Thoughts on 2007 F350 with 6.0 Diesel?
 

Found a clean used 2007 Superduty with 300,000 km's on it, crew cab long box FX4 4x4 lifted with airbags on rear and 35 inch tires. The head studs and cooler have "been done" but I'm not sure what that means. Are those things that tend to go on them?

Anyways, I'm looking to pull my 5000 lb travel trailer next year quite a long distance. We'll be going through upper Canada, then into Alaska and then up into the arctic circle. I COULD use my current truck to do it, but I don't want to rack up that many hard miles on it. AND, I'll be bringing along a slip tank with extra diesel, LOTS of food and water, and several spare tires for both the truck and trailer, and lots of tools.

Do you guys figure this truck will do the job? It's really clean, looks like it was a work truck, and I can buy it for $5000 (Canadian dollars).

Good deal or keep looking?

So you wanna buy a $5,000 vehicle for a single trip? Maybe you can rent a vehicle for the trip for this amount? Whether this vehicle may or may not make it really depends on its mechanical condition which we obviously don't know. 300,000km isn't really alot for a diesel and the age of 10 years isn't alot either but it is in the territory of needing repairs occasionally. A rented vehicle would have to be serviced by the rental company.

Sounds like a roll of the dice...may be OK maybe not. The 6.0 can be a pretty good engine when bulletproofed...which is hopefully what they did. Truck when running right should have no problem pulling a 5K pound trailer and get decent fuel mileage doing it. 10 yr old vehicle so its probably time for a few problems. Buddy of mine is still running his 1999 F-350 dually with the 7.3 that he bought new and it still runs great. The engine has gotten a bad rap over the years but the later 6.4 version to me is more problematic then the 6.0. Almost a coin toss on this one!! :D

Ok cool, thanks for the info. I'm not well versed in the diesels to be honest. So which engine should I be looking for then? I'm looking for anything from years 2000 and up. Any of the engines have a bulletproof from factory reputation?


Yeah pretty much. I COULD rent one, but I'm expecting that it'll get abused a little. And I'll be throwing in the extra tank and all that in the bed. Don't really want to have to deal with a rental company. If all goes well, I will probably reuse it again and do a north-eastern trip...

The vehicle you already have (the 2015 F150) should be able to tow a 5000lb trailer. It's newer, doesn't need repairs, is 4x4 already, doesn't have a problem with DEF freezing (at 12F or -11C), etc, etc.

Oh it can, and it does. But this trip will be many long hard miles, and I've already got 76k on my 2015 as it is. My plan for this trip is to bring much more for the trip. Slip tank of fuel, 2 truck spare, 2 trailer spares, many tools, canoe, lots of water, etc. I foresee some rough roads as well, so everything will be in the truck (yes, spare hubs as well). I'd rather use these trips driving something I care less about. My 2015 has been problem-free since day 1, and I'd like to keep it that way :)


Heck even the trailer was only $3000 but in good shape so I don't mind it getting roughed up some.

So the head studs for 6.0's are an "issue" because Ford used TTY bolts which are known to stretch. HOWEVER, those that use the truck as a truck (usually) have no issues. Those who beat the piss out of the truck can expect to have to do studs. My question would become why did it have to have studs and what else may be broken on it.

I have a '06 6.0 and I love it, wouldn't trade it for a new truck at all. One thing about diesels though is that they don't really get along with the cold too well, it might take a while to start whereas a gasser will start right up. When I say cold I'm talking -20F and temps like that, not just at freezing.

If you want to look further into this truck what I would tell you to do is get something to montior the coolant temp, oil temp, and trans temp. You can download torque pro on your phone and buy an OBD II bluetooth and be in roughly $20 for this and then you know if the truck is good or not. Drive it for at least 30 mins to get it to its normal temp and do more than just highway driving, try to do some stop and go. If it gets above say 210 just highway driving, I'd be cautious. My truck stays at 190 on the highway and gets to around 200 in the city (210 in the city on a hot day). This is both my oil and coolant temp, usually they should be within 10* of each other, I think I have a bad thermostat so mine are usually at or around the same temp.

Here is what I monitor and the parameters that the 6.0 community swears by.

Battery voltage: 12.1 prior to glow plugs shutting off, 13.0-14.3V while truck is running
Engine coolant temp (ECT): Normal 190-200*, Heavy Service 200-215*, Alarm Set 230*
Engine oil temp (EOT): Normal 5-15* above ECT when at operating temperature
FICM voltage: 47.5-48.5V (while opporating should not go below 45V)
ICP: Will not start under 500 PSI, normally idles around 650 PSI, peaks with full load 4050 PSI
Transmission fluid temp (TFT): Normal 150-190*, Towing 195-210*, Alarm 220*

Awesome info! Thanks man! I'll try to go check it out this weekend. You really got me thinking now about why the studs were replaced. I'm willing to bet something went terribly wrong at some point...


I also found a 1999 F-350 Lariat with the 7.3L for $6500. Now from what I've read the past couple days, the '99-'00 7.3 is pretty bulletproof...

If you're willing to drop $5000 on a temporary solution, why not buy a newer truck (2015+) on credit, drive it wherever you want, and then sell it when you get back to repay the loan?

Because if I just drop a few grand, I don't care how beat up it gets or what kind of crazy stuff I do to it like I would with a daily driver or a truck I plan to sell. I'm also spending a couple grand on 2 new 3500lb axles with brakes, and suspension for the trailer in the hopes that it survives the trip. If all goes well, it won't be the last trip. Next trip will be Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, which is further north than Anchorage Alaska. Again, more long haul on rough roads. But the first trip will be worse to get to Inuvik

Check this out : https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Inuvik,+NT/@59.781245,-137.2534652,4z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x5114923f95f996d1:0x522391a237afb784!8m2!3d68.3607437!4d-133.7230177?hl=en
Gah, the site shows an ACTUAL map. Click on "View Larger Map" to see it.

Good old innuvik..

Yeah.. Ive been to alert a few times. Problems we had with the f350's is depending on the time of year. Starting was never nice on the f350s. Id say if it dips below -30, let her idle unless youre somewhere you can plug it in.

Dont use starting fluid in it.

Yeah this will be a summer trip so not worried about the cold. I've also been to Alert. Good library of movies lol

Ah, then you've seen the worst and drank the most.. Ugh.. I think I still have a hangover from that place.

Anyway, yeah. A disposable 5k truck isnt a bad idea.

One thing to make sure about any 7.3 truck is that it is stock. Try to find one that hasn't been tuned and hotboyed out. The biggest issue with them is they use a weak auto trans (4R100) but other than that the engines are usually reliable.

And also drank the worst lol

The 7.3 I'm looking at was a work truck and seems completely stock other than still having decals on the doors from the business. Looks like the company used it to haul around car and truck engine parts.