Hey all,

Currently have a 2008 F450 diesel and thinking about a chassis/cab F550 V10. The truck is used for towing only (gooseneck horse trailer 12,000-14,000 lbs). Only average 5k per year in miles. Getting tired of the DPF on the diesel, constant regens, making oil etc. Wonder if now is the time to jump out and go gas. Anyone tow something similar to my combo in a F550 V10?

Thanks,

Alan

 

Downpipe back cat/dpf delete, spartan tuner, Cold air intake = about $1,500 give or take, and no more regens, making oil, etc and a beast of a truck well capable of doing what you're doing. And you already own it.

 

Yeah and that DPF delete crap is illegal for on-road use and will void your powertrain warrenty also. But that rarely ever gets mentioned.


There is a fellow on here that has two F-550 V10 tow trucks. I'm sure he will chime in. If not I'll find his UN and send it to you so you can ask him some questions.

 

Oh please, it gets mentioned all the time. And yes, it "may" void your warranty, depending on the dealer involved and what goes wrong.


And I know, there a a slew of stories about somebody that knew somebody whose uncles cousin got busted by The Man for deleting his crap.

 

Calling LSchicago2...

 

If you live somewhere that has smog tests (or might have them in the future) do your homework before doing a DPF delete. The Colorado front range didn't used to smog light truck diesels, now they do. In an area like mine you'd have to run two exhausts systems, one with DPF and one without, switching them for the emissions test.

 

That naturally is a different story. I know there are guys that don't mind swapping their exhaust system in and out for that, but I don't know that I'd be one of them. I did enogh swearing just doing it once.

 

I just did what you did..I had a 2008 gmc sierra diesel duramax and just sold it. now I have a 2008 f250 v10 crew cab 4x4 with 4.10 gears. I tow a 7k boat and I have to say with a 14k load I would stick with the diesel. my truck is adequate for the 7k, but i literally couldn't feel any lack of power or much of a difference when towing with the gmc when hooked to the boat. but the v10 tows 7k nice enough and i can maintain 65 on the steepest of grades no problem. I also dont tow alot so the gas benefit was better as i was sick of the fuel filters, allison filters, giant oil changes etc. etc. I love my v10 and the switch worked for me- especially since an overpriced ford oil change was only 29 dollars! the gmc was $100 and more for fuel filter every 15k miles etc. etc.

the F550 with a v10 is going to be ridiculously slow let alone with 14k behind it. I am sure it will get the job done but that's a lot of truck and weight for that engine. my v10 is slow- unloaded!

 

Not just SMOG tests but visual inspections also. It all depends on your state and even county regulations. Everyone screams "DPF" delete but there is more to it than that. Check your regs. I suspect the inspections will get more stringent in the future, its already happening with the class 8 trucks.



If you reflash the pcm and remove a mandated piece of emissions equipment. Your powertrain warrenty is void, period. Any person or dealer who knowingly replaces related components under warrenty is commiting fraud. Thats partly why Ford cracked down on this crap with encrypted pcms on certain models.

I didn't remember the "2", had the rest. Thanks.

 

You won't like the power or the mileage towing that heavy with the V10, we have a 450 CC with the 4.88's and it is not fun towing that much and more. You'll be in the 22K-24K ballpark total, depending on your terrain you'll be in mid to high single digits with mileage and may or may not be able to go the speed limit. If you are doing short trips on flat ground you may not mind.

 

Where is Lloyd he will give you the low down on the V-10s.

I have a F-450 with a 6.0 the truck is okay, I should have bought a V-10 when I had the chance.

The newer diesel trucks are not worth it even a 6.0 for my truck it is 168 dollars for a oil change. That is a filter and Delo 400 5w-40 synthetic gets a little expensive after awhile. Truck maxes out a 12mpg empty she won't get any better fuel economy than that.

I'am also paying 5.14 for a gallon of diesel fuel the fun and joys of living in Canada eh.

Own a gasser truck a V-10 oil change would be less than 50 dollars, regular gas is 4.77 a gallon the V-10 gets about 10mpg in a F-450/550 truck.

 

That sounds typical of a pure diesel guy's mind. I bought diesels only for 10 years (96-06). I switched to buying V10's only in mid 06, and still won't consider a diesel. I've had my 09 V10 F550 loaded to 30,000 total many times, and it pulled fine. AS far as power, it will be similar to a 7.3 PSD. Many of us had 7.3 PSD's before the problem riddled power junkie motors came out, and they towed good enough. The V10 F550 will too, providing you're not at high elevations. If you regularly go much over 5,000' in elevation, the V10 will feel like it's working hard. That is the only downfall of owning a V10 (no turbo for high elevation), except the fuel economy which is offset by the diesel's higher cost on purchase, financing, maintenance, repairs, higher fuel costs, and DEF fluid. 5,000 miles a year and under 26,000# sounds like a V10 would be a good fit. And don't worry about it not doing the speed limit. at 26,000# it will hold any speed you want in overdrive except large hills, where it will downshift a gear, and then hold any speed you want up the hill. V10's tow heavy loads better at 65-70 than 55-60 mph. Above 68MPH fuel economy starts to drop. The V10's really make good power from 3,000-4,000 RPM for hill climbing. As long as you realize you are trading off a bit of power, for a lot of reliability, and lower overall running costs, and not towing regularly at real high elevations you will be fine. The V10 is not even broke in until 75,000-100,000 miles. That is when they really start to run stronger and more efficient. MPG will be about 6 city/10 highway empty, and 5 city/8 highway loaded to GCWR (more than you'll be pulling). Don't compare a F450/F550 with 4.88 gears to a F250/350 with 4.10's. 4.10's do not run in the v10's power band for heavy towing. That is why Ford only offers 4.88's for the V10 450/550's they pull much better. I'm a power junkie too, but traded the excess power for ample power. I did that for reliability, and won't look back.

 

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50 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Usually tow with-in a 100 mile radius. Some tri-state towing, most twisties and hills rather than flat interstate running.

 

You should be fine with the V10 then. The V10 F550 will downshift on the bigger hills, but it will pull well in your region. The V10 likes to rev compared to a diesel.