Ford V10 vs Powerstroke
 

We're in need of a new truck at work. Have purchased only Ford F-350 duallies with the Powerstroke or Turbo Diesel since the mid 90's. It's usually a no brainer, just go get another one. But I'm really leaning toward a V10 in the new one. Anyone own both? What do you think about the new V10 and is it now hooked up to a Torqshift trans? I figure with the way gas is now I can save the payment in gas savings alone over a diesel. The truck will pull an enclosed 3 axle trailer (14,000lbs) all day everyday. What are your thoughts? Thanks!

I have a new f450 with a 4.88 rear and 6.4 powerstroke. It gets about 12 mpg not towing. I have a friend with the same truck (but cab and chassis with a flat bed), same 4.88 rear, and a 6.0. He gets the same or slightly less milage with the 6.0 diesel. That setup in V10 gets 6-8. With the higher price of diesel, you don't save much. The new diesel, however, is much quieter and in my opinion an overall much better motor.

Just bought two new Crew Trucks 08 F350 Crew Cabs, Standard Trani, XL Plane Jane Trucks. Decided to go with the V10, and love it. Getting 12-14 mpg mixed city/highway mileage.

Tows well with the standard trani. With the extra 3500 cost of the diesel, only to pay 1.00 more per gallon of fuel over gas, the choice was simple

pookie, it your friend is getting the same milage as you with a 6.0 something's not right, unless he is 19 and drives it poorly. I think the diesel's a better choice if you're going to tow alot, but if diesel continues to rise above gas prices the V10 will start looking better. My only question is longevity with the gas engine. Even the 6.0's will give you over 300,000 miles I don't know what the V10 is built to last.

I agree too. I have two 7.3's and one 6.0, all excursions. I get about 17mpg in the summer with my 7.3, and about 14-15 with the 6.0. But it really depends on how long you plan on keeping them. The diesels will out last those V-10's all day long. One of my 7.3's has 450000 on it, the other 200000 on it and the 6.0 has almost 100000 on it. All original!

ive had a v 10 and now the 7.3 no comparison in towing and fuel milage the 7.3 gets 18 mph with a edge download and tows awsome. the v 10 was very torque,y out of the hole but shifted down to as low a second gear pulling hills with the boat and i got 8 mpg at best. the deisel will last 3 time longer and gas will catch up to deisel prices as deisel is cheaper to produce than gas.

He is 56 but is a leadfoot. I had a 6.0 Excursion with a 3.73 and got 14 mpg. My 450 is 2000 lbs. heavier, has much heavier axles, twice as much wheel drag, a 4.88 rear and much more power. It is also much quieter. I get 12 mpg . I think people are exaggerating their milage on 6.0, dmax, and cummins.

I hear all different milages on all the diesels. I know I get 19 empty on the interstate, 15 around town empty, 15 towing my tri axle trailer on the interstate and 10-12 with a heavy boat on my trailer. With a load the slower I go the better milage I get, but empty it doesn't matter. I love the 6.0 but seriously looking at a Cummins next.

Thanks guys. Right now we have 3 7.3 powerstrokes and 2 duramaxs'. With the weight we tow, we're lucky to get 6-8mpg with the Fords. Even empty theres no way it's better than 10mpg. But the trucks are all well north of 100k miles and are worn out. You can't beat the power of the diesel, but I won't be driving this truck and the gas savings is what's really driving this decision. As far as longevity, we usually only keep the trucks about 5 years and there shot. Everyone we have now has had a new trans or a new turbo or something major replaced. I drive a duramax and prefer the GMC, I just think the Fords handle the weight better and I hate the look of the GMC duallies.

Put the edge evolution download in and keep it on lowest setting you will not only pick up power and torque but will get 3 to 4 mpg better guranteed,the cost is under 400.00 i have had it in several trucks my old 03 f350 and just put it in a buddys f350 dually and he is getting 20 mpg highway. i now have it in this 03 f250 with 37s and im getting a solid 18 mmg and the power gaidn is awsome the key is to keep it on the lowest setting of the 3 choices. :D

I have the EDGE tuner in my duramax. Definitely makes a difference. Just can't trust employees to leave it alone. They can't even push in the tow/haul button. Hired help, the most stressful part of my life:D

I also use the Superchips in my 7.3's. Another thing to consider is using a synthetic oil, synthetic trans fluid and synthetic gear lubes in all your trucks. Typically the oil alone will pick you up about 10-15% in fuel economy. Now, that is with a high quality synthetic too, such as AMSOIL or Mobil 1. I personally use the AMSOIL. Synthetic blends aren't going to help out too much.

