2003 F550 6.0DSL - RV Towing
I am looking to buy a 2003 F550 6.0 DSL with a Tuscany - Eclipse conversion for RV towing. After reading several of the 6.0 Power Stroke postings I am not sure this is the right thing to do. I currently have a 95 F350 with 7.3 Power Stroke. It has 222000 miles and has served me well, towing a smaller RV (12000lbs). New RV is much heavier (15500lbs). I am not and don't intend to be in extreme cold conditions. Anyone have any thoughts and are the F550 engines any different from the F350 and F250s.

 

LoneRacer,

Engines are no different. The difference is in the suspensions to achieve the increased load/tow ratings. I am inluding a link to the towing specs for you. Looks like the F550 with dual rear wheels is rated anywhere from about 17,000 to 18,600 towing, depending on the set up. This is with automatic tranny. Hope this helps.Towing Specs

WigWag

 

WigWag,

Thank you for the link. On your post you list a 2003 Excursion 4x4. I am new at this so if I am asking a dumb question, my apologies. Do you own the Excursion? If so, what has your experience been with the 6.0 Power Stroke? How many miles have you towed your trailer if that too is yours?

Thanks Again
LoneRacer

 

LoneRacer,

My Ex now has 31,000 miles on it. I have had very limited and few problems thus far. I have had both the original engine flash and the Oct reflash. My mileage is down, but I am not sure if that is due to the cold and winter diesel and longer idling to warm up or the flash. I plan on going in in the next month or two to get the most recent updates.

My trailer weighs about 7,000. I towed it some 3500 miles from Wisconsin to Alaska without a problem. Up hill or down, the engine and tranny combination did really well controlling and moving the load.

Overall, I am very pleased with my vehicle. It drives, accelerates and rides very well for a 7000 pound vehicle. What could be better is the fuel mileage. You will read fantastic stories of people getting 22-23 miles per gallon. I would categorize my driving habits as conservatively aggressive meaning I accelerate firmly but not wildly. I maintain the speed limit plus about 5-10 mph depending on where I am. I do not gun it to get in and around traffic unless it is unbearably slow.

With that said, unhooked the best I have gotten on the highway is right at 20 MPG. In the city, it varies with 15 being the average. In the winter those numbers drop to about 13.5 HWY and 9 city. We have had a colder winter this year. Temps have been below zero a good part of the time. When it isn't, it usually snows so I am in 4HI until the roads get plowed or I have my momentum going. With my trailer, I got anywhere from 9.5 to 12.5. The route I drove had long runs of being flat and runs of going through the mountains. I did my best to keep track of my mileage, weather, altitude, etc... to find out why the mileage varied, but sometimes it did good, sometimes not. The best I figure, sometimes I got better fuel than others.

I will bottom line it like this. Ford seems to have figured out the bugs in the motor. The vast majority of owners have had none to minimal complaints, with fuel mileage probably being the biggest in my opinion. The ones with problems voice their problems the most and loudest, rightfully so. The TorqueShift 5 speed automatic tranny is great. And the truck is a workhorse. Even if mine is a gussied up station wagon, it meets most of my needs.

My advice, go to a dealer and drive an F350 with a 6.0L. Very similar to what you are looking for. This will give you an idea of what it is like. I think you be impressed with how well this engine moves this big truck.

WigWag

 

WigWag,

Wow! I really appreciate your time and the detail you have provided. I too, agree that owners with bigger problems voice them most and loudest. I guess I was becoming disenchanted due to the number of what seemed to be very displeased 6.0 PSD owners.

I did drive an F550 equiped just like what I want and found that it rides really nice and seems to have a lot of power. Obviously I wasn't pulling my 15500 lb fifth wheel either. I have to assume that if all works as advertised I should be able to pull and stop my fifth wheel as I'd like. I will be happy if I get between 9-11 mpg. I have kept a very detailed log for my 95 F350 and the two things that adversely effect mileage more than anything is high speeds and towing into the wind.

