Ford F-450

[Rick]

Anyone have personal experienceor have knowledge of someone else's experience with a 2008 F-450. I have found a very nice 2008 with 30,000 miles at a good price. I was doing some research and it appears there are many problems with the radiator and with ball joints. Those people that had one claimed MPG anywhere from 7 to 18 when not towing. This unit has the 6.4 diesel engine. Thanks for any thoughts you might share.



Rick

[Blenhardt]

I had a 2008 F350 with the 6.4 diesel engine and did not have any problem with it. I got about 10-11 MPG pulling my Montana and about 16-17 not pulling on the highway.

[Oriana]

Rick - the new 6.7 diesel may be worth the additional capital as the fuel consumption has improved from the 6.4 diesel. We recently did 4,000 miles though the the Western States with our new F350 CC & Long Box and got 25 mpg overall, which included a fair few miles in cities and at high elevations. I expected 15 and had hoped for 20 mpg.

When researching used trucks I heard of some issues with the older diesels prior to the 6.7

We haven't picked up our 36FL yet so I don't have any numbers for towing.

[Kev n JJ]

We recently bought a 2011 F450 6.7. There are lots of 08s for sale because (my undrstanding at least) they had problems with them. We get about 15-18 mpg normal driving and 9-11 towing. And we love it - hardly know we are towing anything!!

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by Rick

Anyone have personal experienceor have knowledge of someone else's experience with a 2008 F-450. I have found a very nice 2008 with 30,000 miles at a good price. I was doing some research and it appears there are many problems with the radiator and with ball joints. Those people that had one claimed MPG anywhere from 7 to 18 when not towing. This unit has the 6.4 diesel engine. Thanks for any thoughts you might share.



Rick

Rick,

the F450 is a good truck but they had some problems with the diesel that they finally got pretty much worked out in 2010 when they stopped making it. It's my understanding that there were 3 main reasons they stopped using that diesel
#1 there was a big fight between Ford and international who made the engine over warranty claims.
#2 Ford needed better fuel mileage partly because of government standards and to keep up with the competition
#3 if anything went wrong with the diesel, for example a turbo charger (which they had a lot of problems with) they had to pull the cab completely off the frame. They made this easy to do with quick disconnects for the wiring and only 4 bolts holding the cab on but the average guy couldn't do it in his garage. This turned out to be a major problem for Ford and the buyers ran to the competition.

So far the 6.7 has been a good diesel with very few problems. They come from the factory with 800 ft pounds of torque and get decent fuel economy. I have mine pumped up to 920 lbs of torque without any problems so far.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas

[5th_Time]

Dave, my experience with engines is that you get no increases intorque or horsepower withoutthe attendant increase in engine & exhaust noise (which you then get toexperience whether towing or not).



Just curious, did your mods to your F350 result in more exhaust noise?If not, it makes you wonder why Ford woulddeliver a unit with 800 ft/lbs when they could deliver 920 ft/lbs with same level of "comfort." What did you give up?

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by 5th_Time

Dave, my experience with engines is that you get no increases intorque or horsepower withoutthe attendant increase in engine & exhaust noise (which you then get toexperience whether towing or not).



Just curious, did your mods to your F350 result in more exhaust noise?If not, it makes you wonder why Ford woulddeliver a unit with 800 ft/lbs when they could deliver 920 ft/lbs with same level of "comfort." What did you give up?

My unit has 5 levels of torque I can choose from.
50 lbs
80 lbs
120 lbs
160 lbs
200 lbs

I was very clear to the dealer that I'm too old for noise and a bunch of black smoke. I keep mine set at 120 lbs of extra torque. I hear a slight rumble and I don't notice the extra smoke. My wife doesn't like it because now she says she smells the diesel exhaust when she walks up to the truck and it's idling.

I had the exhaust changed out, deleted the exhaust fluid and put a fresh air intake on it (this spring I'll take off the EGR). The truck ran great before but it pulls like a train now. While going 65 mph while pulling the trailer, you won't believe how fast I can accelerate.

The ONLY reason I did this is because of the extra MPG since I drive my truck 4500-5000miles a month. Otherwise the cost wouldn't ever be returned. The reason they don't come from the factory like this is because of emissions. My truck WILL NOT pass an emissions test.

[RollsRoyce]

What states require emissions test on diesels? Not Texas

[Dave&Ginny]

When I was in Boulder CO last year they had an automatic emissions sniffer along the side of the road taking pictures of cars that didn't pass the sniff test. I was told that they sent tickets out from that machine. I had a friend tell me that if I go to California, I might get a ticket out there as well. In some states like Missouri, they test their residents but I haven't seen them check people traveling through.

Like I had posted before, although my truck won't pass an emission test....my truck doesn't bellow out black exhaust like some of the trucks. That's the reason I don't turn mine up all the way.

[SueMar]

I don't see how one state could ticket a vehicle fo a violation of its emission law if the vehicle meets the requirements of the state where it is registered