Anybody here have any experience w/ Ford SD 6.0 PSD?

[Dargo]

Ouch! Brutal. Oh well, I asked...albeit apparently a bit late.

Jesse1, as apparent with a used vehicle, I cannot be one hundred percent positive the truck has never had a tuner on it but I did speak with the only other owner of the truck. He is an older fella and he claims he never need one and he traded it for a new '08 Ford 6.4 due to their "closeout" price. He now claims that he wish he hadn't traded because he says he lost almost 5 mpg by going with the brand new 6.4 which, to my surprise, has already been dropped by Ford. Ford scrapped the 6.4 in even shorter order than they scrapped the 6.0! I'm told by Ford that by early 2009 they will come out with what they will call a 2010 year model that will have a 6.7 liter diesel in it. That means the 6.0 ran from '03 to '07 and the 6.4 will only be used in '08 and '09 model year trucks; giving it only half of the production time as the 6.0.

What is a guy to do now for a heavy duty diesel pickup?? I'm serious. A good friend of mine owns at least one GM franchise, Ford franchise and Dodge franchise. He tells me to avoid the new units at all costs due to the particulate and emission systems that make them, in his words, 'junk'. I bought the newest diesel pickup that I actually liked that was pre-particulate filter and it sure seems to be junk compared to my 10 year older Dodge (actually 11 years older going by their build dates). I did consider the GM with the D'max, but I just plain didn't like the truck. I prefer the ride, drive and styling of my old Dodge compared to them and, according to the service managers I know, they too have their share of issues along with the same "I hate it!!" comment about the brand new version of the GM pickups; which I do like styling, ride and drive wise.

Dang this sucks! I find it hard to believe that the only really good diesel trucks (that all service managers seem to agree on) is the older model Cummins 5.9 trucks and the older 7.3 Ford trucks; but the 7.3's are now old enough that they mostly seem prone to transmission issues (which takes about 6 grand to have a really strong replacement installed) and other various fuel problems. It is disheartening to hear about the newer diesel pickups available. It makes me wonder if the only answer now is to buy the biggest gas engine available and accept far diminished towing capabilities and even worse fuel economy.

 

[Builder]

I did NOT like the styling or the interior of my GMC3500 at first, either.

My choice was buy a 6L that was a problem child or buy a new 6.4L that was unpredictable (and as you said, already a lame duck), buy a dodge with a transmission that was more like a Ford transmission and a 6.7L with unpredictable reliability, or buy a proven DMAX/Allison/11.5" locker combo that was a proven winner.

I decided that powertrain and a proven winner was more a lot more important than "styling".

Now, 17 months later, the stying I disliked back then doesn't bother me one bit.

Why don't you try looking ay an '06 or '07 GM without a DPF? Then you have a proven combination without all the pollution crap.

 

[Ryan03]

Like Builder, I was a diehard Ford truck man, however my father had worked for General Motors since 1962, [just retired last month] and I got tired of having people ask me why I was spending 7 grand more than I had to when I bought new trucks. In 2003, I traded my 99 F350SD dually reg cab 4x4 v10 in on my current 03 dmax. It was kind of hard for me to stomach the ugly frontend, narrow cab, and torsion bar frontend, however it has grown on me and I now realy like it. Kinda like a blind date who isn`t much to look at but cooks and has a great personality LOL.

 

[chh]

The new diesels are why I went to a V-10 gas this time. I sure hated to see my old '97 Dodge with the Cummins go. My son works for a Ford dealership and you could not give him a 6.0 or a 6.4 if he had to keep it. His buddy down at the Dodge place badmouths the new Dodges nearly as much. I have a couple of freinds with Dmax's that just loves them, but they are some of the last ones before the particulate filters. 12+ mpg on the highway and 8+ towing 14,000 lbs in the gasser isn't great, but it is as good or better than most of what I am hearing on the new diesels.

 

[Dargo]

I decided that powertrain and a proven winner was more a lot more important than "styling".