One thing I see people write alot about in these forums is the reflash. Please excuse my ignorance but I have no idea what that is. Can you please explain to me what reflash is. I can only assume it has something to do with re-programming the computer.

Once again WigWag, thank you kindly for your time and help. You seem to be a satisfied owner with a great deal of common sense and use of logic. I like that!

LoneRacer

 

LoneRacer,

No Problem. Stick Around here long enough and you will see that we are all here to help. I am certainly no expert and do not profess to be. My knowledge comes from those on this board.

A flash (or reflash) is nothing more than a software update. The technician hooks a cable from a laptop up to your truck through the PCM, a port near the accelerator pedal under the dash. There is another thread that defines what each one does, so I will not go into great detail.

Flashes Defined

The biggest problems people seem to have is with the vehicle not starting, vehicle shutting off, poor idle, poor mileage. These have been related to several factors in my observation- bad injectors seem to top the list though. However, some have reported improvements after several trips to the dealer. In the cases where the trucks have not been able to be repaired, Ford has either replaced the motor or bought the truck back. People differ on the numbers and percentages, but sufficed to say it is too many.

Most of the 2004 owners seem to be happy with theirs, even the ones with a 2004 model and a 2003 engine. If you are buying a new truck, I would be surprised if you had any engine related issues at this point. My opinion. If you are looking at a used one, do a Carfax check (which most dealers will provide) talk to the previous owner if you can, check the maintenance records. Find out why it was traded in, especially since it is so new and they ain't cheap. Ask, Ask, Ask.

Just to clarify, mine is a travel trailer, not a fifth wheel. I do not have a wind deflector (yet), but I firmly agree with you on the wind. That was one of the contributing factors I tried to monitor. my trip did have many stretches of high wind. I have no modifications to my vehicle.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope it is the right choice for you. I am quite pleased at this point. I do plan to add a TorqueForce Module and a new exhaust after the warranty is up. A few people have added them with positive feedback so far. I want to make sure that it does not come at a price (earl engine degradation) and it lives up to what is being tossed around (more power AND better mileage).

WigWag

 

LoneRacer

I'm somewhat new here myself, but I noticed you are looking at buying a 03 model F550. Is truck used or new? Either way you may want to read up on the bad injector design that were being installed in the early 03 6.0 PSD. Read up and verify the engine build date. This will let you know if the engine has the old style injectors or not
Here is a starting point and they are many others to read here that will give you all the info you need...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...25252Binjector

 

8ballzs,

Sorry for the delayed response. Work today. Anyway, the truck I am looking at is a new 2003. The build date concerns me, it is 12/02. I'm sure with that date, it has the earlier design injectors. I talked to the sales manager at the dealership today and told him he is going to sign an agreement that says he will rectify any injector problems I encounter if I buy his truck. He assured me he would and also informed me (I want to believe this) that some of the reprogramming that has been done with the reflashes addressed the fuel in oil problems by making pressure adjustments. Now this sounds a bit far fetched for me, but I guess if he will hang it out for me I will trust him. I have developed a very good rapport with these people and feel they will stand behind their product. This is a major investment!

Thank you for the link, I checked that out and printed to show the dealer. Boy this is fun!

Happy Haulin
LoneRacer

 

WigWag,
What does a TorqueForce Module do? Is it as the name implies (more power AND better mileage), by increasing torque? Not cheap I imagine. By the way, do you know what the build date is on your Ex? You may have posted that on one of the other threads but I couldn't find it.

Thank You Much
LoneRacer

 

i kno the F650's offer cummins and cat engine options, but i think you need a CDL for those.

 

jessfactor,

I think you're right about the F650 offering a cummins and cat. I think I have ruled out that big of a truck. I think I should be OK with the F550. My fifth wheel is about 15500 fully loaded. I doubt I will get that heavy with it.

