Swap My Ride for F350 V10

[Haoleguy]

I am strongly considering to trade in my 1998 F150 4.6L regular cab long bed towards a 2005 F350 V10 crew cab short bed. This is to move me to the point of trailering equipment and hauling brush in a dump trailer. Have not driven the F350 yet but it looks and sounds like a 3 owner clean vehicle with no mods and has 80K miles. My understanding is that with the 2005 many improvements were made over previous years. It is also my understanding the spark plug removal was still an issue with these V10s. I'm not expecting much in the way of gas mileage and will only use it at a clip of 10-12K miles a year. So for those experts on this subforum what should I be looking for when I look it over and test drive it? Any shortcomings with these that I'm not familiar with? At $17K it looks like a solid deal...what do you think? The vehicle is 400 miles from me and am considering to make the drive in a couple of days. Eventhough the CARFAX is clean what else should I check in advance? What's the Ford check called and how do you get Ford service to run the check?......Many thanks guys......Gary

 

[Diamondpilot]

The 05's and later are much better. Mainly in the front end and the addition of the Torque Shift Tranny to the gas motors that the Diesel got in 2003.

I have been around V10 Fords since 1999.

The three things I would look at are:

GVWR. I would not buy one with less than 11,000# or so. Some are as low as 9,900# If its a Dually it can be as high as 13,000# or so and a SRW can go as high as 11,500#. I have walked on many low GVWR trucks for the pure fact they can not handle the tongue weight need when the truck itself weigh 7,500 to 8,000# empty.

Gears. Some have 3.73's and are pretty gutless in my opinion. I would want the 4:30's but 4.10's would work also. I also would not want a open diff and would only settle for a Limited Slip.

4x4. I personally would not own a truck that is not but some look at it different. Make sure it works and the auto hubs work in both HI and LO.

The GVWR will be listed on the tag on the drivers door and so will the axle code. Usually if its a code with a letter then a number like D4, then its a limited slip. If its two numbers like 56 then its a open diff. This is usually right but not always so go to google and type in Ford Axle (____) your code here, to get the ratio and type.

Chris

 

[Dmace]

The spark plug issue was still a problem but your chances of failure are much better than the 6.0l diesel of that vintage. I would have someone change all the plugs before purchasing as part of the deal.

$17k sounds like a deal for that truck and for your mileage and towing needs, the V10 is the best choice if you want to stick with a Ford.

 

[smithpond]

If you spend much time on dirt roads (snow dust can be a problem as well)be aware there is a filter canister in the fuel tank vent sytem that plugs. Ultimately the fix was to reroute the vent hose from underneath the bed in a frame raill to inside the filler cap door. I drove a 2005 F250 that would take a gallon of gas about every 40 seconds when it was plugged-not much fun in Maine winters when driving 150-200 miles a day. Part of the problem was we had 2 trucks made early inthe model year and Ford didn't diagnose/acknowledge the problem until we went through many frustrating months. That was my main complaint with the truck. Other than that I had few problems.

 

[Tomtint]

I have a 2009 V10 DRW 350 4x4 dump. It tows great,plows great,etc. Also gets 8mpg. I had to replace both exhaust manifolds,studs and misc other exhaust items at 14k miles. It was under warranty but I understand it is a common problem. Other than that Im happy with it

 

[Haoleguy]

The 05's and later are much better. Mainly in the front end and the addition of the Torque Shift Tranny to the gas motors that the Diesel got in 2003.

I have been around V10 Fords since 1999.

The three things I would look at are:

GVWR. I would not buy one with less than 11,000# or so. Some are as low as 9,900# If its a Dually it can be as high as 13,000# or so and a SRW can go as high as 11,500#. I have walked on many low GVWR trucks for the pure fact they can not handle the tongue weight need when the truck itself weigh 7,500 to 8,000# empty.

Gears. Some have 3.73's and are pretty gutless in my opinion. I would want the 4:30's but 4.10's would work also. I also would not want a open diff and would only settle for a Limited Slip.

4x4. I personally would not own a truck that is not but some look at it different. Make sure it works and the auto hubs work in both HI and LO.

The GVWR will be listed on the tag on the drivers door and so will the axle code. Usually if its a code with a letter then a number like D4, then its a limited slip. If its two numbers like 56 then its a open diff. This is usually right but not always so go to google and type in Ford Axle (____) your code here, to get the ratio and type.

Chris

Chris - Thanks Chris for the helpful hints. The GVWR is 11K lbs. Curb weight is 6586 lbs which gives a 4K lbs payload + 500 lbs people. Trailering looks like 12.5K lbs with tongue at 500 lbs. The axle code is 4N which I read to be 4.10 limited slip.

Anyone - I'm not sure but I think the gas tank is 40 gal in the 2005...correct?

Cheers, Gary

 

[Haoleguy]

The spark plug issue was still a problem but your chances of failure are much better than the 6.0l diesel of that vintage. I would have someone change all the plugs before purchasing as part of the deal.

$17k sounds like a deal for that truck and for your mileage and towing needs, the V10 is the best choice if you want to stick with a Ford.

When I talked to the dealer by phone they had no idea if the plugs have been changed. Might be one of the things I do early as well as change fluids. Yeah I'm expecting the F350 to go 150K miles without much major needed. The price seems right. I have sticker shock on the new vehicles especially when the primary use for this vehicle is for farm support.

Cheers, Gary

 

[Haoleguy]

Smithpond - Thanks for the gas tank vent canister lookout. I do believe this is a relatively early production run of 9-04 for the 2005 model year.....Gary

 

[RobertN]

The truck sounds nice, but I stick with long-beds. Some times it would be nice to have a shorter bed for maneuverability. But I would not give up that full size bed. We had two trucks for a while; my long bed xcab, and my wife had a quad cab shortbed. I would only do that again with a city truck.

 

[sld]

I believe the gas tank is 29 gallons on a short bed and 37 on the long bed.

I have a similar truck to what you are looking at. I only have 46k but they have been trouble free.

Getting the plugs changed is a great idea. I would also service the tranny, cooling system and axles and you would be good to go for many miles. Don't overlook the fuel filter either. They are cheap and really should be changed about every 10k.

I have manual hubs in mine with the floor shifter. Is yours the auto or manual hubs?

The 4.10's should be fine. I have 4.30's and it doesn't lack for pulling power. You can realistically expect around 12mpg empty and down to 8 with a good load.

One other thing....if you are into doing any mods I would highly suggest a tuner (I used Mike at 5-star tuning). There are some torque limiting strategies from the factory tuning and the drive by wire. There is a very noticeable improvement in driveability for around 400 bucks. I got the 87 octane tow/performance and 91 octane tow/performance tune and actually picked up a little mpg increase with either tune. I am using the 91 tune now because the mpg delta is more than the price delta for premium.

on edit...does it have the factory trailer brake controller? Hopefully it does, they are awesome.