2008 Ford F 250 power stroke questions

[Grape Escape]

Hi everyone
Seriously looking at a 2008 Ford either deisel or V10.
Would like comments on the new Ford powerstrokes from those that already own them
Mileage towing and around town?
pros and cons comments greatly appreciated

[Traveler II]

I wanted a 2008 Ford Diesel, but had friends that had a 2006 the other a 2007. They had nothing but problems with them. It was hard for us because I’ve always liked Ford’s. We bought a Chevy and so far it’s been good. I’m only getting 16 MPG highway and 12 towing, was looking for better.

Hopefully you will get some good reports on the new Ford’s.

[WVcampers]

My 04 Ford was in the shop last week, 4WD was not working. The Ford dealer has a repair facility for F250 and larger. It is not a large shop and you can to talk to the mechanic, I ask him if he liked the new powerstrokes and he did not hesitate saying NO. The same mechanic told me the same thing about the 6.0 when I owned a 7.3. So I purchased a new 05 Chevy with the Duramax/Allison and only kept it for a year. The ride while towing was so bad that I traded for a used 04 Ford with a 6.0 and have not been sorry. I recommend that you stay with the brand that you like no matter what anyone else says.

[snoking]

Spend a few hundred more and get a 350/3500 truck for a higher GVWR. Chris

[Heat84]

I just got to tell you I own a Ford F350 and LOVE IT the ride , handle, everything about it. I was in the market for the power stroke and didn't have the little extra at the time with buying the new trailer and all. But before I did purchase and even before I started to be serious about buying I was on the computer looking for information and I was pretty much sold on the powerstroke with the ALLison tranmission. What a com-bo.
I get 14.6 miles per gallon towing What I do is keep my foot out of it and try and stay around or just under 2000, (two thousand) RPM and able to cruise at 70 to 75 if I want to but don't usually around 60 to 65MPH.
I LOVE THE FORD Good Luck with your abventure.

[Grape Escape]

Can't see driving around with a 1 ton for the rest of the year. We can only camp 30-40 days a year perhaps a long trip 1 or 2 x and the rest long weekends. Sure a 3/4 ton will ride rough unloaded and a 1 ton even stiffer. This will be our # 2 vehicle and will be driven unloaded more than loaded. I am very inclinded to go gas as we are paying 80 cents a gallon more for diesel, plus new truck is apprx $8,000 more, average 8,000-10,000km per year perhaps 2,000-3000 of that would be hauling the trailer.
I now see GM 3/4 ton can pull 13,000# with right rear end gears. trailer gvwr is 12,000# so either Ford or GM gasser can pull it.
With cost of maint, availability of deisel fuel higher upfront cost gas seems the way to go in my case and I do not see getting bigger 5th wheel in the near future as having changed 3 trailers in 3 years and my wife will------------------- ???????????????? me .

[campswithcritters]

I was pretty much sold on the powerstroke with the ALLison tranmission. What a com-bo.

When did they start that combo? I thought the powerstroke was only available with the 5 speed torque shift automatic or a manual trans.

[Rob & Cathy]

Can't see driving around with a 1 ton for the rest of the year.

I'd go with the 1 ton. You won't notice any difference in ride between the F250 and F350 SRW when empty. There's no difference in the towing limits but the F350 has a higher GVW. I'm not sure why Ford even makes 3/4 ton any more.

