I was speaking with my diesel mechanic today and I asked him about what kind of truck should I consider. I had been planning on a 2026 6.7L, but he started telling me about how the transmissions in these trucks aren't reliable and are going out early. And he mentioned that this issue isn't isolated to Fords, but includes the other trucks that use the same 10 speed trans.

So, before I jump in and order a truck, I want to over-index for reliability. I'm ok with less towing capacity or creature comforts, etc. if it means reliability. I just had my 12 get diagnosed with a CP4 failure, which has gotten me to question whether I should look at diesels at all. Fool me once..... What configurations should be avoided? And what's "bulletproof", though I'm not sure I believe that term anymore.

And, as I understand it, the 23+ doesn't use the CP4 system anymore but is supposedly more reliable. True?

 

The CP4 is still in use. If you don’t need a diesel to tow heavy, then yeah, it would be silly to go down that path again, but if you want it, then get what you want.
Haven’t heard about too many transmissions kicking the bucket. There are two different 10-speeds in use (only the 10R140 behind the diesel though) so hopefully the numbers aren’t getting muddy with failures of a transmission that doesn’t apply.

 

No other brands of trucks use the same HD 10 speed... It is a common misconception that GM and Ford share a 10 speed design, but that is only true of the 1500/150 and NOT the HD transmissions. So I would be very suspicious of what this technician is saying based on this pretty significant point.

 

I do tow regularly and was hoping for this to be the last truck I buy forever. Last two trucks lasted over 10 years. So, there would have been an element of future proofing with the diesel to tow heavier loads in the future. And if they still have CP4s, I'd have to have that addressed right away, it seems - which seems stupid to do on a new truck.

Understood. How are the ford variants holding up? The couple of posts on failures that I found seem to show them to be very expensive.

TBH I'm so jaded at this point that I'm going to look at even a Tundra (knowing the engine issues that they have).

 

If you're thinking about going with a Toyota, then why is the 6.7 even in the realm of thoughts?

My highest mile 23 truck in the fleet just broke 85,000 mi, probably 60,000 mi is towing without an issue.

Everybody's scared of these 6.7s, since 2011 we've clocked a few million miles on the 6.7, I've had one failure that was related to a cracked transfer tank that ingested a lot of water that was pumped into the truck.

 

The Toyota wasn't even on my radar till my 2012 6.7 had its failure (which I found out about yesterday). I've had a my 12 6.7 for 10 years and loved it. So, the plan was to replace it with the same truck. So, since I got the news on my truck, I've been questioning all of my assumptions. I had heard all of the horror stories about the old 6.0. So, figured I was in good shape with the 6.7. And I was wrong.

Have you taken any proactive steps to avoid a CP4 failures or any other issues?

 

A S&A DPK (Disaster Prevention Kit) is $400. While it doesn’t stop the CP4 from failing, does prevent catastrophic damage to other expensive components like injectors, rails, and more.

That said, the CP4 has seen improvements recently.

Or the S&S DCR, which can avoid a CP4 failure by replacing it with a different pump.

Worth a read. Compares both options.

https://dieselpowerproducts.com/blog...7l-powerstroke

 

How much are you towing normally? I have almost never heard of people cross shopping Tundras and PSDs.

 

FFS. Get the gas truck.

The 10 speed has a few noisey complaints. And a few basket of death issues. Both should be well known by now. Being that SD's only come with one trans, if it was a major problem, thered be hell to pay. And the net would be in full insano mode, by now.

Ford should rethink offering a 6 speed manual trans, and manual xfer case. At least on the gas trucks.

 

Owning a modern emission-laden diesel is a gamble, as you have already found out. There is a huge price to pay for the power.
If you want to avoid all of that, and I quote, “over-index for reliability” and “bulletproof”, then go with a 6.8/7.3L truck. You obviously aren’t towing heavy if a Tundra is on your list. My 7.3L is rated for over 22,000# towing. You near that?

 

You do realize that a Tundra is a 1500 level truck, don't you? If a 1500 level truck is sufficient for your use, then you definitely don't need a diesel.

 

If you're even considering the Tundra with its ~1200 lb payload then why would you even consider the 6.7...

Save the 10k diesel upcharge and get the gas engine (either 6.8 or 7.3) or just get a F150.

 

The Tundra is not what I would want to get, but if the PS (engine or transmission) long term reliability is a concern, then I don't think I have a choice but to look elsewhere. And having owned a Ford truck for the last 20 years, I'm not willing to experiment with the GM/Ram offerings.

I definitely need crew cab and an 8 ft bed. I have an ATV that I load in the bed and the 8ft fits perfectly. I tow an open trailer and car (5000 lbs) over long distances typically, with probably 1000 lbs of gear in the bed. I wanted at some point to upgrade to an enclosed trailer capable of hauling two cars. So, no, the Tundra wouldn't be suitable down the road, but it will solve my immediate problem - kinda. It's not available in a crew cab with an 8ft bed; you can get their extended cab with an 8 ft bed, but that's not good enough. So it is way less than an ideal solution.

And I've gotten spoiled by the smoothness and fuel efficiency of diesel towing. And you get all of that money back on resale. I recently had a 24 SuperDuty gasser as a rental. It was fuel thirsty all the time.

My point is that the SD solves the size problem. But the gas options mean that I'd have to compare gas to other gas options.

 

Comparing Tundra & SD is a bit like comparing SD & Explorer or Avalon, since Tundra pales in every practical workload/power comparison with SD. First & foremost you kinda need to forget about gas mileage, especially comparisons with smaller vehicles. (Compared to past generations of SD trucks, the new SD get amazing mpg but you cannot extend that comparison to other classes)

 

You're hearing this on a Ford forum but i just joined and am not a brand loyal, and mostly spent my life hating on ford, had 1 84 tempo maybe my first car, used, high miles, and it was fine, then not again for multiple decades plus until just last year i grabbed a maverick commuter to keep the miles off my chev half ton we use for adventures, mostly hunt/fish and pull adventure pod. It's the 2.7t boosted 4-banger and love it and appears they built a little diesel for gas but i can see in long term i'll be doing more maintenance work around the turbo stuff and emmissions so i wanted to steer away from boosted gas for NA v8 for potential max long term reliable and lowest total cost of ownership goals and ended up on ford 5.0 in half ton then started looking at 3/4 ton gas trucks and researched that market, it's not huge, you got gm 6.6, the 6.4 hemi from dodge, then these two zilla's from ford, and after couple months researching i'm here prepping the forum for my antics as my f250 6.8 will be here early in the new year. So long story short, a lot of guys researching the market, and aren't super brand loyal, are landing in the same place.

So i'll summarize high level on the half tons, biggest complaint is they are subject to emissions stuff as part of all half tons, so cylinder deactivations and more, and it's going to get worse for them in 2027, but the HD market does not have nearly the same systems. The absolute simplest motors are the zillas. The weird duck is the ram which has good transmission and hemi is strong but does have a cylinder shut down set up that steers guys away. The gm has direct injection and some oil consumption issues. Ford has corrected by all accounts the early lessons since most of these now out since 2020 so it's a good time to look at gasser hd's and ford comes out up top.

Sounds like you're in a hurry to compress your research so here's my summary to help you out. It makes more sense for me to skip the 5.0 half ton and just move up to an even simpler f250 6.8 which will live a life under worked for my needs as compared to pretty solid work loads i put on half tons.

It's always a gamble buying new truck, so you research it best you can and make your best bet and hope for the best.