I'm going to be purchasing a new 450 or 550 in the 60 days or so and would like opinons on gas v. Diesel. The truck will have L tool box with dump 75% driving with body & tools 25% with load. Is the diesel really worth the high addtional cost?

 

First of all welcome to FTE. You will find that this site will provide valuable information no matter which engine you choose to go with. That being said the question you ask is highly debatable and there is no real correct answer. There is currently a thread on the subject of V10 vs PSD which contains in excess of 2000 post. There are pros and cons to both engines some general comments are listed below:

Diesel
* Better fuel mileage
* Higher initial cost
* Higher routine maintenance cost
* Longer engine life
* Tons of towing power
* Not a grocery getter

 

What is your planned GVW loaded and unloaded? We just purchased a '09 F450 RC 84" CA 4wd with the V10 auto and put a 3Klb bed on it. It has 4:88 gears and I'd suggest getting 4:30's the truck tops out around 80mph, my understanding is mainly because of the tire rating, but I feel 4:30's would have been a better compromise. The truck tows nothing like the '05 6.0L we traded in for it BUT I feel much better not needing to buy the extended engine warranty and keeping around $7K in my pocket from going with the gas. The heaviest load we have towed so far is probably around 25K lbs GCVW, you don't get up to 65-75mph any time soon and going up hills you won't but I still prefer the V10 so far. Mileage has been between 6 and 10mpg between loaded and empty. I think the 4:30's would help some with that. The 6.0L did 9-17mpg loaded to empty.

We also felt the extra money to go up to a 550 wasn't worth it BUT if you are going to need more than 16.5Klbs GVW it is going to have to be considered. So far I have missed power mirrors since day one and if you get them with the factory power locks and windows you will have door pockets that are non existent on the XL minus those power features.

 

the 550 i bought a few months ago was not a bad investment and i personally like the diesel over the gas any day in something thats going to be used hard. if you are willing to sacrifice the "new truck smell and fill" i would recommend the 550 with a 7.3 over a 6.0 any day or 6.4 or whatever it is. the only way i would go new truck as in 08, 09, 10 would be if you can get the cat engine option.

 

hi, ihave a f450 4x4 cc v10 2v auto i love the truck i regularly tow 20k, the truck weighs near 10k could use more power but when i think so i look down & i'm doing the speed limit . 6mpg loaded [20k] 12 emty .the best thing is the brakes it will stop a load. bseg barry

 

With the particulate filter system they have to use on the 6.4L Power Stroke, I would be wary of any claims of superior fuel mileage over the V-10. From what I have read they are pretty close in fuel consumption.

 

Go with the diesel you'll most likely need the extra power if your gonna work it hard plus the trucks are very heavy so the power will be needed.

 

i love the diesel everytime i drive one but i love my gas its a real tough decision but cowboy65 is right look around the v10 vs diesel is a great one but theres alot of gas or diesel threads you'll find your answer there

 

Thanks for replies, I will check other threads. Body & tools probably around 4K. Loads for dump body, maybe 25% of time, 2-3K average. Would assuming 6-10 MPG for gas and 12-14 diesel be reasonable. then I can do the math on that end. I have a diesel now, but $7,000 or so is a high hurtle. My son says the sound of the diesel is worth $4,000.00 all else being equal.

again thanks for taking time to reply

 

I'm a diesel believer but in all reality you're probably not going to see 14 MPG in a 6.4 loaded like you're going to rig it. I would think 10 - 12 would be more realistic.

 

I kinda recall hearing owners of the New F-450 pickups,,,,pulling heavy trailers complaing about fuel mileage of around 8 mpg !!! I mean DAMN,,,$6 K or so extra,,for a Diesel,,,and the same mileage of a V-10,,,,I mean you Have to be thinking why the Diesel!!

I had a 99' F-350,,S-Cab,,7.3 PS, with 9 dump body(in gallery),,while it was a good truck,,engine always ran great,,,tranny shifted weird,,(never blew up though),,but the Best mileage I ever saw was 13.1,,,,it weighed around 10 k or so.

 

hey how many miles per year??

 

I agree with all you stated (although better fuel mileage may be debatable) except that a diesel is not a grocery getter. I don't see any reason why it isn't. I tow about 25% of the time with mine and the rest is mostly short trips. Maybe one day, my psd will explode on the way to the grocery store but it hasn't happened yet and it didn't happen to the previous one, and it didn't happen to the one before that either.

 

So you're saying that total you might have a load of around 7000 lbs? And usually running around with 4000 lbs?

It's really a toss-up at that point. Unless you're going to be towing fully loaded right near the GCWR, and you're going into hilly terrain where it's really necessary, the diesel is overkill.

Here on Long Island, I can comfortably say, the V10-powered F450/550's outweigh the diesels by a factor of 2 or even 3 to 1.

And that's large utility companies who first do their homework on what to buy, and then maintain them regularly.

How long do you plan on keeping the vehicle?

 

10-12K. But I keep my trucks a long time. I'm still driveing my '93 f-350 mason dump. I tow light trailers once every 2 weeks or so. at this point unless there is a complying reason for the diesel, I'm l' leaning v-10. 7G is just to much @ 3G it would be a no brainer (for my '93 I think the diesel was $1,800 and diesel was cheaper then gas - then)

DMB