'08 Superduty recall

[jcmseven]

Builder,

I have not heard you rip your truck much, if at all until now--which means you are satisfied. To me, that is a good thing. I have not proclaimed a great ownership experience, just that my pickup has as of yet failed to implode as implied by some that it should. It has been a great truck. No, I do not run unloaded at all times. As mentioned many times in many posts, I pull pretty reasonable loads fairly frequently. Those that have complained about mileage claim they get 10-12 empty and 6-8 pulling. Pulling my roughly 9000 or so pound current load I can get 11-13 mpg depending on how hilly or cold it is. This is running the truck fairly hard; I suspect lighter throttle would dictate 1-2 mpg better. It really does slightly BETTER on fuel when pulling than did my 7.3, but not quite as good empty. I do not drive my truck that much as I have my father's now 214,000 mile GAS 150 (just think what the diesel will do) to run about. So, in response to your statement, I suspect those that are getting less mileage are pulling very heavy loads; taking short trips, and or running a lower rear gear than I; or are running a 350 or up, perhaps in dual rear wheel configuration. No, I do not know how my truck will do 4-5 years down the road, but none of us do. The logic you use cannot work one way and not the other: i.e., owners of these trucks who have used them and been satisfied with them you call "lucky"--though I realize you jest--well, not really. You mention to wait and follow satisfaction down the road--a valid thought. The problem is that the "cat-calling" and bandwagonning does not wait. Perhaps those who have not operated these trucks should be the ones waiting to see. I have yet to meet an owner who is not satisfied with his 6.4L diesel and they are becoming plentiful in our area. The implication also is that perhaps I (and others) do not USE the truck as much. I can say the loads I pull to me necessitate my using a 3/4 ton truck, and I still prefer diesel, so I have one. And finally, it does not make me happy to have you complain about your truck. I want you to be happy with it, and I know you are. I just don't want you to demean mine. Yes, I was skeptical too, but the company and dealer have been good to work with--for ROUTINE service.
I agree, it will be interesting to see how Ford handles the diesel engine over the next three or so years. Hopefully, they will keep this engine, or a derivative of it.
John M

 

[RobJ]

The "twin traction beam" was used on the 4x4 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks. Not a real good system. The 1/2 ton trucks had coil springs and the 3/4 tons had leaf springs. One tons had a solid axle with leaf springs. The "twin I Beam" was used on 4x2 trucks and is still being used on the SuperDuties. Much more refined over the years.

Hehe, the old TTB. I had this on a 90 150 I bought new. After 9 months and several different dealers I finally found one that would fix the pulling problem. They had to replace some bushing and get out the old TTB bender jack to fix it. After that it drove great for 11 years and 180,000 miles. Being my first 4x4 I thought it was normal to get 30k out of a set of BFG Trail TA tires. Not! On my 250 the last set I got about 60k and these are 315x16, not 31x10.50x15. Overall it wasn't a terrible truck, I did have to rebuild the tranny at 160k, only other thing was an alternator and an AC line (junkyard replacement). I had the 351 but really would have preferred the straight 6 in my 86 Ford. I plan on keeping my 99 for another 5-6 years.

 

[Builder]

Builder,

I have not heard you rip your truck much, if at all until now--which means you are satisfied. To me, that is a good thing. I have not proclaimed a great ownership experience, just that my pickup has as of yet failed to implode as implied by some that it should. It has been a great truck. No, I do not run unloaded at all times. As mentioned many times in many posts, I pull pretty reasonable loads fairly frequently. Those that have complained about mileage claim they get 10-12 empty and 6-8 pulling. Pulling my roughly 9000 or so pound current load I can get 11-13 mpg depending on how hilly or cold it is. This is running the truck fairly hard; I suspect lighter throttle would dictate 1-2 mpg better. It really does slightly BETTER on fuel when pulling than did my 7.3, but not quite as good empty. I do not drive my truck that much as I have my father's now 214,000 mile GAS 150 (just think what the diesel will do) to run about. So, in response to your statement, I suspect those that are getting less mileage are pulling very heavy loads; taking short trips, and or running a lower rear gear than I; or are running a 350 or up, perhaps in dual rear wheel configuration. No, I do not know how my truck will do 4-5 years down the road, but none of us do. The logic you use cannot work one way and not the other: i.e., owners of these trucks who have used them and been satisfied with them you call "lucky"--though I realize you jest--well, not really. You mention to wait and follow satisfaction down the road--a valid thought. The problem is that the "cat-calling" and bandwagonning does not wait. Perhaps those who have not operated these trucks should be the ones waiting to see. I have yet to meet an owner who is not satisfied with his 6.4L diesel and they are becoming plentiful in our area. The implication also is that perhaps I (and others) do not USE the truck as much. I can say the loads I pull to me necessitate my using a 3/4 ton truck, and I still prefer diesel, so I have one. And finally, it does not make me happy to have you complain about your truck. I want you to be happy with it, and I know you are. I just don't want you to demean mine. Yes, I was skeptical too, but the company and dealer have been good to work with--for ROUTINE service.
I agree, it will be interesting to see how Ford handles the diesel engine over the next three or so years. Hopefully, they will keep this engine, or a derivative of it.
John M

I agree that they are off to a better start than the 6L ever was. I think my biggest criticism at this point is this looks to be a 2 year motor. Then Ford will abandon it and move to yet another diesel. I think the 6.4L guys will (and should) feel pretty upset about that.

