Oregon and Washington BS thread

I've had a 2004 2500 6 speed 5.9 cummins, 1999 (I think) F350 7.3 powerstroke, 2004 F350 auto 6.0 power stroke, and currently 2010 3500 auto 6.7 cummins.

Both Fords got around 14mpg city and 16-17mpg highway.
04 Dodge Ram 6 speed got around 16mpg city and 20-21 highway.
Current 2010 auto Dodge Ram gets 16mpg mixed driving and 18-19 highway. I was able to get 22-23mpg a couple times on my way home from Arizona when I first purchased it.

I get between 15-16mpg in my Tacoma currently. I prefer a diesel truck over the Tacoma if you need a truck. You get similar fuel economy out if but you get a lot more power. I don't really have a need for big truck anymore so I sold the 2010 Ram to my father.

 

I have never personally owned a diesel, but I have been borrowing this '06 5.9 six speed Dodge 3500 Cummins from a friend for the last few weeks. It's turning 35's with only emissions removed and straight-piped from the turbo back, and I have been getting consistently 18 in the city and 22 on the highway, which is way better than my Tacoma could ever dream of on 32's with nowhere near the power. Diesel is obviously more expensive than gas, but it works out with the better gas mileage.

It totally sucks to park compared to the Tacoma, and on a day to day basis I would definitely drive a Tacoma over the diesel, but the diesel is way more fun to drive.

Same friend also has an '08 3500 Cummins 6.7 auto with the same mods, that he averages about 13mpg towing a 16,000lb trailer on a daily basis.

 

Good info. I've heard that filling one up can cost like $100. What's the range on a full tank? They seem like they have huge tanks.

I don't currently have much reason for one. I would like to be able to tow my 4runner to trails and I plan to live on property pretty soon so being able to tow stuff for that is a nice thing too.

 

Figure the tank is between 32-36 gallons. Diesel is around 4 bucks. So about 128-144 bucks to fill a completely empty tank. You can get anywhere from 575-750 miles on a tank depending on how the truck is doing.


Why not just tow with the FJ? You can get a small trailer for it as well for house duties.

 

my wife's excursion can cost well over $100 to fill up more $150.00 but that will last us 2-3 weeks.

on my old f350 i had 35's and could lite them up like a sports car

 

Because its not diesel.

And honestly, the FJ scared the hell out of me towing my 4Runner down from Washington when I got it. I would not tow anything heavy with that rig again.

 

How much does your typical oil change cost? What kind of maintenance have you had to perform?

 

oil change is $50-80 depending on specials and such.

typical ford problems, rotors, camshaft sensor, o-ring seals on the high pressure oil pump, and on the drain valve on the back of the fuel filter housing and new wheel bearing.

but i still love the motor and all the power she puts out

 

The reason I'm thinking is a buddy of mine works at a dealership that has a sweet 6.0 with super low mileage. The price listed is not the price he would get me.

http://www.buyatpower.com/used/Ford/2006-Ford-F-250-407fc68d0a0d0669004912384f6fe110.htm

 

i got rid of my f350 for 2 main reasons.
1. i got tired of parking a school bus (f350 crew cab long bed)
2. i had 200,000 miles on it and i was about to have close to $5000.00 dollars of work i needed to do (tires, trans, misc other things)
between these 2 things i decided it was time to go back to a small truck (plus i still had the excursion). after 2 years of owning a small truck i had to back to full size (not as big as before, and the turning radius on the tundra is 100times better then my old ford)

 

The 6.0 is garbage. I would personally never buy one again. It has a bunch of egr problems, egr cooler, oil cooler, head gaskets, turbo, etc. Mine was a pain in the butt and I wouldn't buy it again. Every month something was wrong with it and the engine is crammed into the engine bay making it a headache to work on.

 

be careful with the 6 they blow head gaskets if you run them hot and your boost pressure gets above 24psi i think (not sure if that number is right)
if you blow the head gasket you will have to pull the cab to fix it (huge pain in the ass) i used to live at a shop called certified power here in Salem and i got to see all the trucks come in and learned all the most common problems (this shop is mostly a diesel shop)

if it where me i would find a 02 or early 03 with the 7.3 it is the best motor ford has ever used.

 

there you go^^^^^^^ what he said

 

buy a tundra!!!!!

 

What's the highest mileage you would buy in a 7.3? Obviously it'll be rare at this point to find one under 100K but how deep into 100K? I've heard they have a lifespan of at least 300K

Yeah... some guys say they get the same MPG they were getting in their Tacoma, other say they only get 11 or 12 with wheels and tires. It really adds up before too long.

 

i would not be afraid of one with 150,000 miles but i would be very picky on which one at that mileage or any mileage. i like to find ones that old men had to tow a trailer 5 times a year and did not mod like i do it takes me a while to find them but when i do i know it and in the end i have always been happy i did.

yes life span of 300 is very possible. the trans will have problems around 130,000 to 170,000 so find one with and already rebuilt trans. or plan to rebuild it around then. (i have only seen 3 not get rebuilt around then)

my tundra now has 295-65-18's on it and i still get 17 on the free way 13 in town and am running 15.8 as and average.


by the way i will have to post pictures soon, custom leather and a truck cap went on yesterday

i LOVE my tundra, it is like my Tacoma on steroids

 

I'd get a 6 speed Cummins. Best diesel engine there is in my eyes. Most reliable, easiest to work on. Inline engines last forever. The torque pretty much starts from idle as opposed the Fords you'd have to wind up a bit. The cab isn't as nice as a Fords (the older ones) but it's more reliable.

 

From listening to dad and a bunch of guys who used to work in trucking/lumber, I'd buy dodge for the cummins motor, chevy for the allison transmission.

we have a 99 Dodge 2500 auto 2wd. One of the smaller cummins, but tows like mad. 16 city, 21 hwy, 16 towing. Only mod is a heavy duty towing trans, dad had it installed and I don't know more about it.

the bad thing with Dodge is that there are not only half-year model releases, but there are quarter-year releases (maybe worse?) with several engines per release, and not all parts are the same. I didn't do much diving beyond that, but it would be good to educate first.

Ford is easy to work on provided you have a way to lift the cab off the frame

 

Yeah, I'm definitely a cummins fan. The trucks just suck. I know a guy who has an 06 with the 5.9 and the engine is perfect but stupid stuff happens like the A/C compressor has gone out on two separate occassions, power steering had a problem, window motors went bad.

Just sounded like a nightmare. If only we all had the money to build our own ford F350 with a cummins engine and allison transmission