I've been resisting joining the Powerstroke forum because I kept telling myself this isn't my long term truck but years keep going by and I pretty much like the way Ford does things. It's a dam impressive truck for 16 years old. This truck is my daily and toy hauler which is pretty mild duty, IMO. I try to do all the non engine maintenance myself and have tried to avoid getting myself trained up to be a 6.0 expert, which means I have paid some decent $ to the diesel mechanic.
My goal with this truck was to have a reliable $30,000 diesel truck. I have since spent a good bit over that by practically refurbing the whole thing. Bought it for decent deal given it had peeling paint on both sides. Stock minus EGR delete. I paid shop for full bulletproof. They had the motor completely out and even resealed the bottom end, turbo rebuild, new coolant hoses, heads inspected, passive coolant filter, billet water pump, oil cooler all the normal stuff. Both diffs have been rebuilt, all new wheel bearings, balljoints, hubs rebuilt, new PSC steering, 34" tires on stock wheels, new driveshafts, back up cam and stereo. New paint job on both sides.
Towing wise it has been pretty capable as my first diesel. I hated the shift points so I added a tow tune to adjust shift points and added EGT sensor so I can be sure I don't push it too hard.
I've had a few bad things happen over the last 3 years. Had to chase long cold start which was leaky injector orings, had the CAC tubes pop off while towing at the absolute worst times (which seems to not be an issue anymore), leaking rear diff, caliper sticking, vacuum actuator went out, got stolen in that **** hole city Portland, or but in general been reliable with 145k on the clock now.
After driving my FILs 6.7L I'm leaning pretty hard toward making that upgrade. The 6.7 power is phenomenal and tows like a dream. I'm on here to start to learn about the various drawbacks and all the years of the 6.7. I don't want to buy something that I have to completely refurbish like I did the 6.0. Ultimately I want super reliable and have the next truck be very long term truck that I will learn all the details from bumper to bumper including scantool diagnosis etc. So I would be looking to pick up something used lower miles and best bang for the buck. I also love not having a truck payment so haven't ruled out the 6.0 yet. I want to setup my truck to carry a slide in camper and tow the rock crawler also. In the mean time I camp in the green canopy and am currently adding a diesel heater to it for winter ski camping.
I looked forward to learning!
My goal with this truck was to have a reliable $30,000 diesel truck. I have since spent a good bit over that by practically refurbing the whole thing. Bought it for decent deal given it had peeling paint on both sides. Stock minus EGR delete. I paid shop for full bulletproof. They had the motor completely out and even resealed the bottom end, turbo rebuild, new coolant hoses, heads inspected, passive coolant filter, billet water pump, oil cooler all the normal stuff. Both diffs have been rebuilt, all new wheel bearings, balljoints, hubs rebuilt, new PSC steering, 34" tires on stock wheels, new driveshafts, back up cam and stereo. New paint job on both sides.
Towing wise it has been pretty capable as my first diesel. I hated the shift points so I added a tow tune to adjust shift points and added EGT sensor so I can be sure I don't push it too hard.
I've had a few bad things happen over the last 3 years. Had to chase long cold start which was leaky injector orings, had the CAC tubes pop off while towing at the absolute worst times (which seems to not be an issue anymore), leaking rear diff, caliper sticking, vacuum actuator went out, got stolen in that **** hole city Portland, or but in general been reliable with 145k on the clock now.
After driving my FILs 6.7L I'm leaning pretty hard toward making that upgrade. The 6.7 power is phenomenal and tows like a dream. I'm on here to start to learn about the various drawbacks and all the years of the 6.7. I don't want to buy something that I have to completely refurbish like I did the 6.0. Ultimately I want super reliable and have the next truck be very long term truck that I will learn all the details from bumper to bumper including scantool diagnosis etc. So I would be looking to pick up something used lower miles and best bang for the buck. I also love not having a truck payment so haven't ruled out the 6.0 yet. I want to setup my truck to carry a slide in camper and tow the rock crawler also. In the mean time I camp in the green canopy and am currently adding a diesel heater to it for winter ski camping.
I looked forward to learning!
