Hey all, I have a bit of an idea that I've been tossing around and I'm not quite sure how to put this in a simple sentence, but I've been in the need of a reliable and easy-to-maintain truck to haul my prospected horse trailer to destinations like parks, camps and other places around the US, which requires miles of up to ~1000 miles of a one way trip. Not too daunting as it'll only be a two or three horse trailer. I would be doing this maybe once a month with shorter trips in between.

My initial thought was to purchase a newer truck (2011 and newer with the 6.2L) since they're relatively easy to maintain, but with the money I would be putting on a down-payment for said $28k truck, I could literally buy an F Series that had a blown 6.4 or 6.0 or a running 7.3, swap in a reliable engine and transmission. My initial thoughts were a 6BT and an Allison, but I've heard the 5R-110 is a decent transmission. I guess aside from biases and hearsay, I would like a good balanced discussion as to what the best idea would be in this instance. Here in Ohio, I can't hardly find a truck that doesn't have the rockers already missing, so that's fun.

Another idea was to buy a salvage titled vehicle in the south that had been stolen or totaled out when an engine blew, but that's tricky with emissions testing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I plan do to all of this in complete cash so cost isn't a real factor but I obviously want to be sensible with my purchase(s).

 

In 1st gen Super Duty There was 4 engine options:
GAS:
5.4 TRITON V8 1999-2007
6.8 TRITON V8 1999-2007
DIESEL:
7.3 POWERSTROKE 1999-2003.5
6.0 POWERSTROKE 2003.5-2007
AND 4 TRANSMISSIONS
5 SPD MANUAL: TRITON V8 and V10 till 2005
6 SPD MANUAL: ZF S6-650 FOR THE 7.3 and ZF S6-750 FOR THE 6.0 and gassers since 2005 till 2007
4 SPD auto 4r-100: 1999-2004 GASSERS AND 7.3
5 speed 5r-100: 6.0 and 2005 till 2007 gassers
hope it helps dude

 

Apologies if I didn't make this clear, but the idea was to create a conversation about what I should/shouldn't swap into a truck if I want a reliable trailer hauler.

 

I recommend a 7.3 or a 6.8, they are pretty reliable with auto or manual

 

I'm at 239,000 miles on my 6.8 V10 and she still idles perfect and pulls up a decently sized hill with zero fishbites. Five days a week, 105 mile round-trip commute. The only issue I've encountered was a frozen rear caliper, so I now pull the caliper pins about every 6 months to give them a cleaning and fresh silicone. Plus replacing the exhaust manifold gaskets, but that's typical.

I'm actually surprised she's been this reliable. I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

-- Dave

 

Was talking to a dealer friend, told him about my new to me F450 with V10, he said the cost to operate the v10 and the diesel are about the same, as the price of gas is less than diesel, and the V10 costs about the same per mile as the diesel burning diesel fuel. If you have to put a rebuilt motor in a v10, it is less expensive than a diesel.