Yes, I was talking about the same trailer, loaded and empty.

 

Ive got at V10 and i love it. Honestly a diesel would be nice but i Bought my gasser for 7500 with 82k on it, A similar year 7.3L with 160k would be almost twice that. If you want the extra power and economy and have the money diesel is probably better but I can drive my gasser for another 100k miles and still save money because of the difference in sticker price.

 

Wasn't the option cost on the sticker for a 7.3 about $5,000? Now a similar year 7.3 is $5,000 to $7,000 more than a V10? I'm having trouble seeing how you're saving money.

 

Okay, Bill, so the 2K trailer was an empty flatbed trailer, right?

A similar trailer on my '07 5.4 was hardly even noticeable until I looked in my mirrors. With a Blazer on the trailer and a motorcycle in the bed, I still cruised at 65 in overdrive without any problems. Here's a pic of that one:



And interestingly enough, that truck had a much harder time pulling my enclosed trailer while it was empty!



Empty that one weighs 3,500 lbs...2,500 less than the open car hauler in the previous pic.

This is why I asked whether they were enclosed or flat...

 

If you got your v10 for that little then you got a steal on it. Around here you won't find a beat up company work truck(white, xl, seats torn all to crap, dents all over it, etc) with 150k and a 5.4 for that kind of price. Kelley blue book value on your truck, with my zip code, is $13,850.

 

Yeah, my buddy has a 2010 F150 and he pulled an enclosed trailer like yours with a couple thousand pounds in it at 65mph and still got 10mpg. Pulled nice too.

I usually drive 72 mph and get 10.9mpg with that load, he was upset he got 10mpg until I explained how good it was, I figured he would have got 6-8mpg.

I'll drive my 7.3's as long as I can, but when I bought them, the fuel was cheaper and by 100,000 miles the diesel option paid for themselves in fuel savings, after 100,000 miles it looked like they would be cheaper to drive. Cheaper fuel and better mileage, but about the time I got to 100,000 miles, and my investment was going to start giving me cheaper miles driven, (because i saved in mileage the cost of the diesel option) fuel spiked and has never came down below gas.

At the time it made sense, but in todays economy, I'd likely buy a gasser. Don't get me wrong, I have became fond of the diesels power and the Excursion is an awesome vacation vehicle and with a US Gear overdrive, you can cruise all day at 85mph, 2,000rpms, out west and the mileage is 16-18mpg depending on fuel quality. Another friend crammed into a minivan can not even drive them speeds fully loaded and gets 16-18 mpg driving out west.

Also, we had an 97' Expedition with a 5.4 and an F150 with a 4.6 AND I HATED BOTH OF THEM, JUNK!) that was another reason to buy the 7.3's I wanted reliability. Now the 5.4 is a much better, improved engine, again times have changed. but I'm not sure I'd want to feed a 5.4 expedition at 85mph on vacation, but that may end up happening anyway, since I don't like what the diesel's are offering today.

 

I am talking about the same 18' enclosed trailer. It was 2K empty and 6K with a load.
I towed it both empty and loaded one day with the 5.4 then both empty and loaded the next with the V10.

 

yeah it was a steal. the guy i bought it from couldn't drive any more and had only driven it 30k in the last 6 years. The only problem I've found is two broken off manifold studs but ill be fixing that when i put some headers on it. The nice thing is that for 7500 I can spend some of the money I didn't have to fork over for a diesel for a v10 at a dealserhip on modifying it to exactly what I want.

 

I can't hardly beleive the F150 towed the Blazer at 65 in O/D, I mean I believe you did it, but I gotta ask, don't you guys have any hills in Ohio? There's no way my V10 SD would pull that same load in O/D around here.

 

I have about 7k in mine and I would take 6500 cash for it. Had it less than 3 months and Im just not impressed. It does everything OK, nothing great. Fuel mileage is EVIL, 10mpg if I baby it. Really wish I had held out for a PSD.....I think???

Wanna buy it?
99 f250 4wd 6500 FIRM!

 

You got one of the 97-99 V10s, which do not have just a whole lot of power.

Thats what I have, and as soon as I have the $$$ I will do the 00-04 heads.

 

You're right about pulling hills! It was 2 1/2 years ago, but if I remember right it pulled all but the steepest hills we have out here in 3rd gear. Once or twice it had to downshift to second, but this was rare. The 5.4 seemed to have a pretty easy time with this setup.

The enclosed trailer is a completely different animal, however! Pulling my empty enclosed trailer around town at low speeds seemed effortless. Once you got above 50 MPH it really struggled. It all goes down to wind resistance being most important on the highway and weight being most important around town.

And Bill, your 18 foot enclosed trailer only weighs 2,000 lbs? The one in my pic weighs 3,500 and is only 6 feet longer! Either way, was most of your towing on the highway or around town? The 5.4 would have a pretty easy time with that at lower speeds, but high speeds with that much wind resistance would tax it pretty good.

This is why you need a PSD!

 

JJ3, you never mentioned how many miles are on it!

And if you don't like 10 MPG, trust me you don't want my PSD!!!

 

Some parts of Ohio are flat as a board and some parts have rolling hills like where I live. Just depends what direction you're going.

Edit: Damn Tom you beat me by a couple minutes.

 

That makes sense. I'm used to towing here in NorCal and there's nothing flat about it anywhere. You're either going uphill or downhill all the way from Santa Rosa to Washington state if you go via 101. By contrast, when I picked up my truck in Utah I don't think I saw a hill all the way home!