Pre-owned F250-kicking the tires

[Raw Dodge]

If I were you I'd look to an f350 srw at the minimum if your at all worried about being "legal".If not than have at an F250,basically the same truck with different gvwr tags and springs.an f250 with v10 or diesel will be overloaded with a GN trailer thans loaded properly.Those trucks are well built,and heavy,about 7000-7800lbs with driver,depending on configuration,obviously the crew cab 8ft bed is the heaviest.a 10K GN will put 2K on the trucks axle,plus the hitch.....
I agree with you on the V10,it is a better engine than the 7.3 PSD,most v10s will outlast the PSD,and the PSD does have an injection pump,its called the HPOP high pressure oil pump.They do fail,and they arent cheap.If the truck cant generate 3000psi of oil pressure,it will not start until you replace the hpop.Injectors are $$ and fail often on high mile trucks,esp if the oil change intervals were at all neglected.Also PSDs eat an oil pan ever 2-4 yrs in salt belt states....

 

[riptides]

With your desired numbers on the trucks, less than 5k a year, diesel truck has less than 150k, I don't think you'll meet any major repair milestones, if you hold on to it for five years.

Take them for a spin and stop by a service center for look overs. Someone mentioned 50 bucks, heck when spending 10-15k, a hundred dollars for an educated possible owner sounds OK to me.

I've spend hundreds of dollars just making sure horse were not lame before a buy.

 

[ovrszd]

Last February I bought an '00 F250 extended cab short bed Lariat,7.3L PSD, Auto Tran, F350 spring kit, 105K miles, flip up ball in the bed, almost new tires, $12,4K. It gets 15 mpg towing or not. On the surface it appears to be a little doggy but that's just how the 7.3L PSD functions. When you load it or start up a hill you realize it's strength. Best part to me is it does it all under 3K rpm and usually functions at 2K rpm or less. My Sons have Dodge V10 and Ford 5.4L gassers. No comparison. I would never suggest that a V10 or any other sized gasser will go the distance with a Diesel of any brand.

I previously had an '04 Dodge 3500 Cummins but lost it in a fire. I preferred the Cummins over the PSD but like the Ford ride and drive better. I'm also "old school" and prefer spinout hubs on the Ford.

My Son's a certified Ford mechanic. He would disown me if I bought a 6.0L PSD or the newer 6.4L. Almost everytime I go into the dealership there is one of those in a stall being worked on. If you want a 6.0L look for one with just over 100K miles, the price falls dramatically because they are usually off warranty, take the VIN to a dealership and they can tell you if it's had the head gasket upgrade done. If it hasn't, run.

Not trying to start a war, just my experiences.

 

[Duffster]

If I were you I'd look to an f350 srw at the minimum if your at all worried about being "legal".If not than have at an F250,basically the same truck with different gvwr tags and springs.an f250 with v10 or diesel will be overloaded with a GN trailer thans loaded properly.Those trucks are well built,and heavy,about 7000-7800lbs with driver,depending on configuration,obviously the crew cab 8ft bed is the heaviest.a 10K GN will put 2K on the trucks axle,plus the hitch.....
I agree with you on the V10,it is a better engine than the 7.3 PSD,most v10s will outlast the PSD,and the PSD does have an injection pump,its called the HPOP high pressure oil pump.They do fail,and they arent cheap.If the truck cant generate 3000psi of oil pressure,it will not start until you replace the hpop.Injectors are $$ and fail often on high mile trucks,esp if the oil change intervals were at all neglected.Also PSDs eat an oil pan ever 2-4 yrs in salt belt states....

Can I have some of whatever you are smoking?

 

[Dargo]

My Son's a certified Ford mechanic. He would disown me if I bought a 6.0L PSD or the newer 6.4L. Almost everytime I go into the dealership there is one of those in a stall being worked on. If you want a 6.0L look for one with just over 100K miles, the price falls dramatically because they are usually off warranty, take the VIN to a dealership and they can tell you if it's had the head gasket upgrade done. If it hasn't, run.

Not trying to start a war, just my experiences.

I guess that's why they all sell. After my 5.9 12v Dodge just got too old for me I upgraded. I work with auto dealers every day. It was the ASE Master techs who specialized in diesel engines who are into diesel drags who convinced me to buy a 6.0 PSD over the old 7.3 PSD. After driving both I know why. I don't have much attraction to the old 7.3. They were relatively weak, are getting old and don't last half as long as the old 5.9 Cummins. Out of all the top diesel techs I know, not one is running a 7.3. Overall they seem relatively evenly split between the newer Fords, 5.9 Dodges or 6.6 Dmax trucks.

