There is a 2001 Ford F-450 4x4 sitting on a used car lot its been there for awhile now. I'am looking for a F-450 4x4 I'am not sure if I really want a V-10 I'am having a heck of a time finding a 7.3 PSD powered F-450 4x4.

The truck has 151,000kms (93,831 mile) on the clock and they want 23,995 canadian dollars for it or 21,617 dollars US.

Heres the thing our price of regular gas is 1.19 per litre or 3.97 a gallon US Funds where as diesel is 1.08 per litre or 3.63 a gallon US funds.

My last gasser F-450 which was a 88 with 460 gas the truck never seen anybetter than 8 mpg you start pulling the 10% grades grossing 15,000lbs my mileage dropped to 5-6mpg. When I had that truck fuel was considerably cheaper. I bought a 89 F-450 IDI about 5 years ago I got 12mpg empty and 10mpg loaded. I have now a 95 F-450 PSD the truck gets upwards of 13mpg empty and drops to about 11 loaded (15,000lbs)

I have been a diesel owner for the last 6 years I really don't know if I want to venture back to a gas pot. I know the V-10s are spark plug poppers my cousin just had his 5.4 fixed it popped a plug and cost him 5000 dollars.

A local contractor has a 2003 F-550 4x4 that truck on a good day only see's 10mpg its prolly grossing around 12,000lbs on a regular basis.

Where I live its not flat the roads I drive on every day are twisty and steep a V-10 is only going to see 10mpg and the price of regular gas I don't know if the truck will be affordable to drive. I use the truck as my work truck and daily driver for the General Contracting I do.

When I had my 88 F-450 with the 460 gas you just start it up the truck burns 5 gallons. At the time I owned the truck and the price of fuel then I calculated it the truck cost me about 10 dollars per hour to drive.

With my current truck it costs me about 13 dollars a day if I had the 460 at todays fuel prices would easy cost me 16 dollars or more per day.

What I class as per day is when I'am working at the one job where it takes me 30 mins to get there and 30 mins to get home. So my PSD costs me 6.50 each way in fuel.

I'am definatly not going to buy a new truck for me to buy a 06 F-450 4x4 with 6.0 cab and chassis is 46,000 dollars Canadian. A 06 F-450 4x4 cab and chassis with V-10 is prolly around 40,000 Canadian.

 

My personal feelings are it was probably a company truck of some sort and may have had a hard life. With that many miles on it I would be shy unless I know it was well maintained. Just my feelings others may feel differently, but I know what kind of life our trucks have at work and we just got rid of a few 01 F450's with V10's. Red ones to be exact. They go out for auction and could turn up anywhere.

 

The way the truck is set up I think it belonged to a landscaper or some kind of contractor. It has a 10 deck with 2' wide toolbox cabinets behind the cab and in the deck has a gooseneck hitch. Like I meantioned the truck has been sitting on the lot for a long time. Its not close to me so I can't go look at it easily its a good 4-5 hour trip for me.

 

The V10 should do better on gas than the 460 did, but that's comparing apples to oranges if the trucks aren't exactly the same weight and gearing.

I hate to say it, but you might be better off with a powerstroke.

 

The F-450 4x4 with the V-10 would prolly weigh around 8500-9000lbs with the dumpbox I'am building. My current F-450 PSD weighs 8400lbs just with a 12' flatdeck my previous IDI with a 12' deck weighed 8300lbs. The 95 has 4:63 gears the 89 had 5:13s both 5spds the 88 with the 460 had 4:63s 5spd that truck weighed 8200lbs or so it had a 11' dump box.

Do I really want to take the venture in buying a F-450 V-10 and find out ouch this thing drinks the fuel. Like I meantioned the empty weight of the truck is going to be close to 9000lbs thats more than the gvw on 3/4 ton truck.

 

Is it possible that with that truck sitting there so long that they might let you test-drive it for a few days? That way you can see what the mileage would be like.

 

In your case keep looking for a 7.3L. They want way too much for that F450 anyways.

 

Like krewat said, it will almost certainly get better mileage than your 460 did. I have both and my V10 gets at least 50% better mileage than my 460, but gearing and weight have alot to do with that. As far as the plug thing goes, there's plenty of info here on things you can do to prevent that in most cases, and much cheaper fixes than five grand if it should happen to you. Alot of folks here have come over from the diesel's and are happy that they did, but...

It sounds to me like you've pretty much already made up your mind that you wouldn't be happy with it. If you're having to talk yourself into it, or wanting us to talk you into it, then buying it might be a mistake for you. I've talked myself into buying trucks (and other things) because they're a little better deal, or I can find exactly what I want right then - usually I end up wishing I hadn't.

 

I don't think the dealer would let me take the truck 200 miles away for a test drive as thats how far I'am away from that dealer

There are tons of nice trucks in the states forsale especially down in California and Texas where they are rust free. It is too much of a pain in the azz to import a truck newer that 15 years old to Canada. By the time you deal with all the paper work and other B.S. your looking at some bucks.

The one company I work for part time has a bunch of V-10 F-450s used for service trucks I'am not allowed to drive them its a different division of the company etc. I remember asking one of the mechanics what his V-10 F-450 2wd welding truck got for mileage I just can't remember the kilometers he gets per tank. I imagine the rear tank is a 40 gallon tank and from what I remember he gets about 500kms out of it. So that works out to about 7.7 mpg. The truck is probably at 90% of its max gross of 15,000lbs. The reason the company has V-10s is they are cheaper to buy and fuel costs really isn't a issue. The trucks prolly wouldn't travel enough kilometers in a year to warrent the cost of PSD.

I'am just curious I see you guys saying your getting 12-14 mpg but it might not be the same with a F-450 that has 4:30 or 4:88 gearing and weighs 9000lbs empty.

 

for what you need it for keep looking for a psd man. in the long run you will be better off. maybe take a trip into the usa and look around for one.
as to that truck you know it has miles but don't know how it was kept or repaired . it dosenot have the good heads unless they were changed ,plus a lot of you don't know abouts . stay away from that one.