Getting ready to buy F350 chassis cab. Is the diesel worth the extra $4000+. Like to hear from owners of each. What about fuel mileage on the V10?

 

yes!!
I own a v10 excursion and when i'm towing a 30 foot trailder at 70 the rpm are around 3500 it is terrible mpg

please get the diesel. I will soon have my new f350 and will get it on bags and close enough to laying frame as possible + towing a trailer

 

I would definetaly recommend the deisel for a number of reasons. Longevity, resale and fuel economy. Not sure though with the '05 V10 having the 3V heads and 5 spd tranny if that will help the fuel economy

What are you going to be doing with the truck?

 

Truck will be used on cattle ranch, pulling cattle trailers and feeding hay.

 

then go diesel.

as soon as you say animal trailers, you have to go with the torqueier engine.


side benefit... fuel up from the same dyed diesel tank that fuels your heavy farm equipment.

 

I use to have a '03 F250 2wd, 5.4L reg cab, 3.73s and averaged 10mpg all the time (11-12 empty, 8-9 w/ trailer). I got 13mpg once on the hwy, empty. Must've been driving with the wind that day. I can't imagine a v-10 getting any worse milage, but wouldn't expect any better then that either.

I traded that thing in on an '04 with the 6.0 diesel and never looked back. I save $100/month on fuel, getting 13-14mpg average and it isn't hardly broke in yet. Granted, the diesel cost me that much a month in payment, but I have a truck with a lot more ***** and I thuroughly enjoy driving it. In the end it will be worth more, last longer and always tow much better and it didn't cost me a dime more with the fuel savings.


Go with the diesel.

 

I heard a good rule of thumb for diesel selection is the rule of 30. If you tow more than 30,000 pounds or drive more than 30,000 miles per year, then a diesel would be more beneficial than a gasser.

 

30,000 lbs is a lot to be towing with a pick-up. If you are pulling that much, you would probably be better off with a Freightliner.

I have driven 30,000 miles in the last year, and I towed my 5,000-6,000 pound horse trailer for 7,000 miles. I will probably be stepping up to a F-250, but I am going to wait another year unless I get a really good deal on a 6.0 this Fall. I am anxious to see what kind of gas mileage the '05 V-10 is going to get with the new heads and transmission.

 

Passing on some thoughts.....

As mentioned there may be an advantage for you useing the red dyed d. fuel. Sometimes called "off road diesel fuel" No road tax which lowers per gal. cost. However you need to verify how that's done legally. JMO! Where you do that I really dont know. DMV/local fuel distributor etc.?

If that dosent work. Then just gotta crunch #'s and see what works for you. D. fuel cost seems to vary, depending on time of yr./location etc. For example right now d. fuel here avg. .10 cents more per gal. than 87 oct. gas. This time last yr. was alot less than gas. Point is, it can/does go up/down.

D. will give better mpg. However from what Ive seen 03/04's 6L are snowflakes. Meaning they are not all the same mpg etc.

If of concern re: cost effectiveness,gotta put lots of miles on per yr. Remembering the extra $$$ for that 6L. Hence..# crunching. The higher the m. per yr/quicker pay back etc.

Also short trips/stop-go/long periods of ideling can be hard on d. engine. You can compensate for this..AIC for ideling. Maybe shorter intervals on o. change which takes 14+ qts. etc.

Just remember it aint a gasser & will act totally different. Meantime ck. out www.thedieselstop.com All you wanna know about 03/04's 6L are there. 05's just showing, so no real world info. yet. Also good info. on this site. Got started here w/my 99.

My 6L solo @9K on e. 65 mph. only 16 3/4 mpg. Towing..11 1/2-12 mpg @ 60 mph. w/approx: 8K# load. Remembering they are not all the same.

Almost got the V10. Can be tough decision, was for me. No real regrets so far. Does take abit getting used to, my first one. Power/tq.

Good luck on what ever you decide. OT

 

Be VERY VERY careful suggesting something like this. The laws regarding this are very strict and if you get caught doing something you shouldn't with regard to fuel taxes will be very expensive. The last reports I've heard on the actual costs of running red dyed diesel in the wrong application was about $5000. Now on the farm here all of the tractors run red dyed diesel, which is fine. Now if I feel so inclined I can run it in my F250, BUT there are a few things you need to do in order be able to do this. What I usually do is when talking with my accountant I figure out how many gallons of diesel I want to run through the truck, then I pay the taxes on these gallons whether I actually use them up or not. Now in order to be able to do this you need to keep maticulous records of every gallon that comes out of the barrel. This way if I was ever to get pulled over and had my tank dipped I could fight it by showing where every gallon of the red diesel went and showing that I had actually paid the taxes on the gallons run on the road. Bottom line is that there is no added benefit to running this the legal way and if you choose not to do it that way and get caught its going to cost you alot of money. Since you're going to be pulling a livestock trailer that means you'll be on the road so chances are good that if you get pulled over for this you won't get much sympathy. Otherwise if the truck stayed on the ranch 99% of the time and only had the occasional 10mi trip into town then you MIGHT get by, but the chance is still there that you'd pay out the wazu. Oh, one last thing. The red dye will stain your tank for a short time so even if you have run red dyed diesel a few tanks before they can still tell.

 

I wonder if you could run into any warranty issues with Ford for running a fuel not intended for "road use"?

 

Yes as I recall Ford severely frowns upon the fuel as far as warranty concerns go. The red dye is actually very finly shreded plastic. The offroad diesel also has a much higher sulfur content. This is good as far as the lubricity of the injectors and such, but bad for emissions which is why they're saying not to use it. The plastic on the other hand MIGHT cause issues with plugging injectors though thats not really that much of an issue in most situations but it is very possible. I'll put it this way. I would never think about taking my truck in for warranty work (5yr/100,000mi on the engine). Ford would take one look inside and see what kind of fuel has been run through it and most likely void the warranty or red flag the truck.

 

If you live anywhere around a caterpillar equipment warehouse they sale blue dye to dye the fuel.......thats what the mechanics on our job use for their trucks so they can fuel on the job for free then drive home of the evenings......they pass inspection all the time from the DOT and the dye is like 3 bucks a pint!! but id make sure to change the oil and all filters a little more often if you decide to do this
JJ

 

Yes, the the diesel!! I had an 00,V-10, SC, LB, Lariat, that I traded for an 04 CC,6.0, Lariat. I will NEVER go back to a gasser again! The diesel is definately worth the $$$$.

 

I am looking at getting a '05 F250 KR CC 4X4 6.0L looking for some advice. I don't tow an extreme amount right now have some jetskis and looking at some ATVs and some hauling when I go to build our house. Don't think I would hit the 30,000 miles a year but looking for a truck to buy now and last awhile. It is this or an '05 F150 KR SCrw 4X4 5.4L.

Thanks for the help