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Thinking about a new tow rig

3.2K views 53 replies 30 participants last post by  Craig Bush  
#1 · (Edited)
I am thinking about getting a new tow rig, I am looking at an 06 Ford F-250 6.0 diesel, 4x4, crewcab, lariat, carfax clean, 100,000 miles. I have heard many horrible stories about the 6.0 blowing up like crazy, so I am a little hesitant pulling the trigger on this one. Can anyone give me any inputs on them and what should I pay for this particular one? Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
The 6.0 will leave you stranded! Cummins for the win!

If you must have a Ford call a Ford dealership and request an Oasis report on the truck. The Oasis will give you a history report on the truck including all maintenance and repairs made assuming it was serviced at a Ford Dealership. The main issue with the 6.0s is the head lifting due to boost. For this reason keep the truck stock unless its already had the upgraded head bolts done.

Good Luck!
 
#5 ·
That is one of my option too but do they have tranny problems with the 4 speed auto?
 
#4 ·
ram with a cummins.
 
#6 ·
6.0L Ford - you might have issues with head lift
6.4L Ford - Horrible mileage with DPF
Cummins - you will probably have issues with auto transmission (I had issues with two different 2500 autos)

When I buy another truck (next few months), I think I am going to go with the 08 Chevrolet Duramax. I rode in one with out DPF and it pulled very good.
 
#7 ·
Would a aftermarket valve body job fix the auto tranny issues in the Dodge?
 
#9 ·
I bought an ATS transmission for my last mega cab but ended up selling it before installing it. Aftermarket big wheels and tires will hurt the tranny quicker as well as lifting it you will most likely get the "death wobble". Trust me, it isn't fun.

The best truck I have owned was an 06' 5.9 Mega Cab. I loved that truck just hard to park sometimes.

If you go with a Dodge, I would definitely upgrade to the dual stabalizers up front. It doesn't cost much but will make a big difference.
 
#8 ·
Being a former Dodge diesel owner (just sold my 3500, to purchase something more family-oriented), and a former Ford owner - trust me - don't purchase a 6.0L truck... they're downright junk. 100,000 miles is just asking for a real problem, and a costly one at that. Typically, you'll see the EGR systems fail, which then causes the truck to overheat and blow the head gaskets...

A 6.0 Ford with 100,000 miles is a $10,000 truck to me - honestly, because it is. Always have the funds on hand to pay for a repair bill (hefty one), unless you can fix it yourself.

You'll not be disappointed with a 5.9 Commonrail Ram 2500 or 3500... this is the only truck that I'd want to mess with owning, these days.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Agreed, I have a 05 F-350 with the 6L Powerstroke with 150K miles and it's been a PIA, POS and every other abbreviation for crap you can think of. The Cummins motors are nice but the rest of the Dodge will fall apart way before a Ford or Chevy will ( that's been my experience anyway). If I was going to buy a HD pickup today it would be a Chevy/GMC. I have a couple 5500 series trucks with the Isuzu motor and it's a very durable motor.
 
#10 ·
Very useful inputs guys thanks a lot. I am leaning towards a Dodge now. Any other suggestions? Like things to watch out for when buying a diesel?
 
#11 ·
You'll just want to be sure to check maintenance (as with any pre-owned vehicle). Also, you don't want to purchase a truck that's been someone's "Two-year-toy" - ie: chipped, driven super-hard, treated rough, and then returned to stock and sold/traded in. On the common rail trucks, check to make sure that the liftpump has been replaced (this was a recall from Dodge), and also make sure to check any/all fluids, especially transmission (can be a dead giveaway or warning sign).

Besides that - drive the truck, listen for noises in the valvetrain (anything out of the ordinary), and check front ball joints, etc.
 
#14 ·
I've got an 04 6.0 and I've had to replace so much shit on this thing I could have just bought another truck and scraped it. Go cummins or Dmax
 
#16 ·
this guy does have a SHIT LOAD of good info, though he is primarily ford (duh powerstrokehelp) he has good info for diesels in general, and he does mention other diesels here and there.

http://www.youtube.com/user/powerstrokehelp
 
#17 ·
Do not get a 6.0!!
 
#18 ·
I've got a 6.0 and have owned it for about 10,000 miles. So far it's been a bit of a pain in the ass, but all the issues were there when I bought it and if I'd had it properly inspected I could have avoided some of the issues.

Turbo was shot when I bought it - $1000
Rear parking brake attachment points had rusted off (only major rust on the truck anywhere) -$340 to replace - i removed the parking brake for now
Reverse sensor is dead - $90
 
#25 ·
ewwww a gasser for a tow rig


;)
 
#27 ·
Looking at a 06 duramax very likely going to buy ths one. Any inputs on the duramax?
 
#28 ·
Heres my .02.... I own a moderate sized landscape design / maintain company in FL. I have owned them all in every shape and form. In my opinion I would stick with ford. I currently have a F-350 non duly. Purchased it two and half years ago brand new. I drive around 40k plus per year. 25k of that a year is pulling a 30ft gooseneck 22k trailer (not highway either) This is in traffic. People are always concerned with power. But alot of people dont talk about is the braking power. I have had pulled the same trailor with a Duramax 2500 with the allison transmission and it was a sad comparison to the F-350. While pulling I get around 12.8 miles per gallon. Not pulling around 13.9 or so. I recently purchased two brand new 2011 gas F-250 with ford new motor. So far Im very happy. but the MPG are terrible. Both trucks pull everyday and they get around 6.8 per gal... That gets old FAST....... Besides that have had many before these mostly fords and none of them have NEVER let me down.

