Purchasing Ford F350 Dually, Need Advice

[P_Colahan]

Hello all,
Been some time since we posted here. We live in Everett, WA on board our boat. Which we have loved. Now we are looking at purchasing another Cab Over to do some land cruising in addition to water cruising. I need to get a larger truck and want a Ford this time.

I am interested in a truck with a 7.3 ltr but that means I would have to get a truck that is 2002 or older. I don't want a 6.0 ltr as I have heard and read just too many issues with them. I test drove a 2009 6.4 ltr today and it seemed ok but I have no knowledge of these engines or trucks. Looking for some very candid responses regarding issues, years to look out for, etc.

Thanks much in advance.

[mike_mck]

P Colahan wrote:
Thanks for the post, I am looking at F450 but had not thought about the F550 will add that to the search. I use this as a daily driver, but since I am only 7.5 miles from work that won't add a lot of miles.

We have A 1991 Bayliner 4588. The first owner put just about every bell an whistle on it they could. We enjoy the freedom of living on the water and of course cruising in the San Juan Islands and Sound. Have a beautiful view of the Olympic mountains from our boat.

Oh beautiful Boat. I'm thinking a great cruiser. reasonably economical as well. As boats go. How are the slip fees for liveaboards in your area?

back to trucks. the F450 will not give you too much over the 350. The 550 takes you to a whole new world. 1999 to 2000 will have a Dana 135 rear end with 4.88 gears and 19.5 inch wheels. With the 4.88 dears I was concerned even when the previous owner assured me if I kept it under 70 on the free way empty it would get 15 MPG. didn't believe it but made a run from AZ to Cal and it got right at 15 MPG. Hauling my 6000 lb wet camper and a couple thousand lbs of trailer and Rhino into the mountains with 6 to 7% grades out side Phoenix it gets 10 to 12. Stopping all that mass. Both the 450 and 550 give you 14.5 front and 15.5 rear discs.
Did I mention I love thst boat?

[KansasKen]

powerstroke.com had some videos comparing the guts of these engines. the guy doing them is a bit weird but appears to have a successful business fixing them.

[P_Colahan]

Farmerjon wrote:
We have a 7.3 and a 6.7. The 7.3 with 130K on it. The engine has been trouble free.The clutch came apart at 120K, it cost less than $1000 to fix.
The truck is in excellent condition. No worn out seats or anything. We aren't getting rid of it. It will continue doing most of our towing work but not the camper, that will be the 2015's job.
We skipped the 6.0 and 6.4 because of the stories we heard and what our friends experienced and because we were, and are, very happy with our 7.3.
We just WANTED the new 6.7, Exhaust brake,440hp/860lbs, CC and lots of bells and whistles to go wrong :B

I hear they had a few minor issues when the 6.7 first came out but have moved past them. Everything else says it is a great engine. Not interested in bells and whistles for the same reason you stated. Been dealing with that on the wifes Yukon.
Keeping my eyes open for a low mileage 7.3.

[P_Colahan]

pjay9 wrote:
You know I am going to say somethimng about boats...DAH!!! Good looking craft, what engines? What are you towing? When YachtLease was in business they had a good number of 45's in the lease program...very popular. I had fun teaching folks how to handle the vessel and the safety aspects and near coastal navigation. Now trucks...I love watching these postings. I wanted a Cummins it happened to be surrounded by a Ram...it has been good to me 163K so far, only a waterpump and fuel pump. No air bags required either to carry my 1161.
Good Luck to you on your search and new purcahse. Fair winds and following seas, maybe not so much the following with a sq stern..Good sailing. THX for flying the flag, too!

Engines are Hino 6cyl Turbo, 250HP each.
Towing our 12' RIB.
I use to pick up oil spills for a living in SF Bay. Operated boats up to 70' and helm up to 260' for limited periods. Use to teach handling and navigation (before chart plotters).