Another "ouch". You're feeding me my own words from about 10 years ago when I bought the Cummins engine that had what I called the 'ugly Dodge' that came with it. About the only thing every tech I've spoken with from each manufacturer agree on is that the DPF and whatever other pollution equipment is required on the new vehicles have made them a nightmare. I had found a 6 month old Dodge with the 6.7 Cummins in it at the 3rd largest Dodge dealership in the country for what I thought was a decent price. It was their service manager of 20 years who lives by me that talked me out of that with his horror stories of troubles with all the DPF and emission stuff.

I certainly don't need 2 one ton dually 4X4's, but at this point I don't think it would be a good move to sell my old Cummins even though I want a newer truck. I dunno. I have 3 more years of powertrain coverage on the F.O.R.D. (fill in your own favorite acronym). Since I already own the truck and I have a good Ford service manager I know, I guess I can just hope they can get it working right without too much down time. I'm just wondering what will be the reliable diesel heavy duty pickup to have in the future. The old ones won't last forever and eventually they'll be hard to get parts for. It's rather disconcerting that the dealerships that sell each of the new versions consider them duds.

 

[Dargo]

The new diesels are why I went to a V-10 gas this time.

To be honest, the V10 in my Excursion has been great and I get about 13.5 mpg on the highway running 70 mph+ and have gotten 16 mpg when stuck running 60 mph. I was just concerned that the V10 wouldn't be able to handle the 16k to 20k that I tow with my truck. But, hey, what do I know?

 

[chh]

Towing was my biggest concern. I tow a 30'+5' triple axle gooseneck equipment trailer and a 24' x 6'8" stock trailer. The heaviest load so far has been around the 14,000 lb mark. Towing power so far is good. This is also the first truck I have ever used for heavy towing with an auto trans. That has taken more getting used to than the switch from diesel to gas power.

 

[Kubota L5030]

I have a 2005 F350, 6.0 PSD that I purchased new and it has been nothing but a nightmare since 300 miles on the odometer. No modifications and I baby my equipment. The truck is used for highway trailer towing and has left me stranded 1,000's of miles from home three times. Luckily no one has been injured (yet) when the truck stalls at highway speeds. The worst part has been Ford's lack of response. I'll never buy another Ford.

 

[Builder]

I have a 2005 F350, 6.0 PSD that I purchased new and it has been nothing but a nightmare since 300 miles on the odometer. No modifications and I baby my equipment. The truck is used for highway trailer towing and has left me stranded 1,000's of miles from home three times. Luckily no one has been injured (yet) when the truck stalls at highway speeds. The worst part has been Ford's lack of response. I'll never buy another Ford.

Man, that sucks. I hope things get better for you.

I would think THE diesel trucks to buy would be '01-'03 GM DMAX or older 5.9L Cummins for simplicity & fuel economy or a '06-'07 DMAX or 5.9L D/C's since they're still relatively new, even more powerful and have no DPF and are proven engines. If I were on a real low budget, maybe I'd go for an older Ford with a 7.3L and manual tranny.

Gas, I'd be on a newer Ford V-10 or a GM 8.1L V-8.

 

[ultrarunner]

My neighbor tows a well loaded 10,000 GVW tag trailer up and down CA... he is a long time Ford man.

Looking back, his 7.3 Diesel Excursion was the best tow vehicle he's ever driven. He said he foolishly traded it for a crew cab 6.0 powerstroke and was very unhappy with mechanical issues... so he had little choice be to tade it for a Chevrolet Duramax...

So far, the Duramax has proven to be much more reliable than the Powerstroke...

The bigest shortcoming so far with the Duramax and the crewcab configuration is the fuel tank is MUCH smaller than the Fords and every trip now requires on the road refueling...

Years ago, Mercedes ran into the same issues back in 82-84 with it's Diesel's sold in CA... the trap oxidizer was causing a lot of headaches for a vehicle that had a reputation as being bulletproof.