Hello everyone, i'm in the market for a truck right now and i'd love to stick with the ford brand. (currently own a 2005 mustang gt) I have a few questions though. I am completely new to trucks being a mustang nut my whole life and i know nothing about diesels. From searching on the forums and looking up info online i have a couple questions.

1. Are all f-250's and above considered a super duty?
2. One of the things i read the most and scared me the most was about a "death wobble' on the super duty if your traveling at a decent rate of speed and hit bumps in the road its supposed to go into a violent shake making it uncontrolable. Has a solution been found? Does it affect all the trucks or just some. I don't know if i can risk losing control of this truck at 70+ mph !

Thank you in advance for any replies!

*btw the truck im looking at is an 06 f250 PSD, with 24k mile going for $22k

*oops after more searching it seems that buying dual stabalizers is the trick?

 

I to just purchased an 05 superduty go to the tech folder lots of good info in there you will be happy i love my super duty and your answer to#1 is yes.you guessed the #2 right.

 

Not all F-250's are super duties. Someone else will have to chime in with the exact year but for a while in the late 90's there were F-250's that were the same as F-150's except for upgraded GVWR. Like '97-98 or so. Same body and looks as my F150. the F250 Super Duty was obviously a whole different truck than the F250 'light duty'. Then whenever the year was they switched from calling it an F250 to avoid confusion to a F150 with the 7700# GVWR. The F150 emblem had a 7700 written on the bottom of it.

Edit: here is a pic click on it to open a new window and click on it again to go full size you can see it says f250.

 

"Superduty" started in '99. All F250 and higher from that year on are Superduty.


Not all trucks have it. My '06 has never done it, and I'm at 57k miles. If you get it, steering stabilizer would be the first thing to replace, also check tire pressures, and make sure all front suspension components are in good condition. I certainly would not steer away (pun intended) from any Superduty out of fear of death wobble. On the other hand, get an Oasis on ANY Ford truck you are interested in. If a death wobble showed up in the report I would not buy that truck, out of an abundance of caution.

 

Well upon actual research (sorry I should have specified in my first post) 99 was the last year for the F-250 Light Duty so for that year there were both SD and LD versions. After that the F250 LD became the F150 7700. Suffice to say the F250 LD was very rare anyhow. Prior to the the '99 Super Duty, the heavy dutyF250's and 350's were called just that I beleive, 'Heavy Duty'.

 

Welcome to diesels! Sounds like you're doing it right...ask lots of questions and read a lot before you do anything rash!

First things first...get the VIN and go to the top of this forum to the OASIS request thread. Follow the directions and get your OASIS report. The report will tell you any dealer maintenance that's been done on the truck. If your report shows multiple powertrain issues, I'd recommend you keep looking. The OASIS report should be the basis for your buy/don't buy decision. If the OASIS comes back looking good, THEN go and talk pricing.

Just because a truck looks clean doesn't mean much.

Keep reading and keep asking questions! I've owned Ford pickups since 1986 but this was my first diesel and I was really concerned till I found this site! I bought my 2003 back in Feb of 2007...it had 34K miles on it then...today it's got a little over 90K miles and I've basically quit driving my F150...it's the 'spare' truck now.

Joe

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I think i am going to hold off on the truck i was looking at. I didn't actually go to dealership to look at it yet, but im going to hold off until i know a little more about these trucks. The truck i was lookin at is an XL, i couldn't find any concise difference online about what is different about an XL vs XLT models. Any help on that one? Either way i'm definetly deadset on a diesel f250 or above. I spent about 5 years learning everything i could about mustangs so this is a big change for me. Thanks again guys!

 

The difference between the XL and XLT is typically trim items, The XLT has the chrome pkg, carpet etc..

Go to the main post page and look at the "Tech" forum. Lots of good info here.

 

I have an 06 F350 single rear wheel,super cab V10 and automatic 4:10 gears,got 160k miles on it same trannie,just spark plugs and brakes is all it's had and regular oil changes,liked it so much there's an 08 F350 single rear wheel crew cab long bed lariat 4X4,V10 under my car port as well,the 06 is 4X4 also,06 has been a good truck,weighs in at 11k and pulls 12 k regularly.

 

If you like a basic truck with "manual" everything, then get the XL model. If you like all of the "creature comforts" like power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, carpet, cloth or leather seats, etc., then go with the XLT or Lariat models. The re-sell value of the XLT and Lariat models is higher because most people want those features.

Personally, I think that the XLT is the best value. However, I purposely purchased an XL model because I don't intend for my truck to be my daily driver and I don't want the hassle of repairing all of the "power" features over time. I plan on keeping this truck for the next 15 years or longer.

 

hmm ok thanks, looks like xlt it is. For the most part it would be my daily driver so i'm gonna want some power windows! Thanks again guys i've got lots of research to do!

 

You may want to research that diesel engine choice too. Beware the 6.0.

 

I have been researching the 6.0 a decent bit. Something about the EGR getting clogged up and you really need to romp on these trucks sometimes to clear them up? Also i hear alot about the head gaskets blowing. It seems like a lot of these problems pertain to the 03-04 models. Did they iron out most of the problems by 06?

btw what is the EGR? lol

 

...and there it is. There are lots of good running 6.0's out there. I bought mine from Texas w/o even driving it with 127k on it( of course I got an extended warranty with it just in case) when the Oasis came back good. You would be wise to buy one with some factory warranty left, under 100k, and you can purchase an extended factory warranty 7 yr 200k drivetrain warranty for @ $1500ish. Well worth the investment since if/when these trucks break it can be expensive. You'll hear that 05-up are better, but there are alot of us pretty happy with the 03-04's. Good luck with your decision, just be well informed before you purchase one of these 6.0's since some CAN be problem children.

 

EGR = Exhaust Gas Recirculation

Here are a few links that explain it's purpose:

How EGR valve sensor works? - Yahoo! Answers

How can I Tell if my EGR Valve Needs to be Cleaned or Replaced?

EGR Valve Problems? A Complete Guide On Diagnosing Automotive EGR Systems