2008 Ford F550

[Bird]

Thought some of you RVers might like to see a couple of pictures of my youngest brother's RV. You don't have to be crazy to rig one like this, but it helps.

And yep, that's a wood burning smoker he bought in Waco and is taking to Ellensburg, WA, along with mesquite and pecan wood to do the smoking since that kind of wood is hard to find up there. And he made a picnic table this winter while down south that he's taking north with him.

The truck is, of course, a 6.4L diesel, with automatic transmission and so far he loves everything about it except the fuel mileage which so far has averaged 9.1 mpg without the trailer. He'll soon learn what it does with the trailer.

 

[MrJimi]

Nice truck, does he get 9.1 with the rack loaded? don't look very aerodynamic. What rear ratio does he have? I have the 4.88 limited slip and I'm hoping to get better than that and thats is one serious trailer he has

 

[Bird]

Yep, Jim, he has the 4.88 rear end. The 9.1 mpg has been with no load. Then for this trip, he loaded about 2,400 pounds on the truck, and with that trailer, his gross is about 31k pounds. He just came up from Elm Mott, TX, today, then filled up with diesel just to see what kind of mileage he got and figured it at 7.38 mpg as you see it. However, as I'm sure you know, a single trip and fill up doesn't always give you an accurate figure, and today he was going north with a 15-25 mph south wind gusting to 30 or more to help push him along. And you're right, that thing isn't very aerodynamic right now. Of course when he gets to Ellensburg, WA, he'll unload all that stuff for the Summer.

 

[MrJimi]

I'm not liking any part of 9.1 MPG empty
I have the 7.3 turbo
I don't know if I'll be liking this

 

[Bird]

Jim, he's been driving a 2000 F350 with the 7.3L engine and a 6-speed manual transmission. It did do better on mileage, but was overloaded even with the airbags he'd added to the rear axle, and of course it had over 150k miles on it. He told me that everyone he's talked to who has one of the 6.4L Fords loves everything about it except the fuel mileage and he hasn't found anyone who is happy with the mileage the 6.4L gets.

 

[JESSE1]

The new EPA required emissions equipment is what's killing the mileage. The new Diesel Particulate Filter catches all the soot from the exhaust. When the backpressure reaches a certain level, the engine starts a regeneration. This requires fuel to be injected on the exhaust stroke in order to burn the soot out of the DPF. You burn more fuel to get a cleaner exhaust.

 

[MrJimi]

I don't know squat about a 7.3 PSD but everything I've read says it's the best diesel ford made and I think International made it
I'll find out in time and anything over 10 MPG I'll be happy

 

[Bird]

Jim, I, too, have heard many times that the 7.3L turbo was the best. My brother just wanted a bigger truck than the F350, wanted a new truck, and wanted to go back to an automatic transmission. He says this 2008 6.4L F550 definitely has more pulling power than the 2000 F350 7.3L and he loves this new automatic transmission so far.

Now I grew up in the service station and auto parts business, did a lot of my own maintenance, shade tree mechanic, etc. and at this stage of my life have no intention of doing those kinds of things anymore. But under the hood of that new truck looks like a nightmare to me. Most of the stuff under there I don't even recognize and it's packed so full I don't know how you'd get to anything to service it if you wanted to. But I've got a grandson who is going to college and working for a Ford dealer learning to be a mechanic (I guess they're "technicians" now instead of mechanics).

 

[MrJimi]

10-4 on the technicians, they wear white coats instead of coveralls

I hope nothing goes wrong with mine? I have no idea how to do anything under the hood

 

[JB4310]

Most of the stuff under there I don't even recognize and it's packed so full I don't know how you'd get to anything to service it if you wanted to.

Bird,
The cab has to come off the truck to get to the engine to do any major repairs. I wouldn't want to do that out of warranty, no more shade tree mechanic, maybe shade tree oil changer but that's about it.
I have an 07 Dodge with the new 6.7 Cummins, it's still an in-line 6 but has many complex systems, maybe a tad bit simpler than the Ford but I'm only getting around 10 mpg also, that's all around town with no highway, on the highway it's up around 14.
Yup, from everything I've heard the 7.3 was Fords best, maybe not the highest HP and Torque but what good is HP and TQ with out reliability?

Nice looking rig your brother has, but like Jim said not very aerodynamic!, in the first picture it looks like he's pulling a van?