G'day guys

Considering coming over to a 2011 F450 6.7King Ranch from a 7.3. Truck we're looking at has 187K miles on it. Any thoughts, things to look for, check on when I inspect or test drive?

Cheers

 

Make sure it's all up to date on the programming and check the ball joints and steering components. Of all is tight and everything is up to date you should be good to go. Other than that just make sure you drive it, with the radio off so you can hear anything that might be of concern. Might not be a bad idea to calculate what kind of driving was done. If you divide the idle hours by the engine hours that'll give you a percentage of the hours that it was idled then if you divide the total miles by the engine hours you can get your average speed. If its above 30 or so then it was driven mostly on the highway which is good. Try to avoid trucks that have a lot of idle time and trucks that have mainly short trips.

 

Make sure the turbo has been replaced with the updated unit.

 

 

If you're buying it from a Ford dealership they will be able to pull up the oasis report on it and let you know if all the software updates and recalls have been performed and if the turbo has been replaced. If you're not buying it at a Ford dealership then you may be able to take the vin to a Ford dealership and see if they will pull it for you.

 

I just bought a 2014 F450 King Ranch because my 2002 F250 Lariat was totaled in May. The new truck is very nice but, if I'm completely honest, I'd rather have my 7.3. I had already put pretty much all the features of the new truck into the 7.3, except for the heated/cooled seats. I actually planned to add heated seats when I had them re-upholstered sometime this year, then I was going to put a flatbed on it, add air bags and have it repainted. I fully intended to drive that truck until it died and with only 317k on it right now, I expected that to be another 300 - 500 thousand miles.

My experience thus far is that the truck is quieter (even though the one I bought is deleted) both inside and outside the cab. The seats are a little softer but, I'm honestly not sure that's a good thing. The Sync 2 in mine is absolute garbage compared to the Pioneer AVH-4100NEX I have in the 7.3 so I'm using my phone for navigation and such, big downgrade for me. The cooled seats are neat but, I run the heated seats even when it's 100+ outside because it helps with lower back pain. I'd say the ride is about the same, as is mileage, probably a little lower on the 6.7 but, it is an F450, so... I don't feel like the power is all that much more on the 6.7 vs. the modified and tuned 7.3, I haven't towed anything with it yet though, that will definitely be the deciding factor there, I'm eager to see what that 800 ft/lbs of torque does there.

All things being equal though, I'd still rather be in my 7.3, as nice as this 6.7 is, it isn't nice enough to justify having to take on a truck note over the paid off 7.3. I never really had any maintenance issues with the 7.3, in the last year I've replaced a front hub, IPR and CPS, none of which is really a big deal. I still haven't been into the motor one time, even the injectors are original, I can only hope to get that kind of reliability from this 6.7.

 

 

Well I love my 99 7.3. I've had it for about 12 years. It's a solid dependable truck and I would trust it to pull my travel trailer to any destination of choice. We just purchased a '14 Lariat crew cab and there's no comparison between the two. The' 99 gets the dependability vote because only time will tell on the '14. But the comfort and refinement of the' 14 is amazing compared to the' 99. Power?.. We had our first tow last week pulling our travel trailer. It accelerates just as quick with a load behind it as it does without. I said it before any kind of tow tune is completely unnecessary. Jmho

 

I understand the need now. One thing to watch out for, the newer trucks do not have the legroom on the passenger side setup in the same way as the 7.3 did. My wife didn't realize it until an 8 hour round trip on Friday when she figured out she was unable to fully stretch her legs out in front of her. I don't know if it's all the trucks, she commented that the 2013 Lariat seemed to have a little more space than the 2014 King Ranch we bought, ironically we chose the 2014 because she found the 2013 to be very uncomfortable. We both have physical issues, mine the results of the accident that totaled my 7.3 and hers from honestly just having a bad frame, so these things are more noticeable to us than most but, when you're test driving vehicles, I would encourage your wife to stretch out like she normally would on a long trip.

If your budget can handle it, I would try to get into a 2013/2014 so you know all the Gen 1 6.7 issues have been fixed. I wish I could have stretched into a 2015 - 2017 Gen 2 6.7 for that reason, again though, I'm happy with the truck overall but, I've also only got 4 days and 1,000 miles in it so far, and haven't yet towed a load. After towing, I may be singing it's praises from the roof tops, everyone has told that's their real strength since the first ones rolled off the line in late 2010.

 

 

Come to the Dark Side... We have cookies.

 

Actually baiting is not required to make the switch... Once in a great while I get the pleasure of driving one of our 2002 7.3 PSD and let me tell you that inverted front leaf spring doesn't even come close to ride quality as the current coil spring. And the power of the 6.7PSD and 6 speed transmission is so much better in ever way that the old 7.3PSD truck just feels like a slug.

 

Trust me.. I understand. We acquired our '14 Lariat a little more than a month ago. I kept my' 99 and it's in great shape, but there's really no comparison. I even posted a while back that any kind of tow tune is completely unnecessary. This thing tows like a boss.