I tow about 8500 up Sherwin Grade (6% about 8mi) out of Bishop several times a year, most of the time in mid summer with ambient temp 100+, never have had any problems with the truck overheating.

 

I tow from Vegas to Needles all summer with my 44' gooseneck and the truck never gets hot. However, I did notice that pulling over Mount Potosi ( 5400 something feet)
The needle did start to closer to the hot ( about 3/4 up)

 

Navy, I tow a 7K enclosed trailer six days a week, city/highway for 100-150 miles, Tow-Haul on every minute...no puking and no temp movement. This past week it's been close to 90 degrees every day and I do notice the fan kicking on a lot during stop and go, but that's normal apparently.

Good luck.

 

Family friends from home haul 11 - 1,500lb round bales on a 24' 4,500 flat beds behind a 7,000 lb trucks. (a 7.3 and a 6.0)

So- what is that... 28,000 lbs. All August and September - each loaded trip ends with a 10 minute climb around 3,000 RPMs in 2nd.

Temp gauges never ever leave "normal" range. These trucks do not heat unless you have done something stupid to them. And it seems like the harder they are run, the fewer problems people have with them. No turbo issues. No injector issues. No leaks.

The cab chassis tips the scale at 14,000 - more than most guys tow- and the temp gauge has never passed the 1/2 mark. The heaviest I have run my pickup was with a 22,000 backhoe on the flatbed. Engine cooling was the last thing on my mind. Instead, I thought a lot about the reliability of my trailer brakes...

I think International has designed these engines to run wide open under any conditions you could imagine- We have never ever seen them heat. I have climbed out of the grapevine in So.Cal in mid summer with a load of tools- not real heavy- but I ran wide open just to see how the engine responded. The gauge pushed a touch past 1/2 and sat there. Like I said, cooling will be the last of your concerns.

But what does bother me about the 6.0 is all the cooling plumbing. They have run hoses all over hell and back. Take a look at the small return/bleeding hoses running to the overflow bottle. It is as thought they kept having problems with air so they just kept punching holes and adding hoses. Not a problem yet- but all of those hoses and joints are asking for trouble 10-15 years down the road.

Great engine but the plumbing is annoying.

-Mike

 

WOW all these are great. Keep em coming!!!!!

 

Just bought a brand new 06 6.0 4wd, so I can pull a 5th wheel camper with me to work so I can have a decent place to live (If I let the company rent me a trailer, it's like playing Russian Roulette. You never know what kind of rat trap you'll get, and I miss out on a trailer bonus )

Haven't pulled anything with mine YET (Company sent me to Wyoming before I was able to take delivery of my camper), but am reading this thread with GREAT interest.

Gunner15a

 

I've been having overheating problems that have gotten progressively worse when towing our 40' toy hauler. Took the truck in today and you guessed it, head gaskets fried.

 

I pull about 11,000 # 5th wheel on mountain passes in Colorado. Was down in the desert last year and this year but it wasn't real hot. I haven't had any problem with coolant loss or overheating. My 05, cc, 4x4 cruises best between 70 & 75 with my trailer. Don't tell anyone but it runs great at 80 with no load. I love the power and use it. Of course my economy is not the greatest. Power was my main factor when buying. I have 15,000 miles now.

 

I have a 05 f-250 6.0 4x4. I tow a very light travel trailer, ( < 5000k) and I know its back there. Going from LA to Big Pine in the summer I watched the temp gauge go from normal, (about the middle position), to just below the red line. At that point the clutch fan kicked on, (thought a helicopter was landing on top of the truck). The temp fell back to center quickly. I was not pushing the truck hard at all, maybe 65mph up a light grade, with lots of pedal left. I took the truck to the dealer when I got home and they said everything was ok. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

I had a problem with heat in my truck (was completely stock) when I first got it but it wasn't a over heating the cooling system problem. I was towing around 15000lbs and passing lots of traffic on a single lane highway, then the truck just shut down to an idle and I pulled over the temp guage was normal but I opened the hood and it was enough heat to cook a hotdog under there. I let it idle checked some wire connections found nothing so tryed to see if it would go again and it was fine for about and hour and a half when I came to a town with a traffic light at the bottom of a steep long hill and had to start from the bottom, by the time I got to the top it did it again, I could hear the fan the whole time and temps where normal but it was hot. I finally got annoyed enough to take off my stainless bug screen from the grill and got going again and had no other problems. Turns out the the engine oil was what was getting hot and it was hot enough to trip the computer safety and the computer was defueling the truck. Talked to Ford about it after and was told they recommend NOT putting any kind of bug screens on for towing applications. I have never had problem since the screen was removed.

 

Welcome to FTE and the 6.0 forum deweymichael and jkittre777

When you get a chance you might want to cruise over to our Tech Folder for some great 6.0 info.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303583

Please take a few moments to read our site guidelines as well.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html

 

I am having the same issue with my truck getting warm. I tow a 3000lbs trailer and after about 20000 miles, i noticed that the fan was coming on more and more. Then I noticed that the temp gauge started moving higher and higher. It will go from about 1/2 to very near the red line. I am very worried and angry about this because I feel like im driving an old beater gasser. I brought it back to the dealership and they fixed it for a wile by replacing a bad head sensor. It started doing it again after a few thousand miles, so I took it to a different dealership and they told me it was normal. Being dissatisfied with that answer, I called around to different dealerships to see what they had to say. 5 dealerships all said it was not, only about 1 or 2 needle widths on a hot day with a big trailer up a big hill is what they were indicating as normal. I have an appointment on tuesday and I hope that they can clear this up. By the way i have an f-350 6.0 cc drw lariat 4x4.

 

I get one....Welcome 2005 Ford, you are in a great group here, my favorite forum~

Enjoy

 

Towed my 6000# TT for 8000 miles last summer from Philadelphia to Montana, through Wyoming,Utah, etc. No problems with ANYTHING! While sitting in stop and go traffic in 95 degrees the tranny temp was up to 210 but the engine temp stayed below 190 according to my Scanguage. I kept a fuel log on that journey and got 12 mpg towing. When not towing I get 14mpg around town and 16 mpg highway.

 

Why, if Ford is telling me that the engine getting warm (way up near the red) , is a normal thing for the 6.0, isnt everyones truck doing about the same thing. My last 6.0 never got warm and neither does any of my friends. We all tow about the same trailers in about the same heat and terrain. Could it maybe be a sticking thermostat, or another bad sensor, please tell me it really isnt normal to see my water temp going sky high. It just seems that not all trucks are getting warm, in fact it doesent seem like hardly any are. If this were a normal deal, why wouldnt they all do the same thing?