I am going to order a new F350 CC in May to replace my 05 F250 CC. I'm undecided on getting the 6.8 again or trying the new 6.4. The diesel is tempting as they have addressed the main complaints I had with my 96 7.3: smoke, smell, noise, and lack of cabin heat in the winter. The way the price of gas goes through the roof every summer when I do all my towing and long distance driving is a killer. Still very undecided though as the 6.8 has been and is a gem of an engine that never let me down. I was a trucker for many years and miss the low end grunt if the diesel, yet don't want the headaches I had with my '96. Kinda feel like a temptess is leading me on and I'm afraid of messing up a good relationship over a quick fling. Who knows...I will have to sit back and see what happens once a few get on the road.

 

i know what your saying man,i also drove for many years running east to west and back 3 trips a month. rig i ran had a 1693 ta 425hp cat .

i had 1 of each psd and truely have to say the 6.0 almost drove my away from ford forever. the 6.8 and many great words from fredvon4 got me settled into the 05 6.8 and a feeling that as much as i love a diesel my v10 has me very content and happy esp. now with gas around 50 cents a gal cheaper the diesel fuel. and a very happy to drive the truck wife for a change.
if your happy why change motors. have you checked out what a 6.4 may cost? rummer mill is still hanging in at around a 10k for the option thats way to much for my blood and current pocket book. which reads recently retired

 

I hear ya Charlie. I'm about 9~10 years away and know the days of spending will soon come to an end. Yes the rumor mill on pricing is running rampant...one of the other boards is saying the new Dodge 6.7 is coming in at $800 more than last year instead of the rumored $2k. Hope this is a good sign. If I do get one I'll do a two year lease so if there is problems so I can walk away if I have to at the end of the lease.

 

Super8

Because you have an 05, I am assuming it is the 362HP 3v V10 and a 5R110w trany with either 4.10 or 4.30 gears... so you know well what a serious machine that is

I too loved the grunt of the 7.3L but despised the noise and mainteneance... I was a poor GI with a need for serious tow power and the 460s were killing me at the pump. So I jumped into the diesel truck and was totally impressed with the capability...unfortunatly the damned thing was expensive to maintain. Me, being a motor head and fully aware of the dollar side punishment if I abused it or broke it. I was screwed badly every time a motor or drive train component broke, costs of repair parts were so high I was forced into learning and doing the labor end my self...that meant a lot of newer beefier tools too.

I am aware that these V10s will never be the power houses the diesel can be... but for a scant $560 option price, and much more fuel efficient then the BB Ford gas motors, and 85~95% of all the typical use capability of the diesel with virtually none of the down sides that a diesel has, I am content to stay with the gas rig.

By my estimation and usage history the F250~F350 V10 is cheaper to use over the entire life of the truck, definitely is easier to maintain, and so far, from 2000 to present, has proved to be a damned reliable machine.

I doubt the price point on the 6.4L will be above $7000.... Ford is bleeding too much red ink to do a $8K~$9K PSD option cost move. It would finish the assassination of their previous leading position in Truck sales......

In order to get folks to add that much cost to an already expensive machine...FoMoCo has to prove it is MUCH more capable and get a LOT higher fuel efficiency then they get now...some how I doubt the specs I have seen published meet those requirements.

They also have to over come the stigma of the initial transition to diesels in the early 7.3 years. They were not terribly reliable. The switch in 2003 to the 6.0L PSD had similar initial reliability problems....

Consumers are more informed and no longer willing to spend $39~$55 thousand dollars to be the beta testers of a new product.

I predict first year sales of the 6.4L to be lousy.... and this will screw the V10 base because Ford will push the PSD very hard in advertising and ignore their secret Toyota, Nissan, Chevy, and Dodge killer for another new model release cycle...

 

Correct Fred, I have the above with the 4.10's. If I stay with the 6.8 I'm going to go with the 4.30's and the 20" wheels to get away from the Conti's. Heard too many negitive comments on them. In my mind I know the 6.8 is the right thing to do (especially with -40~-50 winters up here). I have 6 months to trash the idea around in my head before the order goes in anyway.

Thanks to both of you on your thoughts,
Doug

 

Doug

I can frustrate your decision some more with this thought based on your idea to do a short term lease....

