Wow, it's been a looooong time since I've been in this site. I plan on visiting here a little more frequent now though...

I just bought (about a month ago) a new F350 6.4 Crew Cab truck. I am using it as a hot shot truck and will basically put it through hell constantly. I'm gonna post everything about that truck that goes wrong and how well it does or does not do FWIW. The reason is for information for anyone who wants to know. I will not post business ads or anything like that on here...it's purely educational.

First off:

The Truck:

'08 F350 6.4
4.10's
Torque Shift Auto
Crew Cab
4WD w/Locking/Auto hub locks
Limited Slip

That should cover the main points of the truck...

The Load Being Carried:

I have an 8,000 pound 48' gooseneck trailer. (btw, the flatbed is 48' alone FWIW) I haul roof insulation for new construction sites for any building bigger than a house. (ie: strip malls, big name stores, gas stations, churches, schools, etc...) The load from the trailer up stands around 8-9 ft tall (believe it or not). That's about 12 ft or so from the ground up. It is as wide as the trailer which is about 8 ft and extends the full length of the flatbed...so basically, it would be like looking at a truck hauling a gooseneck style 18 wheeler van trailer...but a little longer. VERY BIG FOR A 1 TON. The loads vary, but on average the load w/trailer will weigh about 16,000 lbs NOT including the truck.

Where I go:

I live in Texas and haul anywhere in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and the southern portion of Missouri. That will tell you that I go through all kinds of terrain and weather. Not the coldest of the cold, but cold enough. The low where I live get in the low 20's right now. I run anywhere from 3 - 5 days a week.

Ok, now you have an idea of what I do and what the truck will go through.

So far:

I bought it with 500 miles on it and now have 15,000 miles on it. (yes, in a month) No problems whatsoever with the truck so far. Pulls the load considerably better than my old 2004 6.0 Ford. I will change the oil every 5k miles or less. Filters I would assume every 10k to 15k.

The only problem so far as I'm sure a lot of you know...mileage. Loaded averaging 70 on the highway with a full load, I get 6 mpg even. That's clocked by filling up and calculating gallons into miles for a real estimate. Honestly, with that load...that's not much worse than any other truck that hauls with me...including Dodges...the new Dodges are actually worse loaded than that. Unloaded is where it kills me...at 70 avg mph on the highway it only jumps up to 8.5 - 9 mpg. Keep in mind, that is with the trailer but no load. That is absolutely horrible and kind of embarrassing when other drivers ask about it.

Anyways, I'm going to Springfield, MO monday and will fill you in on the trip when I get back.

Sorry for the length, but I think the will help identify any long term problems quickly because I put about 2300 avg weekly miles on the truck.

Keep 'er truckin'



Joey

 

Good to hear from someone that actually USES their truck. Keep it coming.

 

good to see your not overloaded.

so far the only really bad thing with the 6.4 is the MPG.

coarse if you where a troll you would have come here to complain about how your truck is broke down more than you drive it. with 3K posts your no troll.

please do keep us posted.

 

lol

thanks for realizing I'm not a troll...although my wife might say different!

Yea, I'll definitely keep everyone posted. I think I'm gonna just go by week or something like that...

for ex:

Week 1:

2000 miles
avg weekly mpg loaded (AWL) 6.5
avg weekly mpg unloaded AWU) 8.5
Went to:
San Antonio, TX
Shreveport, LA
Picayune, MS
Austin, TX

Repairs:
None (or in the event of a repair, what it was, the mileage, and why)

...something like that (BTW, that was just an example...not an actual week...but that would be a pretty close summarization IMO.

Joey

 

I don't know who you are calling a troll?
I sure hope it is not someone who is new to this forum! or that has had a ton of problems with there truck, like ME!
I came to this forum to help people that might be buying a new 2008 50k truck. To tell them wait till the bugs are worked out, so they don't lay in bed at night not sleeping. Like me!

Just wait buddy, Maybe you will get to see what it is like!!!!!!

My truck is going back in Tuesday for the same problems!

Ford customer care called me back today finally, they said they will help!
I told them I get sick everytime I look at my new truck and I would like to trade it in. NOT FOR A TOYOTA! But a Job 3 Ford superduty 6.4 !