GO GAS reg gas is .75 cents cheaper than fuel in NJ

WE have 5 V10s pulling loaded construction trailers .
Never have they got better than 5mpg . And for power no way do they even come close to the diesel that always gets better than 8mpg even with the worst driver . No brainer for me .
If the truck is going to be working for a living I think there is only one choice .

Paul

had the v-10, average 11mpg, have had 3- 6.0 diesels, I get 19mpg on highway, Tried out the 6.4 and got 12mpg, like the 6.4 but wont buy it to get 7 mph less than what I have.

12 MPG with 4:88s??????? Who is doing the math. MIne gets 10.5 empty and 6-8 towing. Great truck, but will NEVER buy another Ford. They knew these trucks sucked the fuel when they built it to sell. For that reason alone buy a Dodge or Chevy.

Take a look over here
http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/

your's was a 450 not a 350...big difference in fuel consumption..also those 4:88 gears did not help.. The 450 is a purpose built truck..plain and simple...Do we all wish they got better MPG's..Yep..but unfortunately not the case. The Ford tows better, has a better suspension than the others. My 350 is now averaging 12.3...freeway @ 65 is 15.1...and improving with miles. My partners GMC dooley is getting .6-1.4 better than I ....but when loaded down over 10k..big difference between the two..just towing the load...performance is better on the GMC though...Good luck on what ever U end up getting. Jeff

I have a Fun Mover with the V-10. It is lifeless. I regret buying it so much that I bought a new Dually and trailer instead. Anyone want a 2001 Fun Mover 31 with 20k on it. I'll cut a great deal!

I could tow 6hrs,about 350 miles with my V 10 before fueling.And thats 10 k or more of weight.I loved it,the best truck I every had,300k and didnt even leak a drop.Fortgot to mention it was a 4x4 crew with a lift and 37"humvee tires.

Driving it over 65 kills the milage.

OK here it is in a nut shell. Both motors will go 200k easy. Diesel you can abuse a little more as far as maintence, you must be religious about v10 oil changes. The transmission is weak link in both, again oil changes in tranny fluid every 30k and you will get double the life. 200k instead of a 100k.

Mileage, again here it is, diesel 1500-2000 RPM is key, figure out what size tires you are going to run 3.73 is good but go to 4.10 if running big tires. V10, no matter what get the 4.30 rear end higher RPM the better in the V10 ( within reason due to torque and HP curve coming in at high RPM). All of this is based on running tires bigger than 35".

The diesel will get better mileage and tow stronger without shifting down but the option for new diesel is almost $8k that is a lot of gas, add in the 60 dollar oil changes and the extra dollar for fuel per gallon and unless you drive a million miles a year GAS GAS GAS. Used to be you would get considerably lower trade with big gas truck but diesels in texas are getting traded in at the rate of about 3 a day at local dealer that gap is narrowing, now they are equally worthless ( Bastard dealers )

Bottom line, V10 is easier to find fuel for especially in big cities. i have wandered around west texas, key west, downtown houston, and Lake Tahoe looking for diesel fuel. Gas is cheaper, Gas truck pulls anything you should be hauling with 1 ton and you dont have to turn it off to talk to girl at bank or other drivethru.

This is based on experiance, 6 powerstokes since 1998 model came out and 6 with the v10. Always crew cabs and allways 4WD ( three excursions but they count as crew cabs ) FYI, Ford has $5k rebate on either motor right now until the 30th. ( i'm shopping )

We love our V-10 and we love our 7.3 PSD.

