I tow heavy with my F250 V10. 11000-12000 pounds (36' fifth wheel camper, kids, etc) and it has taken us across the country and back with good service. I've looked at diesels and am currently thinking of upgrading, mainly to get a newer truck..the diesel would be an extra as I've never had one in my vehicle yet.
If you're going to buy a Dmax you'll want an 06 or 07 "Classic". They started putting the DPF system in after that and mileage suffers to the point you lose any diesel advantage unless you're towing heavy all the time or doing big, big highway miles. DPF is diesel particulate filter which is a big catalytic converter that pulls the soot out of the exhaust. You have to clean this thing every 80-120 miles or so and the way they do it is to dump extra fuel in the combustion chamber or into the exhaust on newer trucks. This raw fuel burns in the DPF at 1200-1500 degrees and cleans the soot. The problem is that some of that extra fuel washes down the cylinder walls causing reduced lubricity and the fuel ends up in the engine oil. They call it "making oil" and many of these diesels do it. So now instead of changing the oil every 10K-15K you need to do it every 3000-5000 miles to get the fuel out.
The later 6.0 Fords can be great engines as long as you know what you're looking for. Run an OASIS and check with the diesel guys on thedieselstop.com, ford-trucks.com and powerstroke.com The 6.4 is a wonderful engine. No issues really other than the radiator problem, but Ford has stepped up on that to 100K miles. If you can afford a 6.4 or 6.7 then I'd go with the 6.4 as the 6.7 is too new to really know what's going to happen there.
Be aware of the added costs of owning a diesel. 15-19 quart oil changes, fuel filters every 10K, wet stacking issues from idling, higher fuel costs, heavier front ends, noisier, much higher initial costs, etc. They're just more expensive to drive and maintain. They don't like to be grocery getters...if you're not putting 10-12K a year at a minimum on a diesel with plenty of highway driving you'd better buy a gasser. If the truck is going to sit a lot...buy a gasser.
Bottomline is this....educate yourself on what it takes to own a diesel then decide if you need one or simply want one to impress yourself or friends. The costs you'll incur with the diesel could easily buy you lots of new powersports toys as well as a nice gas truck.
great post... i guess i shouldve put in there that im a Ford technician, so im familiar with all this already... i currently have a v10 f350 and love it... just not the 5 mpg i get when towin my toy hauler (19,900 GCVW) or stoppin for gas every 100 miles, not to mention the $500+ bill for gas on longer trips, i have to stop for gas 6 times at $70-80 a pop for a 400 mile round trip :lame:.
all the local dealerships around me have been offerin free oil changes for life on diesels for years now, x2 on the 06 or 07 d max, thats exactly what im lookin for as 06 is when the 6 speed ally went in and as you said late 07 is when the dpf came on. i absolutely will not touch a 6.0, agreed that it can be great and yea warranty claims did go way down for the 06 model year, but i personally have done way too much work on any year 6.0 to get near owning one, the 6.4 is also a crap shoot in my opinion, late 07 and 08 model year 6.4's rivaled late 03 and 04 in warranty claims for head gaskets and turbos, not to mention the "body off" has to be done to perform any engine work on a 6.4. why do you think ford only kept it for 2 and a half model years. besides my shop, ive looked at 3 other dealers locally and all of them had 6.4's gettin engine work done, one shop was actually doing a R&R long block 6.4... so im not much into the odds on late 03 thru 10 for a ford.
what id really like is to stuff a 2006 5.9L cummins in my f350 but dont have the $12k in cash to do it, found a guy in Montana that will but not cheap.
so anyway, thanks for the great post, i am educated about it (shoulda included that in the original post) and basically its either get a decent size cab with the d max and get average diesel mileage or get a tiny cab with the 5.9 cummins and get better than average mileage.
however i will admit, ive been lookin for about 3 months now and im seriously considering taking my chances on a 6.4 simply because i'm tired of waiting for the right d max to pop up and more than likely any engine/dpf related issues would come under the warranty period.
"At 10,000 miles a year (average driver) and 13 mpg average we'll use 769 gallons of fuel. $2.73 for gas and $3.13 for diesel. That means I save $311 each year on fuel or $26/month."
this sounds close but not right... when towing, i spend $400+ on gas for a 400+ mile round trip... my buddy who has an 06 d max spends $80 on diesel for the exact same trip. so not sure your math is right there... i mean your formula is correct if the numbers are exact but i cant see that... i do not average 13 mpg with my v10, not even empty. and 9 times outta 10 im towing so im averaging like 6.5 over 10k miles if you throw in the 1 outta 10 that im gettin 11 mpg empty( and 6.5 is being generous)... so thats 1538 gallons and $3/gl thats $4614 VS. the 14 mpg (714 gallons) from a d max at $3.25 per gallon (prices for my area) thats $2321.
the cost for me to buy fuel for a gasser vs. a diesel is more than DOUBLE over EVERY 10,000 mile period. And if you make the dealership you buy from give you free oil changes for life (which most will, if you simply demand it) you can erase that oil change cost as well.