Thank You Much
LoneRacer

 

LoneRacer,

I am posting a link to motorhaven that sponsors this great sight and sell many of the pducts to update our trucks. The module is not cheap, but not that bad. Unless you want to use the 110HP setting, then you need to invest in guages (especially an Exhaust Gast Temp (EGT) guage to monitor the exhaust temps entering the turbo and a bigger exhaust.

TorqueForce

Without going outside to look, I can tell you the vehicle build date is 12/02. I am not sure what the engine build date is. I will look tomorrow and post. If your dealer is willing to work with you and put it in writing, that sounds good. I would just say that this agreement needs to outline as many of the specific problems that owners have had. You can get that from the chat you have had on this board in the 6.0L Forum or the Super/Heavy Duty Forum. Also, the flash updates should give some insight.

You never mentioned whether the truck is new or used. I gather from the way you mentioned it is a 2003 that didn't sell? Whether it is or is not, it seems to me, once again in my observations from here, that most of the folks that have had problems have had them early (less than 5000 miles). The ones that seemed to have had problems after that go back to some of the flashes and poor fuel mileage. Nothing major, just little annoyances for the most part.

Once again, I do love my truck. I have driven it across country from Rhode Island to Alaska. From Alaska to Wisconsin, and back, pulling my trailer. It never has missed a beat. It is damn comfortable and spacious. Between the truck and trailer, I never worry if I have room for anything. I can hardly wait to leave Alaska ONLY so I can do another cross country adventure.

Hope this helps!

WigWag

 

WigWag,

Checked out the TorqueForce site. Sounds like a pretty trick setup. I can't imagine getting that much more out of an engine, specially 110hp. I realize it's an electrical adjustment, but it sure leaves me wondering what is being done mechanically to the engine components. I realize monitoring temperatures is critical but that is just my point. Heat kills stuff. Anyway, enough of that- heck I did a SuperChips upgrade to my 95-F350 with the 7.3PSD. Helped a little but not enough to help me with my new fifth wheel.

Thank you for giving me your build date. The build date on the truck I am looking at is also 12/02. Yes it is a 2003 that didn't get sold yet. It has 240 miles on it, of which I think I put 50 on there. I really like this truck. The interior is done really nice. The whole thing is built to go many many many miles. It rides really nice and I'm sure once I drop a couple thousand pounds on the fifth whell hitch it will ride even better. My F350 sure does. It has the Granning air suspension under it, which helps stability and ride.

Well WigWag, I hope you get to leave Alaska soon and hit the road. You sound like you are much like me. Much happier when on the road. I know I sure love it. Stop where ever when ever.

Good exchanging with you WigWag
LoneRacer

 

LoneRacer

Just another thread
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=194511

It touches on the reprogramming that has been done with the reflashes to address the fuel in oil problems..

Just passing info onto you... Not trying to scare you away. Not sure about you, but I know myself the $40,000 + I put out to get my truck is a lot of money... I expect for the most part to be trouble free.

I love my truck.... It has around 2000 miles on it and has given me not the first problem...

 

8ballzs,

Thank you. I had read this one. Needless to say, it can be a touchy and scary situation trying to decide what to do. I hope to get an agreement from the dealer on how these problems will get resolved should they crop up on the F550 I am looking at. I have had some discussions with the manager and he assures me he will respond appropriately. I have a good rapport with them so that gives me some level of comfort.

By the way the build date is 12/02 which pretty much says it ahs the old injector design. Dealer says they have done the most current reflash. WigWag has an 03 Excursion with 31000 miles which he has towed a 7000 pound trailer with. He says he has had no problems. That is encouraging. It's not to say that these problems can't and haven't occured but it is as WigWag says, it's mostly those that have had problems that voice them here and voice them loudly. In any case I am really close to making the leap. I will keep reporting.

Thank you very much for your interest and input 8ballzs. It is good to discuss things with other PSD owners.

LoneRacer