Author Topic: diesel performance (Read 2056 times)

gdolby · « **on:** August 01, 2004, 08:39:18 PM »

Howdy all, My first time here but sound like you all know how to have a good time. Just wondering if any of you all had a super duty and how it performed off road? I have had people tell me due to the weight up front it was like pushing a pig in the mud, but my experience has been it performs well. Have pushed snow over the hood for about 20 feet and up on the body for alittle farther w/ no trouble. what is you all's experience? have a good one....b

Daveinthebush · « **Reply #1 on:** August 03, 2004, 03:49:45 PM »

Funny you should ask. My son works for Ford and he talked me into a deal on the X plan. Which means about $10,000 off the price of a new one.

So I got a 250 SD, 4X4, off road, camper package, positraction, 6 liter diesel. I have about 6,000 miles on it and love it so far. With the truck camper I am getting 16-18 mph. Acceleration is fantastic. When the turbo kicks in she is a beast to say the least. In the moutains up here and tourist season, the power is needed to pass these guys draging the 24' trailers with their 6 cylinders.

The only bad side. Off road she is stiff, very bouncy. On road, great.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #2 on:** August 03, 2004, 06:58:10 PM »

I have put a lot of hard miles on a 2000 SuperDuty towing a heavy trailer. It is a great vehicle. This was with the older engine, not the 6L. Milage is at least a 1/3rd better then with the old 460 gas engine. And 50% better then the Dodge V10 gas engine.

But I was surprised how helpless it was in mud, on a slight up slope in Montana. The rig was empty at the time, the tires were pumped up to tow as soon as the ground dried out. I suspect a locking rearend along with the 4x4, and more aggressive tires would have made a difference. This rig was equipped for towing on roads 99% of the time, and lacked a few features that would have made it a better off road vehicle.(company rig) I should note that a State Police officer ended up out in the middle of a hay field, so it was not an easy slope.

You can find some Fords with non-slip diffs in the front and the rear. A friend who lives above 6000 feet and see's a lot of snow has one. All he does is brag.

My wife brought up the issue of a diesel pickup this morning. I told her based on my experience I would love to have one. And this is a guy with a good gas rig that because of 4x4, locking rearend, and good mud and snowtires feels safer with it then thecompany rig off road. But these are little things that are in control of the buyer. The issue is do you want to pay $5000 more for a diesel rig. Also oil changes cost more, as do fuel filters, and visits to the shop because it is a diesel. But I will take the company Super Duty towing over any the gas rigs I have towed with. A far more cost effective vehicle.

A friend had a great Dodge diesel. He was towing a heavy boat all the time. When he sold the boat he felt his beloved heavy duty towing rig was no longer needed. But he is now looking at a fifth-wheel trailer in the next few months. He is again looking at a heavy duty diesel rig.

Daveinthebush · « **Reply #3 on:** August 03, 2004, 07:05:21 PM »

Number 1 home heating oil is $1.70 here and diesel is $2.15 a gallon. They both come in on the same fuel barge and my neighbor used to test the quality. Humm.....same thing here in Alaska.

My first service was $89. That included the 18 quarts of oil.

I can let you know how the SD handles in snow this winter. We average 500-800" a year. :roll:

gdolby · « **Reply #4 on:** August 04, 2004, 06:55:46 PM »

Thanks for the feedback fellows.What I forgot to mention is mine is a '99 w/ locked differential. Have semi-aggressive tires and the 7.3 liter. Several friends have the 6.0 and the have had quite a bit of trouble considering I have 156,000 on mine and just now having an injector problem. 18 mpg empty,loaded I run fast as I want and get 10 on average thats not just a camper thats w/ 7 or 8 tons of hay or cattle. I'm kind of a big fellow and I have plenty of room never hit my head or knees(unless the wife has been driving it) getting in or out if there is a draw back its when you do go to buy parts you better get ready to ransom your firstborn and your right leg from what I can tell.for right now its the p/u I plan on keeping and I have never said that before. But then again those cummins are awsome machines to when they get the cab room of the ford I may have a change of heart. Thanks again...B

P.S Dave, never seen that much snow in my life. Get back w/ me would like to hear your experience w/ those cold morning starts

acearch72 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 23, 2004, 04:10:18 PM »

I got a 2004 F250 King Ranch a couple months ago with the 6.0L diesel. Just turned over 9k so it's still not broken in.

I am really pleased with the 'around the house' milage of 17-18, but on the interstate my milage drops off to 15-16. Pulling a 16' dual axle trailer empty on the interstate milage is 12. Pulling the same trailer with 6 ATVs on it and my milage is still 12. So my experience with diesel milage is not in agreement with daveinthebush. Anybody else have comments because I sort of think somethings not right with my truck, but the dealer says no problem.