Ya, I like the Cummins also, but not the Dodge.

[Farmerjon]

We have a 7.3 and a 6.7. The 7.3 with 130K on it. The engine has been trouble free.The clutch came apart at 120K, it cost less than $1000 to fix.
The truck is in excellent condition. No worn out seats or anything. We aren't getting rid of it. It will continue doing most of our towing work but not the camper, that will be the 2015's job.
We skipped the 6.0 and 6.4 because of the stories we heard and what our friends experienced and because we were, and are, very happy with our 7.3.
We just WANTED the new 6.7, Exhaust brake,440hp/860lbs, CC and lots of bells and whistles to go wrong :B

[pjay9]

You know I am going to say somethimng about boats...DAH!!! Good looking craft, what engines? What are you towing? When YachtLease was in business they had a good number of 45's in the lease program...very popular. I had fun teaching folks how to handle the vessel and the safety aspects and near coastal navigation. Now trucks...I love watching these postings. I wanted a Cummins it happened to be surrounded by a Ram...it has been good to me 163K so far, only a waterpump and fuel pump. No air bags required either to carry my 1161.
Good Luck to you on your search and new purcahse. Fair winds and following seas, maybe not so much the following with a sq stern..Good sailing. THX for flying the flag, too!

[P_Colahan]

Thanks for the post, I am looking at F450 but had not thought about the F550 will add that to the search. I use this as a daily driver, but since I am only 7.5 miles from work that won't add a lot of miles.

We have A 1991 Bayliner 4588. The first owner put just about every bell an whistle on it they could. We enjoy the freedom of living on the water and of course cruising in the San Juan Islands and Sound. Have a beautiful view of the Olympic mountains from our boat.

[mike_mck]

You may want to look for a 450 or 550 with the 7.3 as well.
couple years ago I was looking to replace my 94 F350 Dually with the 7.3 IDI with a powerstroke.
wasn't finding what I wanted so just started to look at F550 on craigslist.
what should appear but a 1999 F550 with 228,000 mikes on it. Had the pickup bed conversion and a 50 Gallon tank. Picked it up for $7K. I knew with 228K on the clock and it had spent it's life hauling livestock a trans was in my future.
A year later that became true. Another $2100.00.

Now trans is under warranty. the 7.3 is bulletproof and I never have to calculate weight either towing or what I put in my 96 Caribou.

Start looking clean 7.3's are out there. If they are in the low 200K range with a rebuilt trans don't be afraid of the mileage.

As I anticipate it to be a 500K motor and I'm putting less than 10K a year on it. No plans to ever sell it.

Oh and what boat are you living on?

[P_Colahan]

Boatycall wrote:

My 7.3L has been garaged since new, mint condition, never heard of any steering or suspension issues, and has 77k miles on it. I did break the tranny due to user-installed power adders, but that was an easy fix with a Jasper MonsterBox tranny. Been working flawlessly for over 10 years now.
I've recently started dumping coin into it to 'freshen' it up. Taking out the old, in with the new. I did all my go-fast mods a year after it was new. Put on a Banks cold air intake last week, tomorrow my new banks turbo and wastegate should show up. It's had a nasty turbo surge for years, this should cure it.

And is it for sale? ya right.. you're gonna have to pry it from my cold dead hands to get. It'd be like asking me to sell my dog.

I understand how you feel. When it has worked for so many years and you just start to get everything the way you like it. The thought of selling is not an option.

I know that they are out there and will wait. If I have to have the seat rebuilt, that's OK. I want a good body and running gear with less than 100k.

Thanks again guys, I have decided that 7.3 it will be.

[Coastal_Wandere]

I have a 2010 6.7 and except for a problem with the erg cooler early on which was covered under warranty, it has been a great truck. I have 99,000 miles on it and i am waiting for my new 2015 to arrive to replace it. The resale value is excellent as well.

[Boatycall]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
The 7.3.... steering problems, and other suspension things that will wear out too.

