Well when you think of all the owners who modified their trucks, had problems (caused by the mods?) then hid the fact they modified their truck and blamed Ford for the problems and expected to have them covered under warranty. Maybe Ford would be justified in WELDING it shut. Yes I am aware this will be an unpopular remark.

 

I hope that they dont need to pull the cab off, cause if they need to that means they have problems.

 

I saw one at the local L-M dealer a couple of weeks ago. The crew cab was up in the air and the tech was working on the engine. I was surprised at first but I saw how much easier it was for him to work on it and probably do it correctly. My concern was for alignment of body parts....

 

When I had my "99" F-250 the head gasket went. And they had the cab pulled off of it. I nearly flipped out. But when the had it all put back together it is like nothing ever happen.

 

Don't worry, the dealer can find out real quick if the truck has been modded. Every time the PCM has been reflashed, it leaves a record that the dealer tech's can access.

 

Why in the heck does it even matter? If that is the way to do it, then that is the way to do it. In fact, it may even be better, you don't have someone's coat zipper accidentally scratching the paint, you don't have a service tech getting angry at the situation because he can't reach something, etc...

It's pretty that you would say, just because the cab has to come off to do some work at the dealer you will never own one. Good for you!!

NOW....go away troll

 

Oh man, thanks cads03 for reminding me about the bad day when a mechanic marked up the fender on my truck with the ladder he was using to reach inside the enginebay. The service manager offered to have it "buffed out" for me. Several of the scratches went to bare metal. My truck was 1 month old and was in for an oil change. "BUFFED OUT MY BUTT" The body shop told the service manager he was crazy and they repaired the damage. Imagine what damage a chain hoist could do if the turbo needed to be pulled. The ladder was just a flimsy aluminum job, but bang it up with a chain, now there is a real "antique maker". I could still see the paint repair right up to the day I traded that truck. No one else could see it, but I knew it was there and it always agravated me.

 

I usually keep my vehicles 10 years or more, and when the warranty expires, I do ALL the maintenace and repair work myself (been a heavy truck tech. for better than 20 years). Fact is I probably do have enough equipment at home to get the cab off if I had to. But I still say that is bad engineering, to design a vehicle that you have to remove the cab in order to get the heads off or remove a turbo. And, I think that bad design will hurt Ford for years to come. 10 or 15 years from now, when the '08 Super Duties are on their 3rd. or 4th. owner, and they need major repairs, what do you think is going to happen? Some kid faced with an outrageous repair bill is going to swear off Fords for life. I'll tell you something else, too: If is was a Chevy or Dodge that needed cab removal for major engine work, you would never hear the end of it around here. I am a Ford fan, but I will not make excuses for them when they do something stupid. This will bite them in the rear, watch and see.

 

Funny you should say that. That is what I was thinking too.

 

are you guys under the impression that both gm and daimler arent under the same emissions requirements as ford? Remember, they havent released an 08 yet!

 

The '08 Dodge Ram 3500 cab and chassis is out, and the '07 new body style GM Duramax 2500 and 3500 are coming out as we speak. These trucks all meet the new emission regulations that the '08 Super Duty does. None of them require cab removal for major engine work.

 

I guess I am missing your whole point. What is the big deal about pulling a cab that is designed to be pulled off?

 

wrong. or to put it another way.... WRONG!

When the little Cummins-Bosch motor went under a series of issues due to oil filter failures, the techs at my local dealer had a whole row of mexican Daimler-DODGE trucks with the cabs hanging from above while they removed and replaced the motors. As for GM? I have no idea but the Isuzu motor seems to suffer from the same issues of cramped space and tons of plumbing as the IH motor. So, sure, the Cummins-Bosch motor is a lot easier to work on- which you will have to do when you do your required valve adjustments- But do not pretend that when it comes to major work, the boys at the Dodge dealer do not do the same thing as the Ford techs.

Now about "panel alignment"... It is a valid concern- one that I have mentioned numberous times on this forum while observing the build quality for Ford trucks relative to the Daimler -Dodge trucks. But that is a tough issue to lay at the feet of your local tech because; 1) you do not have a lot of room to "align" a cab and 2) Ford's panel alignment is pretty crappy to begin with. My '07 350 is better than my 2000 - but both are pretty poor compared to the body, alignment, and paint quality of the Mexican Dodge.

Now do not get in a huff- I bought another Ford because I decided that it was the best overall truck- the complete package - and it was a heavier product better set up for heavy work. But my truck, like most I have inspected closely, has a few paint flaws (I have 5, 2 the size of a quarter) where the surface was not properly prepped for paint - and the panel alignment in the bed is a joke. Take a look at the area on the inside of your tailgate- and compare left to right. Pretty poor. The Dodge is a lot tighter and the paint quality is a lot more consistent. Too bad the truck is still half the truck the Ford is...

Still- the point here, alignment and the local tech- is the same. I doubt alignment will suffer due to engine work. But the sad fact remains, the vast majority of us will not be doing our own work on these trucks - I think the '08 emission controls and diagnostics will put the technology out of the reach of most of us. That pretty much leaves the 07 Bosch-Cummins as the last easy to work on motor out there.

-Mike

 

The Dodge engine compartment is tight enough that Cummins now builds them a special version of the B-Series engine so it will fit.

 

I understand where you are coming from, but every single year, these things get more and more complex. I truely don't believe for a second, that a 3rd or 4th owner (a kid, as you say), "for the most part" would even know where to begin to trouble shoot if his diesel with 237,000 miles starts acting up. At that point, you have to make a decision, is a truck that I bought for $8,000 worth $3,000 to repair? Some would say nah!, I'll spend $3,000 for an engine out of a junk yard with 42,000 miles on it, have it slapped in there for another grand and have a truck almost good as new.

My opinion is, that if someone is going to base a judgment on a company on a vehicle that has changed hands 3 or 4 times with a crap load of miles on it, then that person isn't going to be happy with anything.

When my wife and I were just dating, she bought a late model Monte Carlo with only 20,000 miles on it or so. When it had ALMOST 50,000 on the ticker, the tranny was going out. I had 2 choices, $2,700 for a new/rebuilt one, or $500 for one out of a car at the junk yard with 10,000 miles on it. I bought that, but to put it in, the subframe had to come off, the engine removed from the motor mounts, suspended by a cherry picker about 5 inches, just to create enough clearance to be able to remove it. That was a PITA, but I didn't swear off GM for life by doing it.