My work went and did the unthinakable-- dropped $14k on a 2004 F-450 DRW w/ 6.0L Powerstroke diesel engine. Truck has a whopping 220k miles on it, and I suppose its only saving grace is that it has the nice ZF 6-speed manual and is 4wd, short wheelbase (regular cab).
Our fleet has always consisted of first generation ('99-'04) Super Duties, with V10 automatics. These have been next to flawless, especially given that our maintenance regime consists of change engine oil + filter every 5k, and drive them until something breaks. I think we've put an ABS controller in one of them once, other than that they've been bulletproof. Recently, one of our F-350 4x4 duallies was totaled when a vehicle pulled out in front of one of our drivers and got T-boned. This truck will be the replacement.
The owner of the business is uneducated when it comes to vehicles, but is a biased die-hard Ford nut. Can't blame him, given the ownership experience we've had thus far. Until now, he hasn't been exposed to the 6.0L, or any of the Power Strokes, so he doesn't know the history of the 6.0L and its problems.
My question is, what headaches do you think we've just brought upon ourselves by introducing a Powerstroke to the fleet, especially the infamous 6.0L and one that's at very high mileage? I drove the truck around the yard yesterday and it's remarkably clean and looks well taken care of. Clutch and tranny are smooth as butter and engine bay looks incredibly clean (and not the polished-cover-in-armor-all clean you'd expect from a used car dealer). Oil is a nice golden brown, shows no signs of abuse or past problems. Coolant and other fluids look good. Front rotors are so new that the casting marks haven't even wore off yet. So clearly it's had some work done recently.
I'm not in charge of maintenance, but I can make suggestions on service intervals and would like your guys' opinions on what and how often it should be serviced. This company is not one that is going to pour hundreds of dollars every month to do things "right," like many on this board would do. But a good, reasonably service interval (like oil every 5k, fuel filters every 20k, trans fluid every 50k) has a good chance of being implemented for this truck.
We don't do frequent towing, but the trucks have a heavy payload. They take two 300 amp welder/generators, oxy/acetylene bottles, torches, tools, equipment, etc. (they're iron workers) to the jobsite daily. A couple/few times a month they're loaded to the max GVWR to deliver material to the jobsite. In essence, it'll be used like a F-450 should.
Our fleet has always consisted of first generation ('99-'04) Super Duties, with V10 automatics. These have been next to flawless, especially given that our maintenance regime consists of change engine oil + filter every 5k, and drive them until something breaks. I think we've put an ABS controller in one of them once, other than that they've been bulletproof. Recently, one of our F-350 4x4 duallies was totaled when a vehicle pulled out in front of one of our drivers and got T-boned. This truck will be the replacement.
The owner of the business is uneducated when it comes to vehicles, but is a biased die-hard Ford nut. Can't blame him, given the ownership experience we've had thus far. Until now, he hasn't been exposed to the 6.0L, or any of the Power Strokes, so he doesn't know the history of the 6.0L and its problems.
My question is, what headaches do you think we've just brought upon ourselves by introducing a Powerstroke to the fleet, especially the infamous 6.0L and one that's at very high mileage? I drove the truck around the yard yesterday and it's remarkably clean and looks well taken care of. Clutch and tranny are smooth as butter and engine bay looks incredibly clean (and not the polished-cover-in-armor-all clean you'd expect from a used car dealer). Oil is a nice golden brown, shows no signs of abuse or past problems. Coolant and other fluids look good. Front rotors are so new that the casting marks haven't even wore off yet. So clearly it's had some work done recently.
I'm not in charge of maintenance, but I can make suggestions on service intervals and would like your guys' opinions on what and how often it should be serviced. This company is not one that is going to pour hundreds of dollars every month to do things "right," like many on this board would do. But a good, reasonably service interval (like oil every 5k, fuel filters every 20k, trans fluid every 50k) has a good chance of being implemented for this truck.
We don't do frequent towing, but the trucks have a heavy payload. They take two 300 amp welder/generators, oxy/acetylene bottles, torches, tools, equipment, etc. (they're iron workers) to the jobsite daily. A couple/few times a month they're loaded to the max GVWR to deliver material to the jobsite. In essence, it'll be used like a F-450 should.