I don't know if this has been covered before. Today I went down to test drive a new truck. I wanted to drive the V-10, but they didn't have any, so to make a long story short, I really liked the diesel. Where am I going wrong on this? Let's have it, the good, the bad, the ugly. Should I jump in? Should I run as fast as I can? Whatta ya think?

 

My 2006 F-350 Crew Cab Lariat 4x4 PSD was my frist diesel.


In reality.. my F-150 served me just fine. Pulled my 5500# Sea-Ray just fine. It was a dog on on-ramps (especially uphill on-ramps) and around bumpy corners I felt like the boat was driving the truck...

A couple of times when I was hauling tile to remodel my house I bottomed out the F-150 bad... Couple times hauling cement I bottomed it out too (and had to make extra trips)

I bought the Super-Duty Diesel because I like having something that is WAY more then I need. That way I don't feel like I'm beating on my vehicle when I pull my boat.

I figured if I bought the Super Duty Diesel I wouldn't think twice about hauling my boat up to Northern Wisconsin. In my gasser I would have felt like it was bad for it. A diesel.. That's not even WORK for a diesel.

Beyond that... The rest is just 'cool' factor. I love the diesel. I love the smell. I love the symphony of compression combustion. I love the power. I love that I don't get gas at the same pump as all the rest of the populace. I like that I fill up with the 'truckers'
My personal opinion is that the issues on the 6.0 have all been worked thru. I think its a great engine. When I went in for my 6000 mile oil change last week I talked with the service guy for a while about the issues with the 03-04 6.0L's.

I told him I felt like for ALL the expense Ford when thru with the injector issues and head issues they would have gotten LOTS of attention and should be very reliable now. He said they re-designed the injectors and even have new head-bolts (i think that's what he referred to) because a great deal of the issues with the trucks came from the head bolts 'stretching' or something.

Anyway... That's not an educated opinion, just my personal observation/impressions.

If you can afford the Diesel I say go for it. Its a 'real' truck. The power is so linear and so solid you dont' realize how fast the trucks are. I love it when I"m going up-hill and I want to go faster and I press the pedal down and it just GOES. No downshift just accelleration.

 

Warranty. Plenty of sack. Turbo. Power. Testosterone. 6.0L. Do it.

 

Well said Milwaukee,Wi. I feel the same way about driving a diesel!

 

there is pro's and cons of both

the psd won't beat a v10 stock off the line

psd may or may not be in the shop for nagging little items

psd maintance is about 3x what the v10 is

diesel is about .70 more a gallon here



the v10

is known for IAC's going bad (not super expensive or hard to fix)


bad y pipe design

heat shields come loose

 

I made the same mistake and test'd a 6.0. I promptly traded my 2000 5.4 S/C auto 4*4 for a 2005 CC S/B 6.0 Auto 4*4 Lariat. I have 15000 Km, not a single issue. Diesel is cheaper here, I by all filters at International. Big grin at all times. If you can afford it, its a great truck. My trade in helped out there.

 

I just today drove my 2nd new different 6.0,, the thing was pretty sweet, I stopped and it would light the tires up form a dead stop,,are all of these 6.0's like that, or did I find a good one ?

 

A lot depends on what you need & how you drive. If you're going to tow, the PSD is better for that. If you're short trips around town, the V-10 is better.

I had a '98 V-10 SC, XLT, short box, and it got 11.8 PERIOD. My 03 PSD get 18.2 in the same conditions (70 m/h over a 35 one way daily drive on I-5). The PSD will tow any of the 6% grades here w/out any trouble at all (65m/h), and I still get 13 towing 7k @ 62 m/h.

My 6.0 is unmodified and has been flawless for 42,000 miles.

 