With respect to mud performance, it's got the Goodyear AT/S tires. These are the same tires I have on my '99 Chevy Z71. The Chevy will go anywhere I want, the tires just spin a little more than mudders, but you can still 'creep' around in the mud OK. The F250 on it's own doesn't go well in the red clay of North Mississippi. As noted, the front seems heavy and wants to sink and the back bounces. Areas that I could cross just idleing with my Chevy I had to back up and run through with the F250.

Now the last trip to the farm, we had to go down into a bottom to get a tractor. I was concerned since Ivan had just dumped not a little water on us and it was wet. With a 16' trailer hitched on and a medium size tractor loaded up, it came out of that bottom and never spun a tire. So maybe the answer for mud is about 1000# of sand in the bed.

Anyway, my experiences.

Any comments on the milage performance would be appreciated.

gdolby · « **Reply #6 on:** September 23, 2004, 08:29:39 PM »

Good day sir, just some questions that might contribute. Has the mileage been the same the whole time? if so look at your gear ratio it may be the cause or injector problems. If its more recent have you changed your fuel and air filter? I change oil,oil filter,fuel filter and air filter every 3,000. some have told me its overkill but I work mine pretty good. Another thing is if you have a local ford shop they have a hand held scanner that plugs in under your dash and runs a series of tests in about 10 minutes thats pretty informative, the one here charges $50. Hope this helps and you figure out your situation stay safe and have a goodun...Bill

Dogshooter · « **Reply #7 on:** September 24, 2004, 05:20:04 PM »

A dealer told me that the breakover point at which you start realizing a price saving after paying for the diesel option is about 200,000 miles. If you don't keep one that long the only advantage is a bit more power. My V-10 pulls all of my toys just fine.

Daveinthebush · « **Reply #8 on:** September 24, 2004, 05:31:14 PM »

I almost have 10,000 miles on mine now and am pulling the camper off this weekend. We'll see what the mileage is now.

IntrepidWizard · « **Reply #9 on:** September 24, 2004, 05:32:42 PM »

I drive Dodge Cumins,get over 400,000 before they are passed on.The new ones with 24 valves mean more problems,like Glow Plugs.Put a Pyrometer in all .

Hooker · « **Reply #10 on:** September 25, 2004, 07:58:55 AM »

Quote from: gdolby

Good day sir, just some questions that might contribute. Has the mileage been the same the whole time? if so look at your gear ratio it may be the cause or injector problems. If its more recent have you changed your fuel and air filter? I change oil,oil filter,fuel filter and air filter every 3,000. some have told me its overkill but I work mine pretty good. Another thing is if you have a local ford shop they have a hand held scanner that plugs in under your dash and runs a series of tests in about 10 minutes thats pretty informative, the one here charges $50. Hope this helps and you figure out your situation stay safe and have a goodun...Bill

gdolby I drive 94 F-450 with a 73 powerstroke every day. I service it every 5000 miles no problems. The thing to watch for on the powerstroke is letting the oil get to dirty, It will start to foam and not supply enough pressure to the fuel rail causing the injectors to give poor performance. My shop services and repairs fleet vehicles for the Halliburton company almost all their trucks are Ford diesels. Their service intervals are at 3000 miles some of these trucks are getting their oil and filters change every week.

Pat

DirtyHarry · « **Reply #11 on:** September 28, 2004, 03:21:52 PM »

Dogshooter, sounds like a dealer trying to move a v10 off the lot to me, My brother-in-law has a 01 ford with the v10 and gets a best of 11.5 mpg, my 01.5 dodge with the cummins gets between 19-22 mpg (19 on winter fuel,22 on summer fuel) and with diesel being at least 15 cents cheaper than gas you don't have to know chinese math to figure it wont take 200,000 miles to recoup the 3 grand diesel option....

IntrepidWizard, Glow Plugs? my 24 valve cummins doesn't use glow plugs, it uses compression and grid heaters. Real diesels don't use glow plugs anyway....

IntrepidWizard · « **Reply #12 on:** September 28, 2004, 03:47:02 PM »

DH,I was talking about the none Cummings users,they have Glow plugs because they do not have a precision engine,therefore more holes in the block and more problems,you and I don't have.I get about 17 mpg.

DirtyHarry · « **Reply #13 on:** September 29, 2004, 03:53:03 PM »

IW, sorry, misunderstood ya....so do you drive a 12 or 24 valver?

Dave1 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 01, 2005, 01:33:19 AM »

A friend of mine has a Ford F-250 SD 4WD with the PS diesel. It runs OK on the road but is a dog when off the pavement. It gets stuck very easy and cannot pull itself out of any mud. I don't know if he has a locking differential or not but guess not.

He warns all to not buy that truck if you intend to do any off roading.

BTW, Diesel here in Central Florida is MORE EXPENSIVE than regular gas. Yesterday, regular 87 octane gas was $1.95 a gallon while diesel was $2.19 a gallon.

