Truck Question

[Broz]

Thanks guys. Looks like I'm going to stick with a Chevy and a gas motor for a beater.

Tank, a 1/2 ton 4x4 with a 5.3 will average 16 to 17 and get up to 20 on hiway if you keep it under 75.

I am driving one now with 225 K and she runs just fine and still getting the milage above in 4000 to 6000 ft altitude. It pulls my horse trailer where ever I want to go with two 1100 lb horses loaded up. Might pull down in the big hills but I get there.

She gets chained up on all 4 and gets me where I need to go in the mountains even where the big lions hang.

We have ran 3 of these trucks/engines over 225K and then sold them with never an oil burner or engine fail. The one I have now I am going to run till it drops and slap a use 100K engine in and go again.

For the price, economy, long life and comfort I like the 5.3 for my every day beater.

Good luck
Jeff

 

[Trickymissfit]

Ok, so I am going to be disowned by my entire family... or at least heckled if I should pursue this purchase. I am first and foremost a Chevy fan, and have had a few Dodge products. I have never owned a Ford. My family are huge GM fans and feel there is nothing else on the market.

So I need a beater and was thinking something small like a Nissan or Toyota midsize truck. The problem is that they are hard to find in the price range I am looking, and should I find something in that price range, it has a huge amount of mileage. So then I start looking for 1/2 ton Chevy trucks. Plenty out there with the mileage I am looking for.

BUT... but I then look for diesels just for poops and giggles. What should come up... you guessed it. A 1999 Ford F250 SD with the 7.3L diesel. And to my understanding this is the motor to go with in a Ford. It is a work truck with a ding in the side of the bed. Not bad, have only seen pictures. Haven't seen the truck personally yet. It only has 95K miles. They are asking $9990 for it.

For you smart truck fellers out there, is this one I should consider. I have always been a Cummins fan and wish I could find a Dodge with the same mileage and price. Chances of that are pretty slim. Looks like the Fords are a dime a dozen. Is the drive train on this thing going to be symptom free, or are there any inherent issues I should be aware of and stay away from this truck should it still be around when I am ready to purchase. This will also more than likely be passed to my boy when he hits 16 in 6years. Can I expect longevity? I will most certainly maintain the truck well. I usually do.

the engine is Ok for diesel, but still not Navstar quality. Ford had Navstar cheapen up some major components, but most end users will never know it. If it's an automatic, you can at least expect a torque convertor failure, and pray you catch up with it right away! Otherwise it's a complete gear box rebuild. Somewhere in that same time period (maybe as late as 2002, or as early as 1996) Ford was having a lot of trouble with the valve bodies and the electronics controlling them. But if the truck is a standard transmission, the worst of your worries is the clutch pack and drive shaft rebuild. They've never really been known for great fuel mileage, if that maters a lot. If by chance the truck has the snow plow hook up on it, don't buy it!!

The Ford diesel will do 300K miles if taken care of. They used to be prone to fuel problems that generated from the tank onward. But think Ford had that issue fixed by then. Fuel filters are very critical with this engine. Had Ford stayed with the Navstar developed fuel system and valve train, the engine would go 500K miles. While looking at trucks, I might add that you should avoid the Durmax in the first two years it was built. There was a problem with block failures and cylinder heads cracking under extreme pressures. They had a problem in the first year with cylinder head bolts pulling the threads out of the block and also the bolts were stretching as much as a quarter inch. They fixed this by going to a larger and better quality bolting system. The blocks and heads were redesigned twice in that period. Look for a 2003 late engine, or a 2004 to 2006 engine.
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Years ago I bought an 83 Ford with the 6.9L diesel that was swore to have 108,000 one owner miles on it, and I checked with the original owners wife ( her husband wasn't home) she said " we loved that truck" and she was sure the milage stated was accurate. I bought the truck and started to have issues very quickly and called the previous owner again and talked the him and the true skinny was it had 208,000 miles on it. Quite frankly, I should have gave the truck to a salvage yard and made certain they crushed it, as I would have come out better money wise. You couldn't sell me a Ford, especially a diesel now. I used to wear Ford blue underwear 40 years ago so it is not just a bias against the blue oval. Check that truck out very thoroughly before you buy! I have a Dodge with a Cummins now and really like it and my S-I-L has an older GM duramax and it is a good truck also.

