Morning all. About me, 24 years old, just finished 5 years in the United States Marine Corps. During that time, I made a stupid purchase of a Mercedes ML430. That euro-trash has been nothing but EXPENSIVE trouble. So, i've been in the market for a new vehicle for sometime. I've research EVERY car out there, never bothering to look at trucks. Well, my body has a build of a linebacker. I'm a big, muscle bound guy.

I test drove all sorts of these current vehicles; hyundais, kias, mustangs, hondas...Every single one of these boring cars feel like a metal coffin, with zero emotional and spiritual connection to the driver. So, I started looking into classic muscle cars. I was pretty dead set on a 72 El Camino, but my good friend (cars enthusiast) suggested looking into Lariats, Duramax and Cummings.

After some research, I found Ford is the way to go with a Diesel, so i'll be checking out a 2004 F250 Crew Cab Lariat, with 36k miles on it. This vehicle will be my daily driver, with an average commute of 50-60 mile a day. I know, some people might be saying, "Omg the gas mileage". Well, for me it's literally two choices:

Old muscle car which requires a LOT of maintenance, or a nice roomy Diesel truck that with proper maintenance can last the rest of my life. Do I want to purchase a boring Civic, and have to get a new vehicle in 5 years or so, because all these new cars are NOT designed to last. Or do I buy a truck I'm in love with, a diesel, and literally be good to go for the rest of my time.

Does anyone have a guide or a good post on proper maintenance for a Diesel Lariat?

 

Welcome to the forums. There is lots of reading in the tech forums which will give you an idea of proper maintenance required for these trucks. There is also lots of info on upgrades that will extend the lives of these trucks.

 

There are tons of good posts in the tech folder for you to check out. These trucks I imagine will be just as expensive to fix as your Mercedes was... But good preventative maintenance can save you thousands. Change your oil every 5000, no exceptions. Use only motor craft filters. Add a coolant filter to your truck. Use good diesel fuel... A station that has high diesel volume. And above all, read as many posts here as you can to learn as much as you can.

I must say I'm intrigued to hear of an '04 with only 36,000 miles.... That's really low. With luck you will have got yourself a truck in time to catch the expensive problems before they happen.

Also, get a scanner for your truck. Many here use the ScanGaugeII which you can get at Autozone or Amazon... Program it for this truck and use it! There is help in the tech folder on how to program the xgauges for it. Very important! If you haven't already bought the truck, take the scanner with you on an extended test drive... Check oil temperature vs. coolant temperature. Should never be more than 15 degrees apart after reaching operating temp. Check voltages and your FICM especially.

And like I said, keep coming back here for more learning and advice.

And thanks for your service!

 

Woot welcome to the dark side. ;-)

 

Or should I say brotherhood.

 

Oh, and if you want to run a tune, make sure you know what all is involved and the damage likely to occur on a stock engine. Bottom line, don't tune it if you're not okay with doing thousands of dollars of work to upgrade components first or when they fail (not if).