Several people I know have the new GM 2500HD trucks with the Duramax diesel and they all love them. Mileage is around 18-20, tons of power, etc. Don't know about their off road performance though.

Dave1

IntrepidWizard · « **Reply #15 on:** February 01, 2005, 02:44:54 PM »

DH a 12,don't want 12 more holes.

WorkinStiff · « **Reply #16 on:** February 08, 2005, 05:09:48 PM »

I drive a Dodge/Cummins; 60K so far and not a single issue, never been back to the dealer...You should really do some research before you get a Ford 6.0 PSD.....There was a JD Power report making it's way around the net..It said that the Dodge Cummins was the most reliable, The Ford Diesel by far the worst...It actually worked out where the PSD had over ELEVEN times the number of reported problems as the Dodge/Cummins....Do a search, you'll find the report..

acearch72 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 20, 2005, 02:46:19 PM »

WorkinStiff,

I think that those reports were from when the 6.0L first came out, when they did have some problems. Both my son and I have the F250 6.0L's and they've been no problems at all.

I decided my next truck would be a diesel. I have always been a Chevy guy and also good friends with the owner of the local Chevy dealer. I drove a top of the line 2500HD with the Duramax for 2 weeks trying it out. It had ALL the bells and whistles. It was the owner's dealer truck. Even though I really liked it, I finally decided on the F250 for several reasons:

1) More power.

2) Much more inside room.

3) Better price.

4) Physically larger.

Now a few other things.

I think the Chevy rides better.

The Chevy handles better. It takes 40 acres to turn the Ford around and forget about parking garages. It just ain't gonna happen. 6'-7" from bottom to top just don't fit into many inside garages.

The Chevy handles mud better.

The Ford tows better.

The Ford gets better milage. At least better than the one I drove for 2 weeks.

Also, I just put a Superchip Power Program into both of our trucks. It's just unbelievable how much of performance boost that they give. It's almost scary. I put mine on the performance setting and 1st time I tried it out I hit passing gear going 55 and it spun the tires.

My son's truck is lifted and has 35" mudders on it. With the Superchip it will smoke the tires at 20mph.

And, by the way, my son's mpg improved by about 4mpg on the economy setting, which is +110hp over stock. Mine improved almost 2mpg on the performance setting, which is +150hp over stock. I just got mine and have only run 1 tank of diesel to check milage. I'm going to run 1 more tank and then change to the economy setting to see how much better that will be.

But even saving 2 mpg at $1.95/gal it won't take long to pay for the Superchip Programmer. Anybody else got any experience with performance boosters for diesels?

gdolby · « **Reply #18 on:** February 24, 2005, 05:56:30 PM »

good day sir, I just put a hypertech chip in mine not sure I like it but have to determine if its the cause of my problems.What chip or product did you use? from your post sounds like yours is better than mine. Have a good day.

P.S... Ihave learned one thing about my truck since I last posted...STAY OUT OF THE SAND..

DirtyHarry · « **Reply #19 on:** February 24, 2005, 07:12:20 PM »

Quote from: acearch72

But even saving 2 mpg at $1.95/gal it won't take long to pay for the Superchip Programmer. Anybody else got any experience with performance boosters for diesels?

I have a couple performance boosters on my Cummins, I have a 120 hp TST box piggybacked to a 120 hp Edge Comp box along with a set of stage5 180 hp injectors and a fully built Tranny. I also have a few other goodies that i wouldnt call "performance boosters" but they do play a role... :twisted:

acearch72 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 25, 2005, 03:45:21 PM »

gdolby,

This is what I have in my F250

http://www.super-chip.com/chips/index.html?loadfile=catalog33_0.html

It's simple, just plug into the computer port and it goes though an instruction menu that anyone can do. Nothing to add to the engine.

I paid $299 for mine. Call them up or email and you may get a better price than advertised.

Braz475 · « **Reply #21 on:** February 27, 2005, 05:01:35 PM »

its truly amazing the power you can get out of a diesel these days. I have an 04 Chevy duramax 6.6 liter and my father owns a RV and Truck performance shop complete with a dyno. We have the Banks six gun, speed loader, banks big gun exhaust, banks ram air intake, banks intercooler, 33" mud terrains and its pushing 465 HP and 1024 Ft. Lbs./torque at the rear wheels (dyno'ed)....its incredible when you step on the accelerator to say the least.

mrlizzzard · « **Reply #22 on:** March 06, 2005, 01:12:05 PM »

RV'd plenty,seen and had'em all.Doing it over I'd buy the new Dodge cummins,or the ChevyDuramax.The Ford 6.0 has issues the 7.3 did not have.When Dies. was 15% cheaper I think the payback point started at 50K,but now that it's higher I suppose it's 200,000.Resale is better but truthful people will tell you that 3 to 4 mpg's is the most differance from gas.The option is prob.$4500 so add up your $90 oil changes and fuel filters,noise and gelling probs.It's a push.
lizzzard