Replacing my F250 5.4. Diesel or not? Help!

the 6.7's are proving to be pretty good, of course they aren't all perfect, but i know quite a few that use them on the farms out here & they've all got over 100k on them.

 

Mostly cuz a new one like it was approaching 60 large ones. And all the diesel fans swear the things should be good for way over 300k miles.
And 22 for a very nice condition 6.0 4x4 crew cab Lariat is below the average asking price by several "large ones"
But what I have heard so far here is 6.0 can be really good or really bad. Nobody is bragging about basically no problems in 300k+ miles like I have had with three gassers in a row.
So I am not convinced that going with a diesel has any significant advantage for me. 5% of my driving is towing. But I don't want to be on the side of the road with any of the issues mentioned here with the diesels just for an advantage pulling some long hills.
Papa is bound to mention that most of my towing is a half hour drive to Summit Point. So before he says anything I will mention that VIR, Mid O, possibly Barber and Daytona and all (except Daytona) are pretty up and down drives and are hopefully on the schedule this year.
The info with the hp figures above is helpful. Looks like a 6.2 gasser would be just fine.
Problem is it appears nobody gets rid of them. So I will play the New car dealer game and see what I can come up with.
Thanks all for chiming in.
Anyone know how to search dealer inventory for a specific specification model without actually going to a Ford dealer and dealing with a salesman?

 

Don't forget that the 6.2 will be in a newer design truck. The seats will be nicer, the switchgear will be nicer, the body in better shape, the instruments and stereo will be newer tech, the headlights will be better, etc, etc, etc.

On the search, most of the big dealers stuff goes automatically to the car buying sites like Autotrader.

 

That's still an expensive truck though: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/Used+Cars/Gasoline/Ford/F250/Jefferson+City+MO-65109?doorCode=4&doorCodes=4&endYear=2015&engineCode=8CLDR&engineCodes=8CLDR&firstRecord=0&fuelTypeGroup=GSL&listingType=used&listingTypes=used&makeCode1=FORD&mmt=[FORD[F250[]][]]&modelCode1=F250&searchRadius=500&showcaseOwnerId=568907&startYear=2010&Log=0&showcaseListingId=442837372&captureSearch=true&fromSIP=EbcmYMd6S1QX_iukizNPA4uS

I put the years in wrong - you want 2011 or newer for the 6.2L

 

$25K for a truck with less than 80K isn't bad.

 

Big help pal! Once I switched the location I found
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...archRadius=500&makeCode1=FORD&modelCode1=F250

Gotta beat them down some as the $999 processing fee is BS but this is probably the closest I've seen though more than I wanted to spend. But it only has 10K miles and is 15 miles from my house.
Great shopping site. Big help. I guess I spend too much time on eBay....which was not much help this time.

 

I definitely wasn't suggesting for anybody to get the 7.3 over the 6.0.
Just showing pics in comparison and as to why the 6.0's 'need' this so called bulletproofing. I know bullproofing entails a lot more than ARP studs.

I had been looking hard at Ford trucks, gassers and diesels, and did a ton of reading, researching, etc...I ended up with an '02 Excursion V10 a few weeks ago. I might drive it 5000 miles a year on 3-4 roadtrips.

 

Here's the Ford dealer inventory...I put in 500 miles from my zip, 45013. http://cpo.ford.com/Search?LeadSour...erPage=25&SortBy=price&SortByDescending=false

 

Not sure why that did not work on my phone (says no results from search and then won't let me change it) but it looks like the right site to try tomorrow on my computer
I don't have to jump on something as my truck is running great so I will look at options though tend to buy quickly if I find what I want
Private owner sales are generally a bit lower priced with a lot less annoyance from the seller than a dealership but there are downsides to that as well
Once again thanks for all the help

 

Have you ever driven a diesel? I'd suggest at least taking one for a spin. Towing with a diesel is soooo much less stressful as it just pulls with no hassle. Put it in drive and unless you drive up a wall its not going to downshift.

And personally if I wanted a better value on a diesel I'd look at like an 08 chevy duramax. Awesome motor, awesome transmission, interior is good too. I know you're a ford guy but GM has been using essentially the same motor since like 01 and they are really dialed after the 04.5 models. I think 07.5 is the newer body over the 01-07.

 

He says he only tows about 5% of the time, which means towing performance is near the bottom of the list.

 

A 05-07 6.0 doesn't need to be bullet proofed unless you screw with it. The stock engine platform doesn't hold up to power mods. I have a cold air intake, straight pipe exhaust, and coolant filtration kit on mine and it runs great. All stock otherwise.

 

Yep. That exact thing happened to me about 3 years ago. Tried getting another year out of weak batteries...

 

This has not been my experience. Better than the 5.7 gas I was using? Sure, but if it sees a hill it's downshifting.

My batteries were just a touch over a year old when mine went out. That was a year ago and the batteries are still fine, they spun that stupid thing for over 2 hours while I was spinning it every five minutes in the hope it was a hot start problem and it might not leave me on the side of the road. It lives on a trickle charger and does almost no around town type driving.

 

Well then I've got nothing for you. Maybe it was God's way of teaching me what FICM actually stood for.

 

LOL, maybe so. My opinion is that heat in the engine compartment on that van is killing this stuff.

 

I have owed a few 7.3's and I currently have a 2004 6.0 (bullet proofed) with 220K on the clock. You can "build" the 7.3 and get a good amount of power out of it IF you want to spend the money on programmers and the like. My current 6.0 is stock with the addition of a 4 inch full exhaust. With a little older Ford diesel I would have the ball joints checked. In my opinion ball joints on Ford diesels are just a wear item. Rotor warp can be an issue if you try to drive it like a sports car.
I would say from what you posted that your 2006 F-250 is looking good.

 

I know nothing about this, it is on another motorcycle forum I go to.

2012 Dodge Ram, Cummins Diesel 4x4 Quad Cab, for $29K

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509522

 

Thanks but I am buying a Ford. I am also on the East Coast near DC so "Bay Area" would be a bit far to check it out anyway.
That said I found this on eBay though it is in frickin' Kansas.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/252877525747?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

The auto check shows it had the same 31k mileage reported in September as they are listing it now so they must have been sitting on it since last September so the price could be a bit less. I have purchased quite a few bikes sight unseen and even a car for the track (it only had 700 miles on it so wasn't much of a gamble) but buying a truck without driving it seems like a bad idea.

 

It would be funny if after all the shopping I bought the first truck I saw for sale. And $22k is looking pretty good right now.