I think I would put it this way.The 6.0L is like a wife.
You take care of her or she will cost you a lot of money.

Be willing to learn to work on it and we can help with you
with info on what to do before minor problems become the
bank killing issues that can come up.

It's like a bad toenail. Yes it can hurt to have the Dr fix it early.
But if you wait it can get really bad and cost you the foot.

 

You're right there - high maintenance, but worth every cent when it's (she's) going well. It was actually the same decision cycle for both in my case. With the wife. I was in the middle of a really nasty divorce when I met her, the sort that puts you off remarrying, took 5 years, but I reckoned she was the one and I wasn't going to let her go. With the truck I read up about the 6.0 for about a month and pulled the trigger as it was just what we wanted and I wasn't about to to regret not buying it.

There are some factories I drive past often, but the smell still gets me thinking there's something wrong with the truck. You miss something and it will cost you big. Mind you, it might cost you big anyway, so make there is some reserve...

 

 

Take it from me... I've had all 3 iterations of motors and configurations. I started with an 02 (or 03) Ex 2wd with the 5.4 and LOVED it! I moved from Tx. to Va. and 4wd was a must or I would still have it. I upgraded to an 04 4wd 6.8 and it was even better, but I wasn't happy enough so I spent a few thousand (like 3 or less) on new F-350 springs, aftermarket headers, new exhaust and a tuner. With that done the thing was a BEAST!!! So where to go from here, an 06 6.0 F-250 4wd. This thing is wicked fast and way more fun to drive. I paid 11k for it, it was fully bulletproofed and had a freshly rebuilt turbo. So what's the downside you ask? Head gaskets went about 2 weeks after I bought it. It sat for about 8 months while I tried to diagnose it and buy little parts to get it going again. New FICM (from FICM repair), 250amp DC alternator, Edge CTS2 monitor, Stage 2 shift solenoids (I was getting a tranny code) new FICM harness and nothing changed. I had it taken to a shop and they said it was injectors so I spent like 2k on new injectors and guess what, that didn't help. I got it running well enough to get it 4 hours up the road to Penn. and have a good diesel mechanic look at it. He said head gaskets so off we went down the rabbit hole. Pulled the cab and it had been studded, but not well. Whoever did the work used a wizz wheel on the heads AND block and scored both heavily. The heads had to be machined as well as the block. Turbo was in bad shape ( and only held on with one loose pedestal bolt) and had to be replaced. The stock pump was on it's way out so an entire fuel system was installed... I'm going to stop listing things now, but suffice it to say I now have 25k on credit cards for the repairs to this truck. I'm putting out 70psi boost, and all 4 wheels spin on launch (I've only done it once) and I honestly think it's one of the fastest DD trucks on the forum. All told I have about 36k in the truck. Am I done now, no. I had it back from the shop less than a week and even though I was babying it the tranny started to go. Want to know what a tranny costs for the HP I'm putting out? 7K. Do I have a choice, no. I can't afford it as all my cards are maxed and I spent the only cash we had to buy the truck itself so it'll have to wait about 6-12 months. My truck is perfect. Clean, zero rust, and flawless interior. Had I been able to have someone come look at it before I bought it I never would have made the purchase. It was my screw up and I'm living with it now. I do love my truck, but if I could take it all back and just have my 6.8 Ex I would in a heartbeat. I'm trying to sell my Ex to buy the tranny and pay off some cards but this truck has really sunk me. Thankfully I have an AMAZING wife and she has yet to throw this truck in my face All told, go with the 6.8 and never look back. Want to know about towing, ask we3zs on here. He tows the second biggest camper on the forum and is a 6.8 guy. Man knows his sh...stuff. Want to know about the 6.0, ask Twitchyleprachaun or Razzi. Both know all about either towing with the 6.0 (Twitch) or for the God of 6.0s with all the knowledge Razzi.