I pull my supra to south Florida in a 24 ft aluminium enclosed trailor and it pulls so well my wife will forget we are even pulling anything. LOL... I have a close friend who bought a new dodge cummins. He has had major problems with the exhaust cleaning coming on all the time for long periods of time. After 4months the dealership figured it out. He made it 150k in his f-250 before it blew up. He still says hes happy.

Let me leave you with this. Next time your on the road and you see a big construction jobsite just take a look at what everyone is driving. All the big companies always show there trucks getting something dumped in it the bed or pulling something crazy. Like a load of aluminium pipe (lol i love that one)!! Around here its all fords few chevys/gmc, ocassional dodge and maybe a tundra.

Sorry for the long post! Best of luck and keep us posted on how you are liking it!
 
#31 ·
One thing you need to decide when looking at Diesel trucks is if you want to deal with Emissions equipment or not. On my 2010 Ram I deleted all the Emissions BS at 2k miles. I currently have 6500 miles on the truck and am getting over 17mpg mixed driving. Once the engine breaks in some more that will get better. Any truck newer than 2007.5 is going to have emissions crap on it, and if you don't delete that stuff then you will have problems with the truck at some point in time.

If you buy a 2007 or earlier truck you don't have to deal with DPF's and regenerations. But if you go that route stay away from the 6.0 Ford engine, as stated before they have tons of issues. I would only buy one if it had at a minimum a full EGR and cooler delete, and a head studs. Even then you still have to worry about injectors failing. Duramax's have injector issues as well, and the auto trans in the Dodges has issues holding power. Every truck has it's strengths and weaknesses. Your best bet is to spend some time on the diesel forums and research the crap out of each truck til you find the one that best suits your needs.
 
#36 ·
If you buy a 2007 or earlier truck you don't have to deal with DPF's and regenerations. But if you go that route stay away from the 6.0 Ford engine, as stated before they have tons of issues. I would only buy one if it had at a minimum a full EGR and cooler delete, and a head studs. Even then you still have to worry about injectors failing. Duramax's have injector issues as well, and the auto trans in the Dodges has issues holding power. Every truck has it's strengths and weaknesses. Your best bet is to spend some time on the diesel forums and research the crap out of each truck til you find the one that best suits your needs.
Seriously, that DPF/regeneration thing is a hassle. We borrowed a friend's 2007.5 (new body style) 2500HD Duramax to snow plow with last season. If you have never plowed before, it's a lot of forward and reverse, tedious motions. Well the truck didn't like that, so on this one huge lot we did, we had to take a 30 minute drive out of our way on the highway to clear that stupid DPF/regeneration thing on the dash.
 
#33 ·
Be very weary of a 6.0 if nothing has been replaced. My buddy and i bought one and sold it in 3 weeks because it was a loss there were issues that the 6.0 has from ford but if they are taken care of before you get the truck you should be in good shape. The main ones that we were told of and that were done was the ECU, Injectors, Low pressure oil pump/ timing case cover. Unfortunetally the trans wasn't taken care of and we literally blew it up with regular driving. If those issues are taken care of its a decent truck, but your better off saving a little more and getting a cummins!
 
#35 ·
^^^Could not agree with you more about those fleet vehicle info. In hawaii mostly all the state trucks are ford. And GM give really good prices/configurations on there cargo vans.

I had a 07 F250 Harley Ed with the 6.0. I was on the fence between that or a D-max. The newer GMs HD trucks interior are hands down beautiful and comfortable. If you were looking at a 6.0 I would suggest a good service history and exactly what "whatever" said regarding the head studs and EGR. I had mine with a decent amount of mods. Oh and if your going to get a tune get a custom tune not a shift on the fly OTC tune. I know I loved my Super Duty there is nothing that I didnt enjoy about it, but again mine was far from stock. It took what ever I thrown at it and the only thing I would break is my tie rod when it would get it airborne lol. Oh and here is a quick pic, and for perspective those are 40x15.5 tires on 22s. Wish I never sold it, tried buying it back. It sold for 35k. :-(

Image
 
#38 ·
Nice lots of useful inputs. Thanks everyone hopefully I will use these info to make a informative decision.
 
#39 ·
6.7 cummins with new auto 6 speed..... LOVE IT!!!! no issues with mine or any of my buddies who have it. I'm getting 19 hwy with the DPF still on. I'm about to do TBE with a middle east smarty tune for economy.

Cummins... all others fail.
 
#46 ·
I love mine too! I would suggest you look into H&S performance before you go the Smarty Route. I have the Mini Max and the Overdrive Software (Transmission Tuning) and it greatly improves the shifting of the stock trans. No more lugging around in too high of a gear, shifts are firmer and faster, torque converter lockup is better, line pressure is up, etc... It's a great product.
 
#40 ·
the 6.0 powerstrokes have 125 more hp than the 7.3's do. i've had about 5 7.3's with no problems at all. i've had 2 buddies with 6.0's that injectors keep going bad. i've got another buddy with a few 6.0's that have not any problems. it's all up to if you want the extra power or not. i have a 5.9 cummins and absolutely love it. but only thing that sucks is the leg room for passengers in the back on the dodge's. if u want a nice roomy truck go duramax or powerstroke. if you want reliability go cummins