My dad's business finally got rid of their 2003 f350 cc lb dully 6.0 auto 4.10 this past weekend. The truck had about 105,000 miles on it and they have spent over $6000 just on repairs for the engine. Its used as a delivery vehicle so its always loaded up pretty well, and run pretty hard, at least when i drive it. This last repair was over $3000 alone. 3 or 4 injectors, a few sensors i never heard of, a wireing harness, and some kind of valve. Also, ill bet money that the turbo is going out on this thing too.

Anyway they picked up a 2005 Dodge 3500 with the same equipment. Got it for about $5000 less than they paid for the ford. First impressions are cab is smaller, seats are not as comfertable, just a tad slower, same milage(even though its new), and much much quieter. I could not believe how quiet this thing was. Have not put a big load behind it to see how it does but maybe this weekend. Well see how this thing can hold up to heavy usage.

 

Keep us posted on how the new truck does,, at the same type of job !

 

So, you spent $6000 on the engine in just the last 5,000 miles? Otherwise, that engine was still covered under the Ford PowerStroke warranty.

 

Im waiting to find out how it does myself. The f350 made it to about 38000 miles before it started to have bad problems. We also have a 99 F350 AND A 2000 F350. tHE 99 has over 250000miles with no engine problems. Just bearings and seals on axles. The 2000 has about 350000miles with no problems either, just a few quirks about it. Both of these trucks have over 15000lbs hooked up to them on a regular basis.

 

It seems you had good luck with the other Fords!

Maybe the 2003 was made on a Friday!

 

Or maybe it was built some on a, oh never mind, I see it was built in 2003, lol.

 

This last repair, which was over $3k was at 103,000miles. The other repaires were after the 36k, and dealer said it was not covered???? after that point. The problem is we cant have the truck sitting around while in some legal debate. Its on the road about twice a week hauling on long trips.

 

I must be a complete idiot, but if I had just thrown six grand into an engine on a piece of equipment, I'd try to drive that money back out of it.

 

i agree...
but if after all that it still would stutter and stall, have to warm up for 20 min before it would idle decent, and have a turbo that will need to be replaced in the near future?

That truck got to the point to where the drivers would rather take the old trucks because they did not want to break down...

 

This is often a gamble. If your afraid it will need more repairs during the time your recovering your expense. Then it is very counterproductive. Sometimes its easier to cut your losses.

To go from all fords to a dodge though. Shows he was worried about getting another one. He obviously wasnt impressed with the reliability record. Little does he know. The new injectors on the dodge arent batting 100 either. Sometimes you opt for the lesser of two evils.

This is my strategy. I buy a beater. Put enough money into it to get it road worthy. Drive it til I recover my expenses and sell it for more than I paid for it. It is a gamble but I usually do well at it.

 

Then that dealer should be FIRED. All PowerStrokes have a 5-year/ 100,000-mile warranty, and any decent dealer would have helped you out with a repair just 3000 miles beyond the 100,000-mile limit. I understand you need to keep a business vehicle on the road, but that's no excuse for letting a dealer rip you off. If they charged you for engine repairs between 36,000 and 100,000 miles, I'll bet they "double-dipped" and also submitted the repair to Ford for warranty re-imbursement. If you want to post the '03s VIN, I can run it to see if they did that.

 

Somebody lied to you.......

I'm almost willing to bet money that I don't even have, that most if not all of those repairs should have been under warranty. I suggest submitting the VIN to Jeff and seeing what comes up.

 

RY54 give Jeff your VIN to Jeff...through Email and let him run it

 

Something sounds fishy here.Spending $6.000 on a motor that most of which should have been covered on warranty. Detail the earlier repairs you did to the motor. Why wasnt it covered under warranty? Let Jeff help you out. You might not be out anything.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I really appreiciate it. Hopefully ill get the vin the end of the week.

This last weekend I was the first one to do any serious towing with the new dodge. It had about 700mi when i left and it was a 975mi round trip. It has the cummins with the 48re auto and 3.73 rear. It is the base model (which is much much nicer than the ford base model). I had a 30' gooseneck, a 25' 20 ton, and a 25' gooseneck stacked. The load was about 22000lbs. Not knowing what to expect from it, i was happy. Most of the trip towing was at about 72mph with no problems keeping that speed up. I averaged 8mpg towing, same as the ford. Unloaded was 1mpg better at 5mph higher speed, probably due to the 3.73 vs. the 4.10 in the ford.