Thoughts on the Triton V10 Engine

[martyn8677]

Looking to purchase an F350. I see lots of these engines with fairly low miles. I have heard they are great engines, but get poor gas mileage. Would use to haul my camper and pull a small boat for fishing trips. Would not be a daily driver. Just a play truck.

BTW, my current camper is fairly lightweight.....an Outfitter Apex 8 short bed. About 1800 lbs dry weight. I am looking to upgrade to a single slide camper though at some point.

Anybody had any experience with these engines hauling their campers?

Thanks.

[gitpicker2009]

Kohldad, you're right. Avoid anything prior to 2003. Up till then, the spark plugs had almost no threads to seat and blew out. They even sold a kit to repair it (I know because I had to do it on my old Class C).
After that year, the power was better, and the problem corrected.

[bighatnohorse]

The V10 is still available new in many motorhomes.
It is a tried and true engine.

[Rettrooper]

We had great service with our 2001 and 6.8 Triton and sold it in 2013. Whether we are towing or not seemed to always hover around 9 mpg. The motor was in a class C and ran like a clock. Just make sure you keep up with the maintenance.

[CaveRun]

Get a diesel if you're going to haul a truck camper, or pull a trailer.

[fla-gypsy]

A 2005MY (5-sp)and up V-10 will serve you well. A 4.10 or 4.30 rear gear will make it even better.

[fred_garvin]

I found a 2002 f250 with 52k on it and it was mint in and out and came with all of the mods needed for a TC. I went lite and got a Northstar 650. That truck will pull the pants off of superman but as others have said, it will not pass up a gas station. I like you use it for TC duty only but have the ability to use for other issues. You should have little or no problems if maintained properly. I also found a lot of usefull info on the f250 forums.

[samsontdog]

I have owned three P/Ups with the V10, still have one with have 90K. The V10 is the best gas eng that I have ever owned. I get 7 to 9 towing a 34 ft TT
and up to 15 on the Freeway empty. Never had a problem with any of them

[Superduty123]

I had a 2000 CC 4x4 and had a Lance 845 self contained camper with the v10.

Best engine in a truck I ever owned. yes, there were times pulling the grapevine here in CA where I got 4-5MPG with the camper and towing my jeep, but I was doing that at 70MPH on the steepest part of the grade.

Easy maintenance, never had to worry about water in the fuel, or an injector imploding, or coolant in the oil, or, or, or all the other issues I have had to deal with my other 3 diesel trucks

If all I was going to do was carry a camper and not tow a 33+ft 5th wheel, I would take the v10 and never look back

[kohldad]

Based on research a few years ago when I was looking at Class C motorhome, found it to be a great engine except for the first year(96 or was it 97?) when they had issues with spark plugs stripping the threads. After they fixed the issue it is about as flawless as you can get.

[BigBlockFord]

Dad had an '05 F350 with the 5 speed auto, 4.10 gear. 10-11 MPG was the norm with a 11' Caribou on top, 13 MPG unloaded. Never had a chance to follow him with my 460/E4OD combo, but I did drive it several times. Coming from my '95, it was smoother, quieter, loved to rev.,and had a lot more beans due in large part to the extra gear in the slush box.

It would be a tough decision for me if I found a 6.8L Triton now in a chassis cab vs. the same with a 6.7L PSD.
BBF

[JumboJet]

My 2000 motor home has a V-10 and gets 9-11 mpg according to how hard and which direction the wind is blowing. I don't know about the newer V-10s, but it is a smooth running engine. Of course, it doesn't hold a candle to my Cummins 6.7 for power but really surprised me on the 1,500 mile trip to/from Florida.

[martyn8677]

thanks for the replies everyone.

[joeshmoe]

martyn8677 wrote:
Looking to purchase an F350. I see lots of these engines with fairly low miles. I have heard they are great engines, but get poor gas mileage. Would use to haul my camper and pull a small boat for fishing trips. Would not be a daily driver. Just a play truck.

BTW, my current camper is fairly lightweight.....an Outfitter Apex 8 short bed. About 1800 lbs dry weight. I am looking to upgrade to a single slide camper though at some point.

Anybody had any experience with these engines hauling their campers?

Thanks.

Get a gasser. If you can find one, maybe look at a 2011 with a 6.2. Super solid engine and pulls pretty hard. From what I understand, mileage isn't too bad either as compared to the V10

Personally, I went diesel for work and play. Beside that, the truck was good deal and I like to wrench on all my own vehicles. The previous owner already paid for some of the important stuff that one would need to do to fix a 6.0. He was just tired of the maintenance and extra cost.

[Steelhog]

The V10 will pass anything but a gas station. That said, as much as I love my old 7.3 PSD based on the number of miles I drive vs. the cost of maintenance and the weight penalty I'd go with the V10 if I had to do it all over. I get 12-16 mpg loaded with the 7.3 and you might get 8-10 with the V10. $100 oil changes and all the S!#^ that can go wrong with an oil burner I think I'd actually come out ahead. I'd also go for the stick shift as they are almost bullet proof and cheaper to maintain.

ps; I had a 6.0 PSD and that was the biggest mistake of my life. Pulled like a freight train and was wonderful for 4.975 years and then she started eating REALLY expensive parts. I was glad to break even getting a two year older truck. IMO, Ford has the best ride/chassis, Dodge+Cuimmins excellent, GM/Allison great. Too bad I can't afford a Cummins with an Allison in a Ford.

[805gregg]

Buy gas co stock, you could get by with a smaller engine