I've seen the Ford / Navstar do 400,000 miles on the dyno as a test mule, but trust that engine was constantly monitored 24/7. On the otherhand, I've seen the same engine with the Navstar fuel system and valves go close to 700,000 miles as a test mule on the dyno. Dynos are very hard on engines, and manufacturers want them to break. As a comparison; the first year they built the Duramax was something to see! Rarely did an engine last two weeks, and I've seen them let go in 24 hours. Most of these were pre-production mules, and you simply picked up the pieces and tossed them in a crate! The Cummins was the only engine we never blew up, but did actually wear out a couple of them ( close to 35,000 hours on them pulling a 10K load). The typical test was 25K hours, and that computes to about 760,000 miles of driving. The best years for the Duramax, are the 2004 thru 2006 with the code letters 933 stamped on the transmission tag. There's a difference in the gear boxes, and the 933 stamped one if far better quality.
gary

 

[liltank]

I've seen the Ford / Navstar do 400,000 miles on the dyno as a test mule, but trust that engine was constantly monitored 24/7. On the otherhand, I've seen the same engine with the Navstar fuel system and valves go close to 700,000 miles as a test mule on the dyno. Dynos are very hard on engines, and manufacturers want them to break. As a comparison; the first year they built the Duramax was something to see! Rarely did an engine last two weeks, and I've seen them let go in 24 hours. Most of these were pre-production mules, and you simply picked up the pieces and tossed them in a crate! The Cummins was the only engine we never blew up, but did actually wear out a couple of them ( close to 35,000 hours on them pulling a 10K load). The typical test was 25K hours, and that computes to about 760,000 miles of driving. The best years for the Duramax, are the 2004 thru 2006 with the code letters 933 stamped on the transmission tag. There's a difference in the gear boxes, and the 933 stamped one if far better quality.
gary

Thanks Gary. Good info. The truck I was looking at is an auto. Not to many manual oh there. I see a 6.5 turbo diesel 95' Chevy. It has 126k and loaded extended cab. Just out of curiosity, how does that compare in the older engines.

 

[Tikkamike]

I seem to swap vehicles around like underwear. I am a GM fan and my whole life I have always owned a Gm between 1992 and 1998 and I loved them all but the common problem was the front end.. not that they are bad but I expect to dump a $grand into them every 100k miles. never had a single motor problem, bought a few tranny's around 100k-150k miles. overall great trucks without a doubt. when the new body style came out around 2000 the front ends seemed to hold up better, we have several approching 200k and never done anything but change the oil.. trannys are great too. A few years ago I sold my pickup and the wifes car to buy her a navigator...CRAP sold it and bought a 4 runner.. awesome rig, outgrew it and bought a 98 tahoe and realized it too was too small so sold it but it was great too. now she has an 03 suburban that just clicked over 100k and it has never skipper a beat. after selling my truck I bought myself a toyota pickup 1991 with 200k miles on it. I slapped new tires on it and drove it EVERYWHERE at 15 mpg it wasnt bad to drive. hands down most awesome truck I have ever taken off road. and super reliable even at a quarter million miles. as my kids started getting bigger I stupidly sold it and bought an extended cab big block gmc, good truck but not an efficient motor. so I sold that and now have a crew cab GMC that I love... if I were to buy a beater or a secondary id go buy a toyota pickup in good shape with less than 200k on it. high miles on a toyota concern me ZERO

 

[FEENIX]

Each to their own here, if you like it, drive it.

It don't get no simpler than that! My primary is a 2011 Toyota Tundra 5.7L V8 DC and my beater is a 1993 Chev Suburban but hardly see any actions as I get better mileage with my Tundra ... basically keeping it for when my boys are home for a visit.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Of the guys I work and hunt with, two are ford guys, they trade them in at 100k gas and diesel, or when ever they have issues, what's that say? The rest of us drive Chevy or GM and we get them repainted etc.! Only issue I have with mine is the MPG, but its one of those cases where I should have done more reading first, I'm just glad I did not buy it as my daily driver. Just fyi, I am looking forward to my new Dodge Ram 1/2 ton/diesel.

have not seen the half ton diesel in person, but they've been ready to build for three years or longer. It's about time! G.M. has one coming as well. They have an on again and off again scaled down version of the Allison in the works. Maybe 2015 when the small truck with the diesel comes out.
gary

 

[liltank]

have not seen the half ton diesel in person, but they've been ready to build for three years or longer. It's about time! G.M. has one coming as well. They have an on again and off again scaled down version of the Allison in the works. Maybe 2015 when the small truck with the diesel comes out.
gary

My cousin showed me a pic of the new Colorados they are coming out with. Apparently they are going to put a diesel in that truck.

