It does not appear that the motors are the limiting factors as they are easy enough to tune for some pretty big power. But drives line parts and transmissions are another story.

To me it seems that numbers are driven up more often then every year. Plus the way they do it makes me sick. 5 hp or tq here and there. Give us what we want - the best the motor can do and still be reliable. If you ask me it's an absolute joke. All manufactures play this game too..

 

 

So true, so true.

 

I have to agree with you on this. The 7.3 Liter Powerstroke and, the 5.9 Liter 24-valve Cummins, and the first generation 6.6 Liter Duramax. These are all great engines that are extremely reliable and get the job done.

Now, the big three are fighting to be "King of the Hill". The newer engines are developing issues, people are complaining, and they're still fighting over who puts out the most torque. So someone out does you; so what? There will ALWAYS be someone out there that can do something better than you can. You just have to do the best you can with what you have......

In other words, build an engine that will stand the test of time. Don't push an engine close or past it's limits just to keep some customers. What customers are looking for in a diesel is: (first and foremost) longevity, low maintenance, good fuel economy, enough power to do whatever, and few trips to the dealership because of issues. The 1999.5-2003 7.3 PSD, the 24-valve 5.9 CTD (prior to the torque wars), the first gen. 6.6 L Duramax, and even some of the 2003 and 2004 6.0s will stand the test of time. But then again, who knows? Maybe the big three will come to their sense and focus on the big picture.

I hope this doesn't rub anyone the wrong way. I just needed to vent.....

 

Seems to me that people are not interested in longevity, at least on this website. Every time someone super-tunes their engine with a chip, they drop time off the life of the engine. Super-tune = shorter engine life. I expect to catch flak from stating that truth, but that is the fact of the matter.

So what you see from Ford is this: 570 ft-lbs and 325 Horses. If Ford wanted to play the one-upsmanship they would have simply come out with a 610 ft-lb PSD from the get-go, as they easily could have. But this is not what has been done. In other words, Ford has taken the "high" road and done the right thing: give some numbers, and put out the best engine for the money. And it takes a medium-duty engine to match it. That's quality. That's Ford. That's what number one is all about.

Friends don't let friends buy anything but Ford.

 

You won't catch any flak from me!

Now that you mention this, you're right and I may have wrong about some of the things I said (as I wrote in anger, a no-no in writing etiquette). Not too many people seem to care about longevity; few (if any) do. Granted, there are people who do. People who kept their 1999.5, 2000, 2001, and 2002 7.3s in the wake of the 6.0, are prime examples of this. But someone posted somewhere in one of the superduty/heavy duty forums: "they (Ford) know that there are PSD junkies that will trade up just to get the best". Some people lept out of their 2002 model vehicle (and perhaps got themselves upside down ) just to get the jump on the 2003 6.0 when it debuted.

Here, without realizing it, I rebutted my own arguement!
But I see what you're saying now. Ford understood this and did the best with what they had. They could have easily given Dodge and Chevy a black eye and maybe put out a 650 or 700ft/lbs. engine if they wanted to. The Torqshift could have handled it, but it would have greatly reduced the life of the engine and caused problems later on. This explains why Ford didn't do much when Dodge and Chevy upped their numbers. For the longest time I wondered why Ford did this, but now I understand. Ford may be dead last in the torque wars, but first when it comes to quality.

 

Give me a truck, engine and transmission that will easily last a million miles and still look decent, and I'll take it... RIght now, unless you are buying mazda and living in the warm states that is not going to happen....

 

I may be alone in this, and it may seem harsh of me to say this, but I for one am glad that many people did in fact trade in their 7.3's to upgrade to 6.0's they probably didint need. At least that means now I get the benefit of their R&D real world testing, by being able to go to a Ford dealer and purchase a bug free 6.0 which has been worked out. This is one hell of an engine, and until you at least test drive one you can have no idea how nice Ford really meant for it to be in the first place.
Don't get me wrong, I feel for those who spent lots of good money on heartbreaking troublesome trucks. Also kinda sucks that Ford had to actually put its testing off on the consumer for this, only making changes as they go, but if thats what it took to make sure mines right, I'm glad of it at least being done.
I say this cause I'm NOT the biased type, and if I'd not given the 6.0 a chance, I would probably be thinking Dodge right now, without even knowing what I'm missing. Ford has the BEST overall truck out right now in the 2005 SD. JMHO.

 

Yep, the 2005 PSD is the best on the market, no doubt.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's just superior in every conceivable way. Even if only half the cylinders are firing this thing is one bad chicken.

 

I don't know if I'd go that far. But the '05 is prolly the best choice right now.

 

I think it owns in about every area.

 

It does own in most, if not all areas. Ford said they would dominate in all areas of the market. So far, they delivered and now they have the best 2005 model truck out there. The proof is in the numbers, just pick up a brochure or go online to fordvehicles.com .

 

Yup they did good with the '05 there is no disputing that.