 

[flusher]

ON THE 99-2003 POWERSTROKES WITH AUTO TRANS,WHEN WARMED UP AT IDLE IF YOU HEAR A RATTLE LIKE A COFFEE CAN WITH BALL BEARINGS.THE TORQUE CONVERTER IS BAD AND SENDING METAL FILINGS TO THE TRANSMISSION.THE RATTLE WILL GO AWAY ABOVE 1500 RPM'S.AT 110,000 MILES I HAD MY TORQUE CONVERTER REPLACED FOR $1500.00.HOPEFULLY I SAVED THE TRANSMISSION.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll add this item to my checklist.

 

[Bill_C]

If I were you I'd look to an f350 srw at the minimum if your at all worried about being "legal".If not than have at an F250,basically the same truck with different gvwr tags and springs.an f250 with v10 or diesel will be overloaded with a GN trailer thans loaded properly.Those trucks are well built,and heavy,about 7000-7800lbs with driver,depending on configuration,obviously the crew cab 8ft bed is the heaviest.a 10K GN will put 2K on the trucks axle,plus the hitch.....
I agree with you on the V10,it is a better engine than the 7.3 PSD,most v10s will outlast the PSD,and the PSD does have an injection pump,its called the HPOP high pressure oil pump.They do fail,and they arent cheap.If the truck cant generate 3000psi of oil pressure,it will not start until you replace the hpop.Injectors are $$ and fail often on high mile trucks,esp if the oil change intervals were at all neglected.Also PSDs eat an oil pan ever 2-4 yrs in salt belt states....

Spoken like a Dodge owner who doesn't have the facts. The HPOP is an oil pump, NOT a diesel injection pump, and it usually lasts as long as the injectors; even if one fails, they aren't THAT expensive. I just upgraded mine from the early 15 degree model to an aftermarket SD-style with more flow for less than $500 in fact!

The truck requires 500 psi to start, not 3000, and many tunes will not require any where near that much pressure. Injectors are not expensive any more, and they typically last 300K or so with oil changes. Yes oil changes are important--3K to 5K if running dyno oil, but any engine should have regular oil changes...Oil pans aren't any more prone to rusting than any other truck in the salt belt either....where do you get this 2 to 4 year crap?

 

[Diamondpilot]

I was wondering the same thing about the oil pan thing. I just lost my 99 7.3 L last year to a deer and never had any issues other than Cam Pos Sensor and a few ball joints. Never a issue with a pump, injector, and certainly not a oil pan. I live in the salt belt for sure being in Northern Indiana.

Chris

 

[Bill_C]

Brand flaming/defense aside:

One thing that often gets overlooked in the diesel-versus-gas debate: the effect of altitude.

Suppose you have two truck engines, one a normally aspirated gas engine and the other one of the newer diesels, both making 300 hp (just to pick a number) at sea level. Doesn't matter what brand, brand F, brand D, or brand G.

Now let's hook a trailer to them and try to go over a mountain pass...let's see, what's Loveland Pass in Colorado? 10,000 feet?

The gas engine will be wheezing like an asthmatic in an iron lung, barely getting out of its own way, barely making a hundred horsepower. The diesels will be humming along nicely, still making most of their rated horsepower...because they're turbocharged. If you want to pull a load in the Rockies, a diesel is the ONLY way to go IMHO. (and this hasn't even gotten into the whole torque-at-lugging factor, at which the diesel also excels).

 

[flusher]

Brand flaming/defense aside:

One thing that often gets overlooked in the diesel-versus-gas debate: the effect of altitude.

Suppose you have two truck engines, one a normally aspirated gas engine and the other one of the newer diesels, both making 300 hp (just to pick a number) at sea level. Doesn't matter what brand, brand F, brand D, or brand G.

Now let's hook a trailer to them and try to go over a mountain pass...let's see, what's Loveland Pass in Colorado? 10,000 feet?

The gas engine will be wheezing like an asthmatic in an iron lung, barely getting out of its own way, barely making a hundred horsepower. The diesels will be humming along nicely, still making most of their rated horsepower...because they're turbocharged. If you want to pull a load in the Rockies, a diesel is the ONLY way to go IMHO. (and this hasn't even gotten into the whole torque-at-lugging factor, at which the diesel also excels).

Interesting stuff.
I don't plan to tow with the F250 at 10,000 ft altitude. But some of the places I plan to visit are at 4500-5000 ft, which I roughly Denver's altitude. Any problem with F-series gas engines at that altitude?