There are problems, though. Check out this thread. Guy lost two 6.4L motors in the same truck:
Just lost my 2nd motor (6.4 diesel) - The Diesel Garage Forums

 

[JESSE1]

Duke, you know you can't believe everything you read on the internet. Even with the mighty 7.3, there were always people who came on the forum who had a truck that had a complete system failure. Everything from pistons swapping holes to axles breaking. Then they would get another one and it would fall flat. I've been buying Ford trucks since '76 and while they have had a few minor problems, so far I've never had a catastrophic failure like some of these characters report.

 

[Builder]

Duke, you know you can't believe everything you read on the internet. Even with the mighty 7.3, there were always people who came on the forum who had a truck that had a complete system failure. Everything from pistons swapping holes to axles breaking. Then they would get another one and it would fall flat. I've been buying Ford trucks since '76 and while they have had a few minor problems, so far I've never had a catastrophic failure like some of these characters report.

If you read his story, he comes off as very believeable.

 

[JESSE1]

I read his story and he sounds believable. There's always two sides to every story and we've only read his. To have two engines fail (if he actually has) makes me think he's doing something wrong. Maybe filling up with gasoline. That'll do it every time. Not saying that it's impossible to lose two engines, just highly unlikely.

Before I bought my '08 F-450, I checked with the service department to see how many problems they had been having with the 6.4. So far the 6.4 has been very trouble-free. I believe these people because I have been doing business with them since '76.

 

[Builder]

I read his story and he sounds believable. There's always two sides to every story and we've only read his. To have two engines fail (if he actually has) makes me think he's doing something wrong. Maybe filling up with gasoline. That'll do it every time. Not saying that it's impossible to lose two engines, just highly unlikely.

Before I bought my '08 F-450, I checked with the service department to see how many problems they had been having with the 6.4. So far the 6.4 has been very trouble-free. I believe these people because I have been doing business with them since '76.

Come on, if he filled it up with gasoline, they never would have replaced his first engine. You're going to have to come up with a better conspiracy theory than that.

If you read the TDG forums, you see that Ford & Dodge are having more problems right now than GM. That greatly affected my decision. I ditched the brand loyalty and bought the least risky vehicle. I need my truck to start every morning for work or I lose money. I have no doubt at the time of my purchase, although imperfect, I made the best choice.

Not as as sexy as a Superduty, not as macho as a Cummins, but the one with the most known real world mileage reliablity and longest warranty. That to me is like money in the bank.

 

[JESSE1]

It still comes down to the fact you don't actually know what happened to his engines. It may be a perfectly legitimate story or it may be completely made up. I'm just saying don't take it as gospel until you know both sides of the incident.

 

[patrick_g]

I have been a Ford pickup owner since the big rocks cooled enough to not sear my knuckles when I walk. I have had a 3/4 ton corn binder (bought used as a DIY motor home) and a '97 one ton Cummins/Dodge and all the rest from '64 to 2008 are/were Ford. (Oh and a used '89 Dakota, a real beater)

I have had extraordinary service from all the Fords (except note #1 below) and so so with the Dakota and 7 on scale of 10 with the Dodge 3500 with Cumins.

One ford needed a new rear axle bearing about every 10,000 miles and a '67 1/2 ton had a rear wheel bearing go out setting the brake fluid on fire while I was descending a narrow mountain road in Mexico at night. This made for an extraordinary experience.

There is good and bad in every brand and if you sift out the BS you will find there are trends that hold true. One of these is that for several years the Dodge power train was not up to the Cumins output. If you got terrific service from yours then lucky you, it is still not a strong enough power train for many users.

The jury is out regarding the Ford Super Duty 6.4 and all the comments pro and con, prognostications, dire predictions, and other unsupported conjecture and BS don't amount to a hill of beans. Time will tell. All the tongue wagging gossip reduces the gossip mongers to the status of old women with nothing better to do.

I'm reminded of the tag line a bright guy uses on CBN, People would mind there own business if their business was worth minding.

Geez, if you keep picking it, it will never get well!

Pat

 

[Builder]

The fact that Ford is dumping the 6.4L after 2 short years appears to be more than "gossip" and if it holds true, it will amount to more than a "hill of beans" to those who bought them. IMO, their customer's trucks will suffer from severe depreciation compared to comparable models.

To this day, I still can't understand how GM could spec a duramax diesel in '01 that met pollution specs though 2010, while Ford would spec a 6L diesel later in '03 that falls short of '08 pollution specs.

Ford needs to get off the treadmill of rushing diesels to the market then ending the production run prematurely because the engine was troublesome, doesn't meet pollution specs or because they're in a cat fight with their engine supplier.

It's not serving their customer base in their best customer's best interest.