 

[Trickymissfit]

1/2 ton diesel?

Dodge has had theirs on the test tracks for three years or more. GM is about a year behind. The Dodge has about the same power as the first version of the Cummins, but they are seeing 24/25mpg with the older gear box. If they offer the eight speed, it will pick up another one to two mpg. The new gear box that Allison / GM have uses about half the horse power to drive it. Only problem is that it's became low priority due to a complete lack of manufacturing space (it's an Allison design and will never be a GM design). What the truck manufacturers need to do is to make their frames about four inches wider. That way they can use the original LCT design. It has four moving parts and will use about 25 horse power to drive it, verses the current 70 horse power. Far cheaper to build and also far stronger. I'd be watching for a twelve or nine speed automatic that uses about thirty horse power to drive it. All the design and durability testing has been done for five years.
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Yep that's right and they are even going to offer it in there base truck the "tradesman". I did the build and price thing for mine the other day, I'm cheep, the wife looked it over and said ***, I want loaded and leather, who am I to argue! Its the same motor that they put in the 2014 grand Cherokee and are putting in the 2015 wrangler unlimited. I also heard that Nissan is putting it in the Titian. Its great news more and more manufactures are offering diesel motors in a ever widening array of vehicles to suit all walks of life.

the new Nissan big truck is designed and built by Dodge
glt

 

[Trickymissfit]

Thanks Gary. Good info. The truck I was looking at is an auto. Not to many manual oh there. I see a 6.5 turbo diesel 95' Chevy. It has 126k and loaded extended cab. Just out of curiosity, how does that compare in the older engines.

AVOID that 6.5 engine! And I really mean that!!! The basic engine is a 404 Detroit, but GM went the Ford route and put a lot of cheap components in it. Expect valve and rocker arm problems. Fuel system is extremely low grade! Yet we've used the 404 engine as a test mule, and had no trouble reaching the 25K hour mark. The also eat gas like a Ford, and that's not a good thing. GM Powertrane took a basic good design, and simply trashed it to make money. The Cummins engine is the only engine design that was used as the OEM first designed it rather than add low grade parts to make more money. That's also why Navstar and Ford parted ways.
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Thanks Gary. Good info. The truck I was looking at is an auto. Not to many manual oh there. I see a 6.5 turbo diesel 95' Chevy. It has 126k and loaded extended cab. Just out of curiosity, how does that compare in the older engines.

The transmission is a gas engine design. Will not hold up under diesel. It's a good design, but behind a diesel is another matter. I'd look for a 5.3 half ton with the 6400lb. GVW package.
gary

 

[SidecarFlip]

the new Nissan big truck is designed and built by Dodge
glt

I'm glad I missed this thread.

Chrysler-Fiat = JUNK.

The Cummins is ok, just ok. The newer ones with electronic injection and common rail suffer from poor mileage issues that gets worse as the miles accumulate.

The underpinning are all junk, from the axle tubes to the suspension components

Older Dodge trucks with the earlier Cummins and mechanical injection (Bpsch) are fine. The 727 Torquflite is a bomb waiting to go off. The only older Dodge thats worth anything longevity wise is one with a New Process Manual box, but don't expect miracles from thr suspension because it's junk and the frames are junk too.

I won't buy anything made by Obama Motors, NOTHING. If they want to give me a vehicle, thats dandy. Far as I'm concerned, to repay what the government screwed the citizens out of with the GM Bailout, GM should give every citizen a new car, no charge.

Until that occurs, they can KMA.

That leaves Ford and the imports and there isn't an import truck thats heavy enough to tow my triple axle gooseneck, so that Leaves Ford, but not anything post 7.3 because Ford royally screwed up the engine with their divorice from Navistar but thats another story for another time.

Lets just say the the company I work for supplies 80% of the material that Chjrysler and their second tier suppliers/stampers, form into suspension parts, axle housings and drive assemblies and Chrysler and now Fiat-Chrysler will buy anything so long as it's grey and appears to be steel.

I want a bit more quality under my butt, especially considering the prices today.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

I'm glad I missed this thread.

.....
I won't buy anything made by Obama Motors, NOTHING. If they want to give me a vehicle, thats dandy. Far as I'm concerned, to repay what the government screwed the citizens out of with the GM Bailout, GM should give every citizen a new car, no charge.

Until that occurs, they can KMA.

...

I knew I liked you for some reason I understand & appreciate the sentiment, I wish more folks thought that way.


t