Alright here is my dilemma,
I recently purchased a 1978 F150 with a 460 swap, 4 speed, 4 in lift and 33 in tires. It is a pain to drive around because it gets around 5-6 miles to the gallon (I’m sure it needs some carb work and other things here and there and I would get better mpg, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right?). As of right now I’m towing it around with my 04 SC with a 4.6l. It’s just not cutting it.

I’ve wanted to make the jump to a SD for a while now, but towing that thing around to shops and to off road parks has lit a small fire under my back side. Just wondering what yall diesel gods around here thought of the 04 SD’s with the 6.0l. I found one for a fair price with 175,xxx on it. Is this a good truck and engine? I mean I know it’s a Ford, but is it a good set up. Also, is that a lot of miles for that truck?

Another thing I want to consider is mpg’s. The best millage I have ever gotten in my 04 was coming out of Nashville, TN toward Memphis. Its all downhill I and still got only 16mpg. It has 33’s on it and I get 13 mpg no matter how I drive or how fast or slow it seems like. Do the 6.0l get at least better than that?

Any advice and information will be greatly appreciated.

 

you don't need a superduty, atleast not a diesel.

the 6.0 can be a good motor with about $4k-5k worth of work (assuming you farm it out, which most do). when i was still on powerstroke.org i don't think their were many with 200k+ on the 6.0's so can't say how long they will last.

i towed our boat a few times with my dads 08 5.4, probably about 5k lbs with trailer, with a tune it does it fine. holds it's gear, gets around 11 mpg on the interstate.

if it was me, i'd get either a f150 w/ a 5.4 (better trans, rear end, a good bit more power) or look into a gas f250. diesels are great, but don't forget oil changes are $70+ and their are not many real cheap repairs and they are hard to work on on your own.

a stock 6.0 gets 14-15 city and 18-20 highway (atleast mine did), changing tire sizes and it will plummet. think i went down to 11-12 city and 15-16.5 highway with 35's. are your mpg unloaded? if so somethings wrong, my 07 4x4 w/ the 4.6 got better than that on 35's. i will say the 4.6 doesn't like larger tires with out a tune, would make a huge different but i'd still opt for a 5.4 if i was going to be towing your load

i'll be towing my 1975 fj40 with my 5.0, don't expect any problems out of it.

if it was me i'd go for a 2009 f150 5.4 w/ TBC and call it a day if budget permits.

 

The 6.0 has a horrible internet rep from the badactors that got all the attention. That said, I prefer the 7.3L and 6.4L over the 6.0, so those are the two PSD's I own.

It'll tow easier, but you arn't gonna save any money.

Adrianspeeder