My 7.3L has been garaged since new, mint condition, never heard of any steering or suspension issues, and has 77k miles on it. I did break the tranny due to user-installed power adders, but that was an easy fix with a Jasper MonsterBox tranny. Been working flawlessly for over 10 years now.
I've recently started dumping coin into it to 'freshen' it up. Taking out the old, in with the new. I did all my go-fast mods a year after it was new. Put on a Banks cold air intake last week, tomorrow my new banks turbo and wastegate should show up. It's had a nasty turbo surge for years, this should cure it.

And is it for sale? ya right.. you're gonna have to pry it from my cold dead hands to get. It'd be like asking me to sell my dog.

[cubbear]

I have a 7.3 and a 6.0 and a new 6.7 the 7.3 I have never done anything to except change oil and filters it has 105,000 mi the 6.0 275,000 mi replaced injectors and replaced trans no other problems the 6.7 is new and for the time being I only going to use it for the TC

[P_Colahan]

Thanks guys, you have confirmed what I was already feeling. I need to find a good, low mileage 7.3. They are a great workhorse. Could not agree more that maintenance on any vehicle, especially diesels is critical.
There are some really low mileage 7.3's still out there. Mostly used for peoples RVs two or three times a year. I just missed a 2002 recently with less than 80K on it. Got to be fast to catch them.
Looked at a 2002 with 130k on it this weekend. Not too bad of shape but didn't like what I saw under neath. Looked like it had been worked pretty hard. The engine sounded OK. Interior was fair, the drivers seat needed to be rebuilt, cushion was leaning something awful. And so the search continues. I will find the right one.
Then we can start the search for the camper. Been doing some looking there too. Our last one was a Fleetwood Elkhorn 10.5. Great unit but some draw backs. I like the units with the basements, forced air under to help keep the pipes warm and the extra bunk head room the basements offer. Would like a side entrance but not critical.
I really appreciate the replies here. I will no doubt draw on your experiences once I locate a unit and most definitely when we start the camper search.
Thanks gain.

[mkletka]

I know there are ton of negatives about the 6.0. My comments are regarding my own 2006 F350 dually. I currently have 240k miles on mine. It's all stock except for a coolant filter. Maintenance is key. I also monitor the delta between the coolant and oil. My truck works hard pulling a lawn trailer summers and plowing snow winters. It does occasionally get to haul my TC so it definitely is a multi-purpose truck.

[Reality_Check]

Candid...... the flood gates will open. Haters of all types will come out of the wood work.

I own trucks from all three manufactures (well, actually not true now; we just dumped our duramax 3500 at an auction. Don't even get me going about their chitty rear end designs).

For our camper, we stayed with the 6.0... despite all the hooplah, it's a good engine. It has its problems, but their pretty straight forward and fairly consistent. The 6.4... not so consistent. I'm in agreement that he 6.7 is holding to be a really good power plant, but newer means more money. Here's where our thinking took us.

As a company, I had good luck with the 7.3's; but as stated, they're getting old. And it's not just the engine that wears out.

We've had good luck with the 6.0's too. When they go, it's usually the head studs. It's a 5k fix.

Sound's expensive, but when you consider that you can get fairly low mileage 6.0's (2006's and 7's) for decently low prices, it's not such a bad deal. Best guess, you're going to spend 10k + or more to get a newer 2009/10/11 for similar mileage. So for us, even if we bought the used truck (which we did, the '07) and had to turn around and dump 5 or 6k into it, we were still ahead. 'Cause the fix is usually good for another 100k plus and we're still under what a newer rig would have cost us. And chances are, we won't have to fix it.

I've got two 6.0's left. One is 150k w/studs, and our RV model has 200k and I don't know if the studs have been done.

Lot's of ways to think about things... lot's of ideas, "facts" (yea, right) and opinions. To each there own. Good luck in the hunt.