Hi there,

I run a landscape business and have been looking into upgrading one of my trucks. I'm currently running a 1989 F-Super Duty with a 7.3 liter, which I've owned for 12 years. It's been a good truck for us, but with the recent decline in new truck prices, I've started to contemplate this move.

The truck I'm looking at is a 2008 F550 with a 6.4 liter diesel. It's a new truck at the dealer and I know they've had it for several months. I've already got the price down to where I'm confident that it's a good deal. My only concern, other than fuel economy, is the reliability. I know there were problems with the 6.0 liter engines, but I've heard the bugs have been worked out. The 6.4, with the automatic transmission, must get better fuel economy than my 7.3 with the manual tranny, wouldn't it?

I've had my truck checked out and the 7.3 has 235,000 miles on it, but the compression is still very even on all cylinders and strong. I'm just about to do the manual transmission and clutch. The brakes are only a year old.

As you can see, I'm kind of torn, here.

Any suggestions or comments are welcome.

Thanks for the time. I look forward to the reply.

Regards,

 

The 6.4L won't have as good of fuel economy with all the emissions equipment on there but it will be like going from a Geo Metro to a Corvertte as far as power. The torque shift transmission is agreat tranny I have driven a few of them and was impressed. There reliablity is better then the 6.0s but they still have there issues with the DPF and other things. You can get 99-03 7.3L trucks for a steal now and that will be alot better then what you have right now.

 

only issue with 6.4 is going to be less fuel ecomony.

 

I wouldn't go as far as to say the only issue.

 

Dont buy the 6.4 diesel. Buy a good used 7.3 like jdecker88 said. They are very dependable. The trannys in the 6.4 are very good, but fuel economy is horrible!! I drove a 6.4 2WD dually from Orlando to West Palm on the Turnpike and got 9.4mpg at 75mph.

 

If you are looking for a good stock truck go with a 2000, 2002 or 2003 7.3L or an '05-'07 6.0L. 2001 is the year that there were some changes made to the trucks and a mechanical diode in the transmission.

Just my .02...

 

If you need a F550, then you need the new truck. If you are worried about mileage, the F550 is a beast and there is no comparison to a F350 dually. They come with 4.88 or 4.30 gears, but this affects GVW and GCWR so, you best order for what you want. I dont think a F550 with a 7.3 or a 6.0 or a 6.4 will make any real difference, so get teh new one the way you want it. For sure, how fast you drive, how you laod and how much you tow will make all the difference. There are some issues, make sure its a Job 3 and get all the recalls done before you pick it up.