Rob

[BL3050]

Ford does not offer the Allison transmission with any of their truck lines. This is an exclusive to GM only. I have a 2008 F350 6.4 twin turbo diesel 4x4 Dually with the 430 gears. It's rated to pull 18,000 lbs. Now taking into consideration with me at 220 lbs, a full tank of diesel and my 18K 5th wheel hitch, on a certified scale my truck weighed in at 9100 lbs. (heavy)! The GCWR of my truck and towing capacity is rated from Ford at a total of 26,000 lbs. With 4:30 gears. 23,500 with 4.10 gears, 23,000 with 3.73 gears
So minus my 9100 lb truck weight, this allows me to tow around 17,000 trailer pounds give or take a few hundred.
Basically it all depends on the trailer size your towing and what your going to load into it. I will say the new 6.4 twin turbo Fords, do pull great and are very quiet. Ford offers hundreds of pounds better bed payload then Dodge or GM dullies, I know, I researched before we decided on the Ford. The rear gears only available in the GM diesel line up is 3.73. (highway gears), you can not get a 4.10 rear in the GM diesel family. Not sure about Dodge rear gears for diesels. But I want to say you can get 4.10 gears with Dodge based on my previous research.

I only get 8-9 miles towing with my new Ford, and a 15,000 lb 40 ft OpenRoad 5th wheel. My new Cardinal on order will probably weigh in loaded around 13,500-14,000 lbs still heavy! Of course my truck only has 4000 miles on it, only had one oil change and still needs to break in yet. 13-14 when not towing. My previous 2006 Ford 6.0 diesel SRW 4x4 got 11-12 towing and 18-19 not towing, but it had 3.73 highway gears, and would struggle pulling anything 13,000 lbs or more. So not a big difference towing MPG with my bigger geared dullie, but a big difference on the highway MPG, here's where the bigger rear gears hurt me. I don't care though, our truck is used for recreation driving and towing only, we have small cars for daily driving.

I guess it all depends on your RV size and weight. It smarter to over kill the truck size and rear gears, then you know you have enough truck to do the job instead of downsizing truck tonage. There are big payload differences between 3/4 and 1-ton trucks, a big thing is rear gearing as well. Me, I'd rather be safer then sorry or spending time in the repair shop explaining how the truck was over worked or over loaded. Just my thoughts.

I love my new Ford F350, it rides great and will pull almost anything out on a dealers lot without really struggling. They are pricey though, any of the new diesels are and the good news is diesel has been the lowest It has been in over 2 years, maybe it will get below 2 dollars again, it's almost there here in Maryland.
I hope some of this information will be useful.

Good luck.

Bob

[mike & linda]

We love ours. The integrated brake system is great. We have not had any problems with ours so far. We only use ours primarily for towing. If we were not maxed on weight, I might have went with a gas model. The problems I have read about on the net all seem to deal with the egr valve and the oil cooler. the 04s and earlier model years apparently do not have these problems and I have not read much on the 08s. It is also not recommended to use the truck on short trips where the motor does not get up to operating temperature. If you let the truck ideal for extended periods or do short trips, this increases the the egr corrosion as well as upper engine build up. I have read that there is a after market fix to do away with the egr valve. I do not know if this is true. Having only 15k mikes on our truck, I don't wish to do anything that might void my warranty. You can check out the diesel.com forums to get a better feel for the f250 problems. This is a little of what I have read online from other people about our 06 f250. You also have to consider the additional maintenance cost involved with a diesel. With this being said, we still love our truck and would only trade for a dully. The diesel is for us. Hope this helps

[Grape Escape]

Thanks for all the tips. Keep them coming. Here in Canada Ford (as well as the others) is charging apprx 1500$ difference for 1 ton.and 4000$ for 4x4. Our trailer GVWR is 12080#. The V10 will easily do it but they are as rare as 2 moons in the sky. Would have to order from factory and I hope resale is good on them. Seems like 2 wheel drive is just as rare these days. Everyone seems to be convinced that they need it and it does affect resale whether needed or not. I have had identical trucks 2 and 4 wheel drive and the 2 wheel drives far smoother and stable than a 4x4. I am on the road everyday and might use the 4x4 4 days a year only to get unstuck where I would not normally have driven in the first place.

[bigbunkhouse]

we have the v-10 2 wd dually with 430 gears and have never wished for 4 wd or a diesel, but I am careful where I drive(except last feb....yikes ) she is smooth and pulls like an animal and we are 22k plus combined! I was glad the resale was down because I bought it USED

[Rob & Cathy]

Would have to order from factory and I hope resale is good on them.

