I spun a rod bearing in my 05 F250 with 6.8l V10 with 144k miles on her. I lost oil pressure on the gauge and she went. I know these are solid motors and really couldn't tell you what happened. I was cruising at about 75mph with no load on her at the time. Long story short, I need to replace the motor. The truck is paid for so I am NOT inclined to go out and make a $50k truck payment. lol I've received estimates from local reputable shops ranging from $9k - $10.8k. Since I'm dropping a considerable chunk of cash into her I'm not interested in a used motor. All of the shops are giving me quotes using a Jasper reman or Ford Factory reman. I have no experience with either so I am looking for a little insight as to witch is better. The Ford warranty is better and seems like there is less hassle then dealing with Jasper. One shop included a quote for an additional warranty because Jasper only covers $75 an hour for labor and all the shops around here charge $100+ bare minimum. That's kind of a red flag. Just looking for some advice from some of you that have used Jasper or Ford.

Additionally, while I have the motor out, I plan on having my 5R11 gone through and serviced. It's never given me any issues. But why not while the motor is pulled? I also have the dreaded sloppy steering gear. I'm going to swap it out with a RedHead steering gear. I know these motors are fairly limited on performance mods. But while I am at it is there any mods that you suggest that may be worthy. I've considered headers. Two of the shops are talking me out of headers. They say that aftermarket headers have a tendency to blow gaskets and unless I can find California legal straight headers the gains are not worth the expense or trouble. A 5star tune may be in order along with a cold air intake and aftermarket exhaust. Any other suggestions? I currently pull a 28' bumper pull toyhauler that is fully self contained. Not sure what the weight is but it can get pretty heavy with toys, water, and gas.

I know it's a multi part question(s) that have probably been extensively covered. I've ran some searches but they are not getting specific enough to what I have going on. Thanks in advance!
Matt

 

Might be worth watching

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eylhn22...ature=youtu.be

 

The general consensus (and my personal experience) is that CAI is pretty much a waste of money for no or minimal gain.
I have a 5 Star in my current truck and also had it in the last truck. For the 2 tunes that I have (87 economy and 87 daily/tow) I don't really see a whole lot there that was worth the money either. I won't do it again on the next truck. In fact, I've got half a mind to sell the SCT device if anyone is interested.

 

I was looking into 5 Star to give better throttle response and performance to my 5.4. I was also looking into the 87 economy and 87 daily/tow but might have second thoughts from your review of these tunes.

 

10k for a v10 swap!!! You can buy a full remain from ford with a warranty for under 3k, her a buddy and an engine hoist and swap it out in one saturday yourself

 

I have a sct x3 from 5star also, on your 05 motor all it does is fixs some of the delay from the throttle body. It also Adjusts shift pressure and when it shifts slightly and does a little on the tq setting. Like said above I also removed my sct and I'm now running stock tuning, truck runs and pulls the same regardless

 

Go with the Ford reman, I have seen so may Jasper problems its not even funny and as you have stated the Ford warranty is much better

 

Is rebuilding the engine not a possibility? It's the same rebuild kit as the 5.4, but with 2 extra pistons.


I've never looked into this cost either way so I'm just throwing out the idea.

 

check to see if the lifters are replaced or just "checked"


paying a shop to do a replacement introduces a parts markup plus high ball rates for labor.


I recently spent 800 bucks to do a job that ford wanted 7K to do so if you have the capability to round up the troops and do it yourself, you would save a ton of money.


there are a lot of rusty nuts, bolts , studs, etc that are not just going to unbolt so be prepared to use a torch, nut cutter, easy out's, re-threaders, etc to get the motor out.


I would not say it would be a 1 Saturday job , but getting the new motor in would be easier than getting the old motor out.

 

It's a crap shoot with jasper

 

Great information here! Just what I was looking for. Unfortunately I am not set up to do a job like this out of my garage. I did consider rebuilding my motor. Again, not set up for it at home. At $100 per hour shop time, you quickly meet or exceed the cost of a reman. Definitely be the way to go if I had the room and time. Jasper is out! Seems like they used to do good work but the quality has dropped off steeply.

Thanks for the info on the tuner. Sounds like a waste of $. I'll put that money towards some King or Fox shocks.

I considered doing a Cummins swap. That costs $15k if I supply the motor. In California I would have to go back with the same model year or newer motor witch makes the job quite a bit more complicated. Not only that, but I then would have to jump through the hoops of the emissions referee to get it to pass emissions. I love where I live. But it sure don't make things easy.

Yep, $10k seems absurd to throw at a 12 year old truck. But after I factor the price of a new truck and the payment that a new truck would bring. Fixing the old Henry with cash on the barrel head is a no brainer. Thanks for all the input. It makes me feel better about the direction I'm going and eliminates waste.

 

Some guys say that they're satisfied with the perfomance tunes. I have no experience with those so I can't really comment on them.

 

if you have a 3v v10 I can assure you the 5 star tuner is the best mod you can make even the 87 tow perf tune is a big difference over stock, when I get my truck smogged I have to put it back to stock and dread having to drive it for 100 miles to reset the monitors. Dont expect any increase in economy though.

 

Only real benefit to having your motor rebuilt is that you can have it customized...e.g. stroked, different cam, etc.

If getting back in business is the priority, I'd get a Ford reman too.

 

I like your attitude.