Need some advice for buying my first DIESEL.
 

Hi everyone, Ive been reading this forum for a while as a guest, lots of great info. So I have an 04 F150 at 93K and have been looking around and reading up on all the threads before getting my first diesel. I really like the 09-10 6.4L and recently saw an 09 6.4L with 51K miles at 37K (dealer even said he could prob do 34K) Seems to good, and the test ride felt real sluggish. Another one on the list is a 2010 with 34K miles for 42.5K, test drove felt a lot better, and really like it. Lastly test drove an 07 6.0L at 70K miles, liked that too but would rather have the newer truck with all the goodies and the 6.4 seems to have a lot more potential. Most seem to go for the 6.4L even though the mpg can be shitty, I plan on a delete and tune, maybe just gutting the exhaust just to be on the safe side visually. I live in Norfolk VA, and planned on bringing the 2010 over to Twisted Diesel to check it out unless someone knows of a better shop.

So with all that just wanted to see what you all had to say. I know you can increase mpg with a delete and tune. I also see that the 6.4L is night and day once tuned, and would like to hear more from others on the before and after tuning. Lastly what do think about the prices, the 09 seems to good to be true for 34-37K dollars, something smells fishy. Right now I have a rental dodge Ram, and that Ford felt great. No worries on my ford, just fixing the real bumper after getting rear ended this past weekend. Figured it would help with the trade in.

Any feed back is much appreciated, thanks.

I Would look into a job 3 6.4 .. later 09-10 build date... they have all the later updates(t - stats, radiators injectors etc..)

plus transmission tuning is easier with the later version tcm.. get an oasis report on it..

do you have any pictures of the truck?

and good hunting :)

I have a 2010 f-250 crew cab short box with delete and tune and i love it from what i have been hearing its better for the life of your truck with delete and tine installed. plus its alot more fun to drive and the mpg is awesome!!!!!

Hey thanks for the info. Which tuner are you using and what mpg did you start off with. I plan on testing the mpg by hand calc when I drive over to twisted diesel to check it out. I know some are good and some not too good. Here are a couple pics.

I have the H&S mini maxx with S&B intake and 5" exhaust down pipe back very happy with that set up I was getting just under 12 mpg on a average hand calculated. I havent had time to hand calculate after all the mods but the read out says 21.5 in town.

I went with the mini maxx because of the shift on the fly tunning and it doesnt smoke too much( just enough) very happy with my choice!

Just helped a buddy put a 4" downpipe back flo-pro on a 2010 6.4 with an S&B air intake system and H&S mini maxx on and the truck is night and day, he's also doing the River City Diesel EGR delete kit and i think that is going to make a huge difference in EGT's and backpressure, but the customer of the shop couldn't be happier, cause it was a whole different animal, and the fitment on all the products was excellent, he went with a paper filter element due to not wanting to oil it all the time

Let me know if that is worth it for him deleteing the EGR. Because the mini maxx only allows the egr to do its thing when at idle?

I was leaning toward a Spartan tuner, only drawback is you can't shift on the fly, but its suppose to be the least detectable by the dealer. I also saw a thread that big angry hillbilly said they can see how many times your truck goes into regen, which they can tell if you deleted your DPF. Maybe spartan and others need to trick the computer even further, haha.

I think I will also do the EGR delete to avoid an EGR cooler leaks, which from what Ive read can screw up your cooling system with over heating and your pump cavitating. If Im wrong please set me straight.

Well right now I think I wanna wait until the end of the month and see if they will drop their price even further with their end of the month numbers they need to meet. Back in 08 I could have gotten a dodge cummins CC LB 4x4 for a difference of 17K. Right now Im hoping to get a difference with my trade in under 30K. Truck is awesome, just nervous about some problems guys are having and making sure the dealer will fix it.

Thanks again fro the feedback guys.

THREE important things you have to do to a 6.4 (1)M U S T drain the water from the diesel EVERY MONTH (2) M U S T change your oil every 5,000 miles (3) M U S T change your fuel filters no later than 15,000 miles. If you follow these three rules your 6.4 will last

Is the water drain in the same spot as the 6.0 was?