First and foremost I love my truck. 05 F350 cc 6.0 lariat. I spent alot of time researching and talking to other owner's as well as Ford directly. The power is great, I think the SD is the best looking of the three (Chevy, Dodge, GM, is same as Chevy but different looks) With all that said I have had many problem's with this truck. No start bad o-ring on the high pressure fuel pump. Rear main seal leak. Right side glow plug wire loom leak, (I guess there is oil in there somewhere) I recieved my truck back from dealer on Dec 23 for the glow plug issue. I took truck back today because of another leak. Dealer contacted me at about 1400 hr California time to tell me that they have determined that it is still leaking and not just residule oil from previous leaks.Truck is fourteen months old and has been at dealership a total of 27 days in the last fourteen months. That is my personal experience with my truck. I have gone back to dealership and looked under new trucks with 6.0, many were wet with oil. Today at San Diego Convention center I crawled under 06 on display and it was leaking. For me personally I can not stand leaking vehicle's no matter how old or how many miles. But if you do not mind this, and some of the other quirks then by all means go for it. I think all manufacturer's have their quirks from bad tranny's to bad rear diff. I drive diesel's for a living, many times they are international trucks. They happen to be my favorite out of three different one's Mack Volvo And Ford. But I do not have to suffer when they go down, or pay to have them maintained. For me the big issue is this truck going to get a bad rap and then have poor resale value? That might be another question you might want to ask yourself. So IMHO take the time to figure out what is important and what is not as important and go from there.

Good luck and happy hunting.

 

get the diesel...you wont be sorry....dont be discouraged by a FEW negative posts...any vehicle will have some issues and the PSD is no exception, keep researching this site and you will find majority of pleased owners that would not trade their PSDs for any other truck

 

I went through the same process, except I drove a V-10 6-spd. I really liked it, but I could never get beyound the low mpg towing, the fact that the V-10's are so rare and the reduced useable power vs the PSD. The V-10 has lots of positives like reliabilty, reduced maintenance, yada, yada, yada.

I had a lot of concerns about the reliability of the 6.0. Thats really why I started looking at V-10. I believe the majority of the serious 6.0 probems were related to their pre-mature release by Ford and the aftermarket hotrod parts folks put on them. I think most of the major problems have been corrected and I won't be doing any mods, so I ordered a 6.0 about a month ago.

Good luck,
Brad

 

Get the diesel. I've had my '05 6.0 since March. What a beast.
Its in the parking lot now. When I take it to lunch I will wonder that my 6.0 grin has still not faded.

 

Get the diesel. I went through some of the same V-10/6.0 decision back-and-forths you're going through, had zero problems with my 05, tow 10,000+lb toybox regularly, and don't regret going with another diesel one iota (had a POS Dodge Cummins before).

 

Here is my side...

I had a 2003 V10 F250. LOVED IT. Towed heavy with it and used it as a daily driver. Great truck and would own one again (if I couldn't get another diesel).

My 2005 X has the 6.0 and the power is night and day different. The diesel is the way to go IF you don't mind the differences. They are...

- you will smell the diesel exhaust (at lights, warming up etc) and some people hate that smell.

- it is louder than a gas engine

- throttle isn't as responsive (turbo lag) but when it gets going....HOLD ON!

- diesel fuel is messy compared to gas (if you happen to spill some it is more oily).

- i put diesel kleen in at every fill up so that is a small extra step for me but no biggie.

- up keep is a bit more but worth it to me. I do my own minor maint such as fuel filters (need to be changed more often than gas) and oil changes (15 quarts isn't cheap although you can go 5k to 10k between changes depending on conditions).

Both the V10 and the 6.0 will do what you want and I love them both. Some of the "downsides" to a diesel are actually plus' for me. I like the smell and the sound. Turbo lag doesn't bother me since I didn't buy a race car. Changing the oil on a 6.0 (drains straight down) is WAY easier than on a V10 (is drains out the side and gets everywhere).

I guess what I am trying to say is get what you want and you will be happy. On a side note that I hate to bring up because it is can of worms...My V10 got 13 mpg hwy and 10 city. My X (7600lbs) gets 18-20 hwy and 14 city and can go 600-750 miles between fill ups.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!!

 

I appreciate all of the input. I have heard horror stories about the diesel, but it sure drives good--I understand the big smiles. I will use the new truck to pull a 5th wheel trailer that weighs a little less than 11000 pounds with a pin weight of 2040 pounds. I presently pull it with a Dodge V-10 that is 10 years old. I only put about 6-7000 miles a year on my truck--this Dodge has a little less than 75,000 miles on it, but it has pulled my trailer over flat lands and mountains. Other than preventive maintenance and brakes, I haven't had any problems with it. All this to say that I'm used to good power and reliability--I'm not sure how much I would like to keep after things going wrong, small or large. Gas/fuel mileage is not an issue with me, I consider it the cost of doing business--you want a big engine and big power, you put a lot of fuel through it. Thanks again, I'll take all of this under advisement.