FoMoCo has extended the warranty out significantly... this takes a lot of the fear out of a high dollar decision for those who only keep trucks in the 3 to 5 year length any way.

That said ...on a short term least, I doubt that you can get burned on the new 08 with a 6.4L PSD, and who knows, Ford might just have a winner in it... we just don't know enough to make an informed decision except from past history...

I for one, secretly hope the damned thing is a fast, quiet, and trouble free motor... even if I never intend to own one...

I like Ford trucks, and get a big thrill still when a Stroke whoops a Cummins butt! Even if both are puking great gobs of billowing Black soot all over my pretty King Ranch!

 

any one seen the sema shots yet? ugly is not the word for it's nose yakkkkk!

 

The red ones not bad, but the way they did up that blue one Yuck is right.

 

the one i saw was a white 350 xlt.yackie big time

 

I'd bet a lot of folks wait before jumping in with their $50K this time. The 6.0 debacle left too many people burned, or at least I would hope us Ford owners are smart enough to wait and see this time. I have a first gen V10 but I didn't buy one til it had been out a couple years and well proven. It just turned 135K miles and even though it's soon to go to part time status, it's not because of anything other than the sheer size of driving the beast. I want something smaller and more personal to coddle me in my old age, that's why I'm thinkin Vette. Unless that darned Challenger makes it into production soone enough, or the dealers don't crank that GT 500 into the stratosphere with additional mark up so a normal guy can't even afford one.

 

This is going to be a tug of war for me untill I order my new truck next spring. I have already swung back to getting the V10 again after making up an XL speadsheet and playing with the order guides comparing current prices to expected prices in the new year. Especially when I only put on about 15k miles a year. There will be an even bigger price difference between the engines with the release of the 6.4, and I will be getting a couple of extra options with the diesel, the heavy alt. and the supplemental cab heater for winter use. Plus the fact I do "really, really, really" like my current V10 which has more than proven itself and there is the fact there could be some growing pains with the new 6.4. The more I thing about it, I'm telling myself I want a diesel and the reality that I don't need one due to cost and headaches operating in -40 to -50 temps we can get down to at times in January and Feburary.

 

I too love the diesel trucks. But from the price difference in the V10 - Gas you can pay for most of your gas by not getting the V10. I mean at $7000 bump lest say for the diesel. $7,000 divided by regular gas (2.25 here) = 3,111 gallons of fuel. If you only average 10 mph in the V10 thats 31,111 miles of gas already paid for if you dont get the diesel....

Also dont forget the diesel seem to eat a lot of trans once parts are installed. they tell me a built trans and converter is $8-10K!

 

When the 6.0 came out, it was a new motor. And, eventually proven to have lots of bugs.

It's not so much the 6.0, but the fact that it was a new motor.

Any new vehicle is going to have hiccoughs. Any new motor is going to have hiccoughs.

Those who bought the V10 in '97 and even in '05, showed lots of guts.

I stuck it out from '99 until '02, and eventually bought an '01, knowing that it had a few things that weren't high-durability. The front Dana 50 axle for instance.

But the motor, I knew had been out for at least 2 years in the SD, and 4 years total (E-series used it in '97 (late?) and '98).

Even if I WAS a diesel guy (and came close to it), I doubt I would buy the first year of the 6.4

Those who are going to, more power to you ...

 

One more thing I forgot to add...

The 2008 has the same 3-valve V10 and TS that have already been in production for 3 model years. Apparently without any changes. The only one I can think of is an EGR valve. Not exactly a big deal

 

Diesel seems to stay the same on price regardless of what the crude oil prices are. Drove to Ohio and back in Sept and got reg unlead as low as $2.05 while diesel was still around $2.70. Now that gas is going back up, diesel is still around $2.70 out here in Cal. We get a GREAT break when the price drops but is seems the diesel guys don't.

Just a thought..............

On a performance note, my 05 6.8 pulls my enclosed trailer, racecar, parts, etc (9k-10k) without an issue. Pulling a few more K than that you may want the extra TQ if you go through many mountain passes. It pulls great up steep hills and I usually pass most of the non towing cars and trucks up hills and rarely break past the 3500 rpm band. Takes some throttle control but it's easy to manage and keep the power flowing to the wheels.