I will admit it up front, I have an addition to modding, I always have and probably always will

The reason I just bought my 2005 F250 this truck is because I wanted a truck I could keep for the next 20 years or so. Its not a daily driver, and I will probably put all of 5000 miles on it a year. 20 years is just a guess on how long I will keep it, I want to keep it as long as it is financially acceptable. For all I know is there could be a 4 cylinder that get 100mpg and has more power than this v10 that comes out 10 years from now haha..

My question though is, are there any engine mods I should do to help out my engine life, or just leave it stock? I did just buy a Flowmaster 50 SUV muffler that I am going to have welded in, but I bought this strictly for the sound. I have a v10 and my wifes 2.0L 4 banger Kia Soul is louder than it haha!

I thought I would add in, I am not a tower or hauler. And this V10 has way more power than I will probably ever need, so I do not need to mod for power unless it helps with the engine life. The only reason I even bought this truck is because it was $1000's cheaper than the v8 models and F150s I was looking at, and now that I am reading about how strong these v10 motors are it makes me fell a lot better about buying a truck with a mere 65,000 miles

 

Ummm..... Not a lot needed.
Regular maintenance is the key. Oil, coolant, brake fluid, trans oil, spark plugs, anything rubber.

Maybe some "real" gauges to keep tabs on things. Trans temp and oil pressure come to mind.

 

I highly recommend an additional external tranny oil filter. Summit racing has the whole setup including the brackets, hoses and the filter for $45. Also, I like the Airaid intake system for better breathing. I added the Magnaflow exhaust and deleated the resinator but that was just a choice as I got tired of that damn "hisssss" sound the stock exhaust makes. Other than that, I did add the Fumoto oil plug lever so I don't have to worry about some dummy cross threading or leaving the plug loose.

Pap

 

You don't need to do any mods to the truck for longevity. Just maintain the vehicle well. Sometimes throwing "upgrades" on a vehicle do more harm than good. That said do to the fact that Ford has poor gauges I agree with mwsf250 on the oil pressure and trans temp gauges. A scangauge II to monitor the trans temp among other things and an aftermarket oil pressure gauge would be good upgrades. Since your not really towing with the truck the idiot light stock gauge is probably good enough though. The cooling system for the engine and transmission are very good on your 05' from the factory.

I prefer a good tuner with custom tunes on my truck for the extra power but mainly to make the transmission work better. That is personal preference though, not done for any longevity purposes.

 

Although it's a known fact that slushy shifting is bad for a tranny and a firmer shift from a Transgo shift kit or a programmer will keep a tranny whole a lot longer. Not to mention that an extra filter on a tranny can't hurt and might even help in the long term.

Pap

Pap

 

An extra trans filter can indeed do more harm than good if it does not have the proper flow rate and can actually create a restriction in the system. If it is a non bypass type filter or something fails in the bypass on the filter you will get oil starvation and ruined trans. Like I said before there are aftermarket products that do more harm than good. You can bet your *** Ford did a llittle testing on the stock system, filter included. Its up to the individual if they want to take the risk. I have never seen any data or tests which test the theory of "shift kits" or tuners increasing longevity on these trucks with an otherwise stock trans. In theory it should, in the real world who knows.

 

I've had my external tranny filter on for around 80,000 miles. From the Summit kit, I did have to use a larger diameter hose than came with the kit, but that's it. If Ford knows so much maybe you'd like to comment on the R4100 tranny in the SD's or maybe the 6 leakers.

Pap

 

Here's pictures of my Summit Racing external tranny filter setup.

Pap

 

So the 4R100 and 6.0l had transmission filtering issues? The 5R110 has known filter related failures? If you want to take a guess with a universal aftermarket filter kit thats your decision.

 

I am sure you are right, more filtering of tranny trash will not help on tranny longivity and an external tranny filter will not equally help keep the tranny fluid a little cooler. I stand corrected, it just doesn't make sense.

Pap

 

If it makes you feel better having it there fine, its your truck. For all you know its doing more harm than good.(Like causing a flow restriction in the system) Better add an extra oil filter and maybe an extra air filter too.

 

Like I said, you must be right, it's just not logical.

Pap

 

I also installed a Maghytec rear dif cover which is probably redundant as well, but I tow heavy alot and my rearend was getting so hot the paint was peeling off the original dif cover. I installed the Maghytec cover with the extra capacity and fins and so far, no more heat issues. It's probably not a logical thing to install the Maghytec finned rear dif cover, but I did notice that Ford does install a finned dif cover on the diesel models. It's just not logical, but I did it anyway.

Pap

 

Nope 04' 6.8l. I have been spinning wrenches on a 6.8l since 98'.

It takes force to push oil through filtering media. Its actually a simple concept which applies to gases, liquids and other mediums as well. Anyway this thread has been derailed enough. I think we both made our points whether right or wrong.

I have the 08' cover on my truck, mainly because I got tired of painting the stock cover. I don't think it was really needed but there is really not much harm it could do.

 

The only thing I did to my trucks for longevity was to switch every fluid I could think of to synthetic.

1. Oil
2. Transfer case
3. Differentials front and rear
4. Power steering

The tranny I left alone because I believe the OEM fluid is best for it.
These I could also do my self at home.