Ford 6.0 diesel; the good, the bad, the ugly?

[4570Man]

I’d rather have my 6.4’s than any of the 7.3/6.0s.
If the truck needed monthly repairs, at least the 6.4’s were fast, powerful, could tow a lot more, and had a modern layout.

Given the option between a 7.3, 6.0 or 6.4 I’d choose none of the above but the 6.4 has an even worse reputation than a 6.0. I’m no 7.3 fan either. They were reliable but how could something that’s 1000 pounds, 444 cubic inches and putting down 200 hp not be reliable? They were noisy rattle traps that shook the whole cab and they didn’t start worth a crap in cold weather especially when they’re old. I’d rather just feed a v-10 gas apposed to the insane maintenance cost over any of those.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

Mine was pretty lethargic when it was stock, but I feel like they were on par with the trucks of that day.

Shortly after I got it I put an intake, exhaust, and tunes from DPTuner on it. Even just my 60 and 80 HP tow tunes really woke the truck up big time. Made it fun to drive, and my 80 HP economy tune. The max tune was a 140 HP tune. Those numbers still pale in comparison to even stock trucks of today, but I start to wonder at what point we really have more than we need.

With my 100-140 HP tunes the truck was a riot to drive. I could lay into it and fish tail and get sideways for fun all the time. I could dump the clutch and sometimes get into 4th gear before I quit spinning. You could row through all 5 gears in no time. It towed very well. In theory it would have been 370 HP and 650 torque at the crank with the 140 HP tune and the mods, as 650 torque is about the limit on stock injectors (I eventually added a 38r turbo but never did make it to injectors). I towed a pretty large fifth wheel camper with it. When I was a landscaper we would haul a t190 with a power rake and other tools on it, haul a trailer full of sod, my dad would haul logs, skid steers, track hoes, etc. So I've seen them move loads around daily and make it to the job site every time, I've driven one that was quite fun to drive after being tuned. I just don't know how much more power is necessary.

 

[Hay Dude]

Given the option between a 7.3, 6.0 or 6.4 I’d choose none of the above but the 6.4 has an even worse reputation than a 6.0. I’m no 7.3 fan either. They were reliable but how could something that’s 1000 pounds, 444 cubic inches and putting down 200 hp not be reliable? They were noisy rattle traps that shook the whole cab and they didn’t start worth a crap in cold weather especially when they’re old. I’d rather just feed a v-10 gas apposed to the insane maintenance cost over any of those.

You ever own a 6.4L?

 

[Hay Dude]

I got $18,500 for this 2008 F-350XLT 6.4L diesel 5 months ago.
Guy thought it was a great deal and loved the truck.
I liked the looks of it and it would tow a crap ton of weight. It was a decent snowplow truck, although the turning radius wasn’t as good as my F-550.
Had zero rust and about 200,000 miles on it when I sold it.

 

[4570Man]

You ever own a 6.4L?

Nope and I plan to keep it that way. Yours might have been a fine truck but their history was terrible.

 

[Hay Dude]

Nope and I plan to keep it that way. Yours might have been a fine truck but their history was terrible.

I didn’t think so.
I had 3 of them.
Your opinion on the 6.4 is welcome, but lacks any legitimacy whatsoever.
I had every version of the Ford diesel, except the current 6.7.
The 6.4L would run circles around a 7.3 or 6.0, look better doing it, and have many more features, higher tow ratings and more power.
Reliability was on par with a 6L. Considering the 6.4 had a dpf and the 6.0 didn’t, that’s more a bad reflection on the 6L.
I didn’t really like any of them….

 

[TMGT]

I didn’t think so.
I had 3 of them.
Your opinion on the 6.4 is welcome, but lacks any legitimacy whatsoever.
I had every version of the Ford diesel, except the current 6.7.
The 6.4L would run circles around a 7.3 or 6.0, look better doing it, and have many more features, higher tow ratings and more power.
Reliability was on par with a 6L. Considering the 6.4 had a dpf and the 6.0 didn’t, that’s more a bad reflection on the 6L.
I didn’t really like any of them….

I can agree with some of it but the looks better part! Never warmed up to the body style on the 6.4's.

My personal favorite ford body was the 05-07, most of the 6.0 problems were in the first couple years, the 06-07 were decent as long as you didn't try to just throw a tunner on them.

Part of the problem was Ford wanted to compete in the HP wars and the VT365 was not the right platform for that and ford kept trying to increase output and the coolant they used didn't help.

Now give me a blown 05-07 6.0 to put a Cummins/Allison in........

 

[spitter]

Ford was making the demands International Harvester was doing the design work and engineering.

 

[Hay Dude]

Are you driving a gas engine now?

No, 6.7L Cummins in a Ram 5500
I havent owned a gas truck in 30 years

 

[Frankenkubota]

Used car salesmen.....

I was surprised when a young sales guy on a dealer lot told me the ford 6 liter diesel was junk, stay away. I had no clue.

I was buying a used rv, diesel pusher, the sales guy said....

these things are rolling earthquakes.

Must be bad if the sales rep is bad mouthing them?