Hello fellow RVers,

We're getting ready to make a 7000km journey from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island with our 2004 Ford 250 6.0l Diesel Turbo truck. We have yet to tow with the truck but we bought the truck from a guy who used it to exclusively pull a trailer similar in size to ours which is a 2008 30ft Heartland Sundance. The truck is in immaculate condition. The guy that had it babied it tremendously.

My question is kind of a two-parter...

First - what kind of service/maintenance/upgrades would you do to a truck to ensure it's in its best possible condition to pull a fifth wheel for 7000km? We've been told by one guy that we 100% need a EGT gauge installed which can apparently save us from a costly repair.

Second - what kind stuff would you bring with you for "just in case" moments? Example, extra fuel, fuel filters etc...We're trying to put together a solid list of items that we should always have on hand should we break down at all that could save us a little bit.

Thanks in advance. All advice is greatly appreciated!

 

Definatley bring a fuel filter, belt, make sure you have a good jack and spare tire tools for both truck and trailer. You'll need to make sure you have a good, but simple set of tools just in case. I always care spare fuses and a multi meter.

 

Have you towed with the truck yet?


Local towing and some practice backing up and navigating some turns is where I would start.

 

No we haven't yet. But fully plan on doing just what you recommend in the next month or so, but we still want to have a solid list of items we need to take with us and what we should do to have the truck prepared.

 

There are certain upgrades to the stock 6.0l that you should consider if they have not already been installed:

1) Upgraded EGR Cooler like the one from Bulletproof Diesel
2) Upgraded Oil Cooler
3) Coolant Filter

You dId not state how many miles the motor has on it. Many Powerstroke mechanics have told me to expect the injectors to last about 100,000 miles if the oil has been replaced religiously. Less miles if you don't. I just replaced all eight in my '03 at 105,000 miles.

As you may gather from the EGT temperature sensor recommendation, the issue is heat. I also monitor the Oil Temperature and Coolant Temperature, as an indicator that the Oil Cooler and EGR Cooler are not clogged.

While he does try to sell his services, there is a lot of information on Bill Hewitt's website, powerstrokehelp.com .

 

If you take any of his advice, check in at the 6.0 forum before following through. He has some good advice and also some bad advice.

 

We just took our 2006 6.0 on a 4700 mile trip, 950 miles in and it was on the side of the road. Did everything to it that was recommend here and only had 110,000 miles. Bought a new 6.7 to continue our trip.

The 6.0 was the worst truck I ever had, hope you have better luck.

 

True, but his info regarding the inherent issues with the early 6.0's is useful.

 

Useful sometimes doesn't equate to correct.

 

The most important thing in my book is a good cell phone service and some type of road-side assistance and towing insurance. As a long time 6.0 owner, I can tell you it is only a matter of time and you will be stranded. Of course, this is true with all modern diesels. Other recommendations are a tire pressure monitoring system for the trailer, a good GPS, and a well thought out plan. Get reservations for each night if you are on a schedule and don't get in a hurry. Take your time and don't assume you need to travel at 75mph while towing. Good luck.

 

Toilet Paper, WD-40, Duct Tape, Green Slime, Small assortment of hand tools, Multi meter.

 

I will say that in the ten years that I had my 6.0 it never left me stranded. It was stone stock. Only reason I don't have it now is that I would go thru a turbo app. Every 20,000 miles. The ESP's did pay for themselves.

 

We towed our 30ft travel trailer with our 2000 7.3 F250 from GA to Seattle and back last summer coming it around 19K lbs and 8K miles total. It was an amazing trip and we had a lot of fun.

The two things that I was the most grateful for while on the trip was the truck has a manual 6 speed transmission which helped a lot going up and down grades. The star of the trip though was our auxiliary fuel tank in the bed that I can push a momentary switch and fill the OEM tank up with. Going down the road I have roughly 75 gallons of fuel at full which allows us to stop when and where we want instead of when or where we have to.

Take tools to change tires or work on brakes if you have problems. Make sure your spare tires have the correct pressure. Make sure all the lights and brakes work on the truck and the trailer. Bring some chocks and road hazard triangles for if/when you have to stay at a rest stop or on the side of a road for the night. Work gloves, a blanket or something to put on the ground if you have to get under the trailer or the truck. Make sure you have the proper socket size to fit the trailer and truck wheel lugs. The list goes on and on...

 

Check the age and condition of the trailer tires, especially if they are ST tires. Carlisle, a large ST tire manufacturer states that by 3 years of age ST tires have lost 30% of their strength and they recommend tire replacement at 3 to 5 years.

 

It sounds like the previous owner took very good care of the truck. I would change fuel filters, oil change. Use only OEM filters as others have been known to give problems. On our 04 we have 210000 miles and original everything. Changed oil every 5K and fuel filters every 10K. But if I noticed power loss before usual change I changed fuel filters ahead of time, caused by bad fuel on the road.
Have a great trip