too many scenerios to know what the actual situation is. moot issue....the 6.0L in theory was a wonderful idea but in application is crapola.

to the op.....you could go with a 2003 7.3L.

or go with a 1995-2000 toyota tacoma.

.

 

sounds like you're in the same boat as me... do what I'm doing, shop for an 08 SD. yeah, i don't like the early 3v deal, yeah, I want the better tranny, no, I don't want the manual, new(er) truck - problem solved.

now finding a regular cab 4x4 v10 seems damn near impossible. all the dealerships have around here are $45,000 walletstrokes.

 

As far as I know the 2008 3V uses the same plugs as the 05-07 trucks.

 

I though something was changed at the end of 07 that took care of the problem. In any case I don't care if the truck only has 1 mile on it, those two piece plugs would be gone.

Mike

 

Geez, your an optimist. Theres a tech video out showing in detail the steps and precedure to use when extracing plugs with the Ford removal tool. I don't think its a big deal. The 4R100 is far from crap, is it perfect? absolutely not, with some mods its can be be a great long lasting tranny. A built 4R100 is next to bulletproof. All 6.0l arn't crap either, just too many of them. Nothings ever perfect and problem free, no matter what you buy.

 

I agree with dkf on the 4R100. It's predecessor was quite the terd but with meticulous attention to servicing the 4R100 could possibly last you a lifetime. I've racked up 193,000 on mine and had a problem with my 4R100 at 70k but it was no fault of the trans. "Jiffy Screw" did a trans fluid exchange on it and reserviced the trans with an unknown type of trans fluid that damaged the clutches (could have been power steering fluid for all they knew) But I had it rebuilt with Red Eagle clutches and havent had a single issue with it for over 100k.

6.0L on the other hand, yes I've known some to be good, most local owners I know wish they would have gotten something else, between the problems and they say it's a little underpowered for what it is. I don't know since I've never ridden in one but they say its somewhat of a dog.

 

It's not really that the 4R100 isn't reliable, it's that it's a 4 speed that's been rehashed and updated from the E4OD. I had an E4OD and it couldn't hack it to 100K behind a weezy 351W in an F150 that didn't even have a trailer hitch when I bought it.

In any case it's a 4 speed and I've never driven a 4R100 that hasn't felt mushy and constantly in the wrong gear, and I've driven a lot of them. It blows through the powerband and then shifts below it. It then repeats this. Same with the 4R70W, 4R75E, or whatever they decide to call the rehashed AOD for whatever body F150 it's in.

Basicly I don't like 4 speed autos. They shouldn't have been in the F-series as long as they did. I also don't want to have to build a stock transmission to live in a stock truck.

The 6.0 is back on my poop list as well. I've been driving a tired 01 F350 at work lately since the 04 has crapped out 3 weeks in a row.

Mike

 

Guess I don't remember what mine was like, I turned up the line pressure and changed the shift patterns.

 

plenty of posts in the F150 forum about the 08's using normal looking plugs.

 

My dad had a 351 F-150 w/the 4spd Auto for several years. That tranny shifted for gas mileage and the 351 in the 90s was far from powerful compared to what we have today. The 4R100 in the 99'up SDs shifting wise is far better than the previous models. Look at the ratios of the 5spd TS, the ratios are not too far off from the 4R100 just an extra gear squeezed in there but it helps. Sounds to me like you have mostly driven heavy beat down work trucks. A valve body mod and some tuning goes a long way. If Ford doesn't offer anything that really strikes your fancy maybe you have to look at other manufacturers. Beware sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

 

No matter what forum you enter, Ford will have their problems, Dodge will have theirs, and Chevy will have theirs. I can give you a problem for every manufacturer of every year a truck was built... It doesn't mean that the vehicle is crap, it means the person driving the vehicle either didn't service the vehicle properly, or ignored typical signs of premature failure. If you are going to use a truck for more than it's intended purpose, or push it's limits in any way, then why not beef up the part of the truck you're going to stress? If you can't afford to repair or upgrade something, you can't afford to own the vehicle to begin with.

 

LMAO

Fricken priceless

And some how it always breaks down to the gas vs diesel. lol

And IMO the 4R100 has never let us down and (except the one time we started our 99 v10's on fire after cooking the pis out of it.)

 

I've driven everything from beat down work trucks to almost new ones. The thing about working with a fire dept is that you have some vehicles that are driven nonstop and some specialty vehicles that are hardly ever driven. For example at my previous dept we have an 02 F250 7.3 auto with maybe 10,000-20,000 miles a year ago and I didn't like that 4R100 either. Were I'm at now we have an 03 F550 crew cab 4x4 with the 6.0 that has around 2200 miles on it.

I have looked at other vehicles. The GM crew cab trucks with rear steering really interist me. I just don't like the GM 6.0 gas vs the Ford 6.8. I'll definitely be test driving a Toyota 5.7 when I go to buy. I highly doubt I'll like the whole truck, but I'm at least willing to try.

I really like Ford's styling and I like the SD for the solid axles. I want a 6.8 with the manual, but they are kind of hard to find with a crew cab lariat. I'll probably get the 3V with the 5R110, which IMO is a much better tranny from a lot of seat time with both of them.

Mike

 

From the factory I don't doubt the TS is much better than the 4R100. Sometimes I wish I had a manual, but when my leg acts up I'm glad I don't have one. For towing the Auto is super nice to have. My 74' F-100 is a manual so if I feel like banging gears I have the option. Good luck on your V10 search.

 

I saw one of those just yesterday.

I was amazed at the stance - the rear tires stick WAY OUT further than the fronts. Looked like a duallie until I got close enough to tell there wasn't another tire inboard. And then I realized there were knuckles on the rear-end.

It figures with Chevy.

Go and put a solid front axle in the rear, and use a weak independent front-end

Oh, and I won't bother to mention how it was crab-walking all over the place. It was definitely a handful - it was wandering all over the place and at only 40MPH. I'd love to see it in a crosswind on the highway with a trailer doing 65MPH ...