[nomadictxn]

No one doubts the prodigious superiority of modern diesels. They are very impressive but completely the wrong choice for a vehicle that will be driven 2000 miles a year. As a former 5.8 l F250 owner, I would even consider the 5.4 l engine a huge upgrade.

[mbloof]

We live in Oregon so we don't have to go very far to find places to dry camp or State parks (one we visited just last weekend was only 1/2 a tank (round trip) away!) or FS or BLM campgrounds.

We camp year around and 90% of the time on the weekends. The general rule we follow is that we have to spend more time where we go then getting there and back. There is A LOT of country to see/visit with in 300 miles of where we live.

If I can find the "right" 05-10' used SRW or DRW Supercab V10 I'll likely jump on that.

Thanks for the comments guys!

[Jimmd]

I have a 2012 F-350 6.7 Diesel Truck has amazing power gets 20 MPG highway without a load. with a camper on or pulling a trailer it gets 14-15. You will get half that with a gas motor and get half the life expectancy out of the motor. Yes diesels are more expensive but in the long term if you are keeping the truck for a while it's worth it (I feel).

[scoTTyO_]

I got my 2011 6.2 f250 just over a year ago it had 122k (now 133k)for next to nothing
a couple of oil changes and a plug change and it runs great
plan on getting 200k and only drive 10-15k a year so shes got lots of life left
like all my previous trucks the body will be shot before the engine
pulling my small 5th wheel (8500lbs) it will get 8-9 mpg in hilly country and 10-11mpg on flat areas
once I get my camper loaded on I expect the same

[countrycampers3]

Diesel's need to be driven. I think you said 30,000 miles in 15 years. you don't go very far do you.

I would suggest a late model V-10 or the 6.2L V8. Although they have less horespower than the v-10's. The V-10's from my experience of having 2 of them. MPG's will be low 10 or less. But Diesel motors will cost more to buy, and they do need to run.

Good Luck and have fun.

[mbloof]

Why yes, I purchased a ~4yo truck with nearly 100K miles on it. And yes, outside of eating manifolds it has required only the usual stuff (breaks, shocks, tires, oil & other fluids). Over the last (I guess) 14yrs I've only put ~25-30K miles on it - barely over 2000 miles a year. I don't expect to put to much more miles per year on any newer truck.

I own a Northern Lite - so fully loaded I'm rolling ~10K+ (depending on how much fire wood I'm carrying+ other stuff). Sometimes I'm pushing ~12K.

I think my current truck has 4.12 gears pushed by a fuel injected 351C. 2nd gear @ 40-50MPH going over mountain passes is not fun. I don't drive over 60MPH (unless passing). I'm getting ~6-8MPG.

I read somewhere that the new 6.2L gas engines are pushing nearly 400HP. That seems attractive. I'm sorry I got confused with the V8/V10's and did not realize that they stopped offering the V10 in the F350 anymore.

I'm seeing V10's with 100-250K in my local area. Recently saw two different 2008's with less than 100K miles on them. Considering that I'll likely never put more than ~30K on a newer truck I'm targeting gas'ers with less than 110K miles.

The older 7.3's are really going for a "song", I've seen a number of them with less than 200K miles in the < $15K price point. A friend who still has his claims 16MPG with his camper loaded (flat ground, cruse control).

I'd really like the 6 speed tranny, then again there is a BUNCH of stuff "I'd like" but not enough to drop ~35-40K on a new truck. 🙂

Damn FORD keeps changing the HUB/RIM offsets so to keep my Toyo 608Z's I'll have to invest in yet another set of Vision Hauler Rims. (and try to unload the ones that fit the 97') (sigh)

Out west you have to think of RANGE between fill-ups.

So new 6.2L ~$35-40K or older 6.8 ~$10-20K.

[bcbouy]

diesel isn't always the way to go.its heavier than a gas motor,fuel costs more,harder to find pre owned and way more expensive.the op will be very lucky to make up the up front cost of a diesel over the life of the truck in fuel savings and mileage.thats why i personally went with the hemi.the math didn't justify a diesel.

[-Kevin]

campingken wrote:
That's not always true. We have had our 5.9 Cummins since we bought it new in 2003 and our next truck will be a gas V-8.

Really!? wow, haven't seen that before but to each there own. I went the other way.

[-Kevin]

KD4UPL wrote:
Since this is in the TC forum I assume that's the use of the truck. A gas engine should be fine, I would think any V10 would be a great choice.
After my experience with two 6.0 diesels I wouldn't take one if it were given to me.

The 6.0 is a great engine if you get rid of all that emissions BS, that goes for any of the diesels from the early times of tighter emissions (mid-late 2000's)

[fivealive]

For what its worth I bought heavily used 99 F350 v10 from the railroad with 210K. I now have 260K on it and only issue was a blown spark plug. Seemed like a big deal at the time but honestly I was able to drive it into the shop, it never stopped running just got real loud. I was in the middle of no where at the time so very thankful that it didn't leave me stranded. The mechanic was able to use an insert to fix it at a fairly low cost. Otherwise I have just done oil changes and shes been running great.