Appreciate the detailed response.
His vehicles tend to last a long time... and one of the reasons he bought local is so the selling Dealer would also be servicing... also bought the Max Ford extended warranty.
This is the first Diesel Truck in the family... so nothing really to compare.
Would it be safe to say the Factory Service interval is OK on a 2016?
The reality is 90% of the time it will be used as a car... 10% of the time will be towing the stock and dump trailers...
With the caveat of -
clearly understand what Ford deems to be Severe Service - I'd tend to trust Ford's Maintenance Intervals. They have been building this class of truck for a long time, and don't have much to gain by blindly extending intervals. That said, there is pressure from the govt, enviro groups, and
We Prefer Zero Maintenance consumers to stretch fluid intervals out.
Full disclosure - I don't own or maintain a 6.7, so do not have the depth of experience you'd get from a Ford diesel tech, or a good independent diesel shop.
IMO, all high capacity trucks (gas and diesel) can suffer a bit when primarily used as a car - they aren't worked hard enough, most of the time. Ex. - Rear disk brakes tend to seize more, but the bigger concern is the expensive stuff.
You are lucky with your weather, since short tripping a big diesel in our cold winters (gas for that matter too) is
really hard on oil - it never gets up to operating temperature. That is one key metric for Severe Service, but not the only one.
A well programmed on-board maintenance minder (meaning the factory 'puter)
can provide you with good guidance on service intervals - again, I don't know the 6.7 well enough to comment on how well dialed in Ford's is - by now, I'd expect good accuracy (vs. actual vehicle use), but across the industry some of that present good quality programming has been the result of factory
re-programming of parameters based on real world customer use.
You have some hills out your way, and inland heat - on the Hot side of things, I'd want to see EGT displayed when towing heavy. On a 2016 I'd almost expect to have that available on the factory dash, if not, I'd add an aftermarket solution.
I'd spend some time combing the Ford boards and BITOG, looking for data on UOA on 6.7 motor oil and ATF, and any informed comments related to reasons to shorten the factory intervals. If short trips will be common (even in your weather), I'd also spend some time researching how that impacts the emission system - what you find out there may lead you to modify how the truck gets used/exercised.
I'd tend to trust Ford's specs, but with the worth of that truck, a
Trust but Verify approach has merit.
Rgds, D.
