Just read on a few websites that Ford will offer the 3v V10 in the F-650 &F-750 chassis cabs AND put the new 6-speed automatic behind it!!! So we have a V10 being mated to a 6-speed automatic(Which is available in 2011 SD pickup), and the V10 is available in F-450/F-550 chassis cabs, which have the same engine bay measurments as F-250/F-350 pickups do, so what excuse will FoMoCo have for not offering the V10 in 2011 SD pickups? Uh, "because" and "6.2L V8" are not valid excuses!!! On the plus side, imagine how well a V10 will pull given axle gearing as steep as 7.17:1s in the F-650/F-750 truck!

 

I believe that it all has too do with fuel mileage,as all manufacture's vehicles are counted towards their CAFE number! I have 2004 F-250 regular cab 8'bed with the V-10. The 6.2 may be a nice motor,but it will not be a replacement for the V-10. Our only hope is that Ford reinstates the V-10 option in the F-250/350 or that they will bring out a 7 liter V-8 in the near future. The funny thing is that I heard that GM is considering putting a 7 liter V-8 in their HD series trucks next year.

 

Don't expect Ford to put a V10 in any future 250s or 350s. As for larger displacement 6.2l, I think Ford left room for more displacement for a reason.

 

Also, there are a lot of fleet customers moving away from diesels due to their recent (6.0L & up) lack of reliability. I work for an rural electric utility (and purchase/influence vehicles), we are pretty much done with diesels. The past few 550s and Internationals we have purchased frankly stink. The 550 diesels only get 9-10 mpg and maintenance/service is expensive. Also, with the price of diesel being high, I can get a couple of mpgs less and still have the same fuel costs without expensive oil changes. We only get 200-225k out of the chassis, so life is a non-issue. With Ford currently charging 8k for a diesel, I can put a new engine in at 150k & still be at the same price (but I doubt it will be needed). Another consideration is that the V10 weighs much less than the diesel, so that allows me more payload and is easier on front suspension components. The lighter weight may also help us with brake longevity, any help there is greatly needed. 550 brakes are mediocre at best and is our largest maintenance expense. I am upset that the manual transmission is discontinued. We feel that being able to downshift helps with brakes, it will be interesting to see how well the Torqshift works (our first automatic tranny, in a 3/4 ton+ truck since 1947!) These trucks spend alot of miles offroad. Standard fare is 6 19.5" mud terrains and still use chains once or twice a day.
Anyway, I hope this V10 550 works out as well as my 2003 V10 250 has. I'm sure it will better than the last International 7300 4x4, we've had it 9 months & its spent more time in the shop than in our garage.

 

long live the V10.

 

The fleet customers are really driving this, and like I've seen here on Long Island, utilities and rail roads are all running mostly V10 chassis-cab F450/550's for the past 10 years.

There has to be a reason, as they generally count every $.

Given the 6-speed tranny is going into the 650/750, that means they might even put the 6-speed in the F450/550 at the same time. We'll see how that pans out.

I also find it VERY interesting they are putting the V10 into a truck that it hasn't even been in before.

At the risk of attracting the trolls, I can't blame Ford for doing this, and love the idea.

Ford's reasons according to their media release was because they can offer flex-fuel or bi-fuel configurations for municipalities and other markets. Propane and CNG options were offered back in 2001 and before (I think). My Ford service manual shows bi-fuel configurations, wiring diagrams and such, and I think they are just reviving a technology they already know works to meet the demands of the market.

VERY interesting...

 

Here's the actual press release:

FORD CLASS-EXCLUSIVE V10 GAS ENGINE, TORQSHIFT TRANSMISSION WILL POWER MEDIUM-DUTY CHASSIS CABS | Ford Motor Company Newsroom

 

It actually wasn't that long ago when medium duty trucks had big gassers in them. Box trucks and even dump trucks had the gassers. The company I used to work for has one of the last med duty gassers produced in the early 90s. The workers at the plant would cry bloody murder when diesel fumes made their way into the plant. Conversions to CNG and LP would even be an option, especially for fleets in the city.

 

Very, VERY interesting. I really wish Ford would do more with the V10. Yes, it is a very proven design, but how about a little tweaking.

 

About those older gas engine-powered medium duties : THE 6.1l(370CID) AND 7.0L (429 cid) big-block V-8s they don't come close to the 3v V-10 in horspower & torque. Good engines, but even when the 429 got EFI in '93 it only was rated at 236 hp/ 358 lb.ft. of torque.

 

I hope this is a smart move for FORD and I bet it will be. Well the 3V V10 GAS powered F650 /F750 will be $8,000 LESS than the comparable DIESLE OPTION, so imagine the large savings small fleets and municipalities will have if they purchase units in large numbers.

Today's diesels are getting complicated and more expensive to operate and mantain. Here we have both, the 6.0 POWERSTROKE (POWERBROKE) and the TRITON V10 units and I like to work on the V10 any given day because the DIESELS always have "issues" and are on the repair shop a lot.

With the 3V V10 GASOLINE powered F650 / F750 fleets owners will not have to worry about all the hassles modern diesel engines carry with them such as: SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION (SCR) DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID (DEF) DIESEL PARTICULATE FLITER (DPF) EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION (EGR) DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTER REGENERATION CYCLE (REGEN-WICH CONSUMES FUEL) COMPLICATED ELECTRONICS, HIGHER FUEL PRICES, HIGHER OPERATIONAL AND MANTAINANCE COSTS, EXPENSIVE REPAIR COSTS... So there you have it, any "advantage" the DIESEL OPTION might have on MILES PER GALON (MPG) is shattered by all the reasons above.

I still wish they do an ECO-BOOST version of this V10 ENGINE or turn it to work alike a DIESEL with COMPRESSED IGNITION (PLASMA IGNITION)

Go FORD...