 

im glad also that someone uses there truck to work.be safe out there on the road

 

A troll is someone with a low post count who mainly complains and says things to make other people mad...A lot of times they will say things like:

And sometimes they will rant like this:

Here's another good example:

Trolls usually say that their truck's are either in the shop or getting ready to go back, like this:

And they almost always threaten that they are about to trade their trucks in, like this:

So now you know what a troll is and what they do...

Tim

 

Good job reporting your finds. I Hot Shot haul also (Cars). Before making my purchase of my first diesel I drove all three major brands twice each. I liked the looks (interior/exterior) of the Ford the best and it had great fit and finish but the mileage and first year motor scared me away. I ended up with an LMM Chevy Duramax LTZ 3500 black on black. My buddy hauls with a 6.7 Dodge and he's had really good luck with it. Other guys out at the yard use Ford 450's and their reports are very similar to yours. It's nice to take a look around and see how these trucks perform in the real world. IMO they all haul really well and all have their strengths and weaknesses. Just thought I'd post up and say your report sounds accurate to the other 4 guys I know haulin with the 6.4.

 

What do you get with your dmax Aaron?

Tim

 

OH my I have not seen a beating like that since I had to prove to my older brother that he was not my bigger brother

 

ROFL!

 

My 53' trailer weighs 7k empty. An Avg load for me fully loaded is between 17,500 and 22,000 in total trailer weight. On avg fully loaded up I'll get 10-10.5 depending on total weight and terrain. I typically cruise the highway at 60 mph on avg (1500 rpm in 6th or 1800rpm in 5th). I have 3.73 gears, 6spd tranny and my only mods are muffler delete, and modified stock airbox with synthetic oil. My buddies 6.7 Dodge seems to get the same mileage and he has the 6 spd manual.

Mileage reports can fluctuate quite a bit depending on how people want to report them. I mainly haul shorter trips for the auction now and if my truck doesn't go through regen that day, then the mileage is better. So I take the avg of them all to get a true figure. I'm looking at deleting the DPF so I have no more regens. The fuel that is wasted in cleaning the DPF, can then move me down the highway. I typically see at least 2 regen cycles per tank while loaded and that kills economy.

On short trips (100-150) unloaded I get 19.5-19.8 at 65 mph of highway driving. I don't compute unloaded mileage much so adding in regen is hard to say with 100% accuracy.

Maybe Ford regens more and that's why the mileage is down? Also the gearing differences in the rear end and a 5spd vs. 6 spd play into affect also??

I gotta say that I gained 2 mpg from a modified air box which was just a removal of an air silencer. 1 more from airing my tires up to 80psi and .5 more from synthetics. I remember my first 3 tanks fulls bone stock and no towing yielded 14.5-15 mpg with 50/50 city/hwy driving and driving like a grandpa.

 

So now you know what a troll is and what they do...

Tim [/QUOTE]


It takes one to know one I guess

You are a great supporter; with supporters like you... WOW!


Rade ciob de oala sparta. lol

 

now yall got me in the towin mood.weres my goosneck.lol

 

AaronC:

Ya know, I've talked to a few mechanics about the newer trucks they've seen in commercial use like you and I...they said they see Chevrolet the least as far as problems go. I would be interested to know details on yours also...I almost bought one, but I'm too much of a Ford man I guess.


Hoffman and whoever else: I appreciate your honesty and everyone elses...lets not turn this into something it isn't please.


I've decided to do a first week for last week instead of this week to get started. Also, I deliver 1 load and then deadhead to the same loading warehouse every time to get my next load. Lets just use this as a legend --

ETD: estimated distance in miles -- base on a round trip, not 1 way
AFEL: average fuel economy loaded
AFEU: average fuel economy unloaded

WEEK 1:

Deliveries:

12/31/07 Live Oak, TX (San Antonio, TX area) ETD 530 miles
1/1/08 NEW YEARS DAY HOLIDAY
1/2/08 Picayune, MS (Southwest corner of Mississippi) ETD 800 miles
1/3/08 San Antonio, TX ETD 600 miles
1/4/08 Dallas, TX ETD 370 miles
TOTAL ETD: 2300 miles

AFEL:

6.5 mpg

AFEU:

8.6 mpg

Repairs or Damages:

None to date -- all systems still working properly



Please make any suggestions that you would like to me to report. Seeing as how this is my first week, I could be missing something you want to see.


Joey