The wife bought a 2001 Excursion brand new with the V10 and you could not take it away from her. She only has 65K miles on it but it has been a wonderful vehicle. We towed our old boat (7000 lbs) to Miami with it and it did not know it was there and got 9.9 MPG. The best we have ever seen non-towing was 15.8 and it usually get around 13 MPG in town. Lots of room and you cannot appreciate the V10 until you get out on the highway. If you don't set the cruise you will get a ticket as it loves to cruise at 80 MPH.

I have a customer that runs two Ford vans with the V10 and they pull trailers that probably weigh around 6000 lbs loaded plus their gear inside the van. He has one with over 300K miles and zero engine problems. Look at the RV industry if you want to see the workhorse the V10 is.

My 7.3 PSD in a crew cab dually with 4.10 rear end gets 10MPG towing 12,000lbs and 14 to 15 on a very good day if you are running it very easy. I only have 75,000 miles on the truck and it has been a very trouble free engine.

If I were buying today and planned to tow less then 10,000 lbs I would buy the V10.

ok here is the bottom line, Diesel is currently .50c higher than gas, the cost of the motor upgrade is 5200.00, I get 19 mpg on the highway with my 6.0 stroke, I have 2-v10's they get 14mph on the highway, but towing 14k pounds the v-10 just can't get it done, runs out of power climbing hills, Diesel also has 100,000 mile warranty vs. 50.000. see what you get when you trade in a v-10, I usually get around 10,000 less than a diesel on trade, dealers will tell you they don't even want a v-10 , can't sell them

We have currently have 3 7.3's 4 6.0's 2 6.4's 3 Dura Max's... and are shopping gas for all of those reasons..


4.09 for Diesel on the Hwy at Quik Trip.. It took 42 cents a gallon differnece to make it even on a truck purchase over 3 year depriciation to make it equal. At a 75 cents a gallon difference you are in the hole.

I have an f250 2006 v-10 4x4 4.10ls 4 door. It pulls my 29 outlaw with twins which weighs in at 9-9.5K lbs. This truck pulls that load fine. If you get a V10 get an 2005 or newer u get the 3v moterand torque shift trans also that makes a diffrence. Mine has 38k miles and has never been to the shop once for anything.

I'm a Michigander, so this one thing in my mind I havn't seen mentioned. In the winter time, the one thing I like about my V-10 is that I can start up instantly, and I have FULL heat all winter long. No fogging up or cold air out of the vents. I like heat...

I've got an 01' F-250 with the V-10. Got it with 69000 miles on it and will be rolling 150,000 most likely this weekend. The truck has taken NOTHING in the whole time I've owned it. The only thing I replaced was the drivers door senser. Its actually getting a little bit scary now. I would almost feel better if it took something! lol

I agree, the supplemental heater is about $300 on the diesel. It's great!

I have had both, a 2000 7.3 and an 05 with a V-10.I was a little skeptical about the gasser when I first got it,but now without a doubt this is the nicest best towing truck I have had.Towing the mileage is the same,empty the diesel is better.For an all around daily driving vehicle,cost to maintain,price of gas,noise,I'll take my V-10 any day over my diesel.

I have a 99 F250 extended cab 4x4 w/ V10 and have had no problems. It has plenty of power in our area for towing.

By the way it is for sale if anyone is looking, $10,499 and is in excellent condition, always in the garage.

Rick 847-502-2399

Hey guys, Thanks for all the replies! After much debate, I think that a new F450 with the 6.4 and 4.30 is what we need. With the amount of weight we tow I think it will hold up to the abuse. We always changed the springs in our F350's anyway. Also with the improved steering radius and the bigger hitch, built in brake control, it's just ready to go for us. Plus our local dealer has F450 work trucks cheaper than F350's. Because the 350's are all loaded up and our guys will just destroy it anyway. Thanks again:D

I think you will be very happy. My 450 has a 4.88 but tows my boat better than the big trucks I've used (class 8). They bounce too much without a lot of weight on the rears. Plus the 6.4 is super quiet for a diesel.

Are there any mods/chips for the V-10 that don't require 93 octane? I feel like every one I've seen, all the benefits go out the window because of that alone.

dodge
 

I am not a dodge fan, but I bought one for my son to drive to collage. I put an edge chip in it and I can get 25mpg all day empty. I can get 18 pulling my 44 foot race car trailer. It has plenty of power. I just can't stand the seats.