I believe the new V10s come with a 4.10 differential as standard equipment but if it were me I'd order it with the 4.30.

Rob

[dfredendall]

I have a 2008 F-350, 6.4 turbo diesel, 2WD with the 5 spd Automatic Trans., single rear wheel axle, with 3.73 dif. It is rated to GCVWR at 23,000. I love the power, and the auto trans is everything the Allison claims to be. In tow Haul mode it performs well, holds back well on steep downhill grades. I have towed over 9,000' mountain passes with lots of power going up, and good engine/trans braking going down. (My Dodge buddy keeps aiming for my back bumper when his brakes heat up and engine compression drops off to a speedy coaster ride). I get 10 mpg towing tandem with my 30RKLE, and double Sea Doo trailer, 20,000 lbs total. I get 12-15 mpg around town empty. Managed 19 mpg on an empty trip last summer to No. Cal and kept speed under 70 mpg.

I upgraded from a 1999 F 250 V-10, 4 spd auto which was over worked, and over loaded.

Now.... If any one tries to tell you Diesel is cheaper to operate, slap 'em and run. Oil Change is 15 qts vs 6 qts on V-10.Filter is twice the price. Both have same service interval of 5,000 miles for heavy use (towing). Fuel filters at 10,000 miles, $70 from Ford. have not found alt. source. Trans service involved an external filter- $150 from Ford. I'm looking for alt. source for that too. It has special fittings, and needs a special tool to remove. (Matco Tools Ford Transmission Line Connector Tool $23.00.) No more drain plug in torque converter, so unless you pay for the flush, you only get to drain 9 qts. out of the 18 qt. Trans.

At 31,000 miles on the truck I am on the third radiator, due to factory defects, replaced front crank/oil pump seal, and recently the engine bed plate seals. The bed plate seals required engine removal to replace skinny, horizontal spaghetti sized "O" rings between the two pieced cast iron upper/lower engine block. What a lame design from International/Ford. They get to remove the cab for this surgrery. It is a bit disconcerting to see the cab hoisted 6 feet above the chassis at the dealer.Thank goodness for warranty. Ford requires cab removal for major injector work, fuel injection pump work, and much of the diesel work if/when necessary. They "engineered" it to remove the cab, and allow 2.5 shop hours for that chore. All of this has cost me nothing, except for the inconvenience. I still like the towing power. Beats the V-10 big time.

The 2008 F350 rides much better than my 1999 F250. Redesign of rear springs made the ride smooth. The difference from F250 to F350 is the overload spring that only plays when loaded. Brakes and running gear are the same. Local (State) license fees for weight rating may be more. I like the truck, and made the right choice for us. Hopefully all the leaks are fixed now. I like the Diesel power, and consider the cost part of the adventure. I do my own routine service work. A dealer oil change can be $200 +/-.

[Grape Escape]

I have factory booklet in front of me and 4x2 with 4.10 gearing max trailer 14,500#, 4.30 gearing 16,000 #, payload is 3070#
After reading stories of all the various diesel problems from all the manufacturers whether just a bad apple or not I hesitate getting a newer diesel equiped truck. May just stick with tried and true gasser in our situation as we are at least 5 yrs from full timing it and it would be hard to justify all the extra costs with the weight of our unit. Maybe if we were to get bigger unit and travel more the diesel would be justified. I noticed dealer discounting 2009's by 12,000$ already at the GM dealership and at Ford so I should be ok to order a 2009 in the spring with good discounts, full warrantee. etc.
I am sure the big 3 all build a nice truck but the Ford is the only one that offers a V10 or like engine.
Great to hear from fellow 5th wheelers and appreciate all the comments from this great club.
Any gas mileage figures would be appreciated from the V10 owners towing and empty