Ford F550 with Triton V-10

[Corley5]

  Anybody have experience/experiences with Ford's 6.8 liter Triton V10?  Looking at a 2008 550 4X4 dump with 150,000 miles with one in it.  Early ones had issues with spark plugs blowing out or being welded into the heads but that was fixed in 02, exhaust manifolds may loosen up, and something about a PCV hose going bad.  Otherwise aside from liking gas they sound like pretty good engines?  Maybe?  Any other issues or complaints etc?  What about the auto transmissions in that model and era?  The truck looks pretty straight from the pics.  

[farmfromkansas]

I bought a 05 F-450 last year with the V-10, and a 6 speed manual.  Was on a Big Iron auction, located in Colorado.  Price was really right, compared to a diesel, and cost of driving down the road is about the same as a diesel when you consider diesel fuel is higher than gas. Mine has 192,000 miles, and runs like a top.  Replaced spark plugs and boots, fuel pump, and rear brakes, the alternator,muffler and tail pipe, and it is now in the shop to have the transmission fixed and clutch replaced, and talked to them about replacing the timing chains and coolant flushed.  This will be the biggest cost by far, the timing chain replacement is the most expensive part. Thing is the rear of the motor goes under the cab, and makes it so they about have to pull the cab off to work on the engine.  Intake manifold has to come off to get timing cover off. My plan is to get the truck in good enough shape so it will last me out. The engine is quiet, runs great and uses no oil. Manifold bolts are ok, no spark plugs blowing out for me.  Was advised to run some sea foam, as these engines do not like sitting around, or being stored. Injectors can get plugged up and cause problems.

[mudfarmer]

Am on my second one (99) first was an 06. You have the problems right. I think they are a good motor. Sometimes feels a little weird, sorta gutless? It is not, that is you changing Earth's rotation from the torque  ;D the 99 transmission is not as good as 06, funny shifts. This was slightly fixed when I had to replace ECU recently. 

The 06 had a steel coolant tube from front to back under the intake, it sprung a leak on way home from a job and overheated. Was able to run a new rubber line in more sane location for a fast easy and lasting repair.

[snowstorm]

Like I said before 05 and up have the wide front axle rated at 7000 lbs instead of the older one at 6 k the 10 wheel studs are a must have. I and others had trouble with the 8 and the payload plus up grade. That frame is twice as thick . For a 10 or 11 ft body you need a 84 inch ca. If loaded heavy swap to 245 19.5 tires that's what I use. Mine with plow wing and 5 yds of sand weights. About 25 k and handles it fine

[Corley5]

  We're going to look at it Wednesday.  My wife and I will be at a concert halfway to the truck Tuesday evening.  Taking dollars and if it passes our inspection, hers especially, I'll drive it home.  Talked with the owner today and he seems straight forward.  He bought it as a cab and chassis from out west and put the box and plow on himself.  First truck he says he built.  He used it to haul dirt and gravel as part of his business and rarely plowed snow with it.  The shape it's in shows little salt exposure.  The plow is extra and I don't want it.  It does have a fairly large dent on the hood and something on the driver's door.  Cosmetics of that sort mean little to my application ;) ;D  It'll need tires sooner than later and has recent brakes on the rear.  He says he'll probably regret selling it.

[21incher]

We bought  a new 2002 Winnebago 35 ft motorhome on the Ford chassis with one. It was a good engine but had to be kept at high rpm to have the horsepower to keep the shoebox moving. Ran best in the 3000 to 4000 rpm range. Loaded down with  the motorcycle  trailer on the back it was about 23k and we averaged 7mpg with a headwind, 10 mpg with a tailwind so the mileage was great and we had zero problems with it for the 20k miles we kept it.

[firefighter ontheside]

I believe the hood on that truck is aluminum, where the rest of the body is steel.  Maybe you could push out the dent.

[PoginyHill]

I had a '98 E-350 15-passenger van with a V-10. Loved it! Easily pulled a 6k lb camper. Plenty of zip. No mechanics problems. I've since had two 3.5L V-6 eco-boosts. I was surprised how similar the two completely different engines were alike with power performance. I'd not hesitate at all about having another V-10.

[Corley5]

Just got home with it.  Long drive.  It was 20+ miles east of Tiffin, Oh.  Lots of gas to get it to The Tip of the Mitt ;D  When traffic permitted I set the cruise on 80mph and it rolled right along.  Needs new tires and side racks built.  I'm going to start running it tomorrow on short hauls while the old truck is being fixed and once it's done it'll go back into service while racks are built for this.



 

 

[barbender]

Nice looking truck!👍🏻👍🏻

[GRANITEstateMP]

Corley,

I saw the pics of the new racks on the new truck in another thread. Did you get the old truck up and going again too??

[Corley5]

  I've got all the parts to fix it.  Driver's side bearing hub and seal, brake disc, pads, new ball joints and a new used steering knuckle.  I was going to get it going and run two trucks to get caught up but my buddy who was going to help got called back to pipeline work so I've been hammering firewood with the new truck.



  

I'm Back in Firewood and Wood Heating (forestryforum.com)

[Resonator]

I would suggest taking the other truck to a frame and alignment shop and having it checked before putting it back on the road. If it hit the dirt hard enough to break the front wheel off, their could be hidden damage. Nice red truck!

[Corley5]

A visit for an alignment is in order.  It racked it hard enough that it pulled the hose off between the air cleaner box and the intake.  Motor mounts etc. need to be looked at too.  I fired the old girl up the other day and let it run a while to charge the batteries which were dead because the key and hazard lights were left on.  It still runs good.  Poor old truck.  I like the new one but the old one was getting the job done. 

[GRANITEstateMP]

It'll be nice to have 2 rigs going.  When I got my second dump trailer it helped me get more organized with deliverys.  It did hurt a bit til I paid it off :(

[farmfromkansas]

That is a sharp truck.  Like the chrome rims.

[mike_belben]

Thats a dandy corley

[farmfromkansas]

Got the f-450 home from the repair shop.  Replaced the clutch, clutch slave cylinder, rebuilt the 6 speed manual transmission, and replaced the timing chains including sales tax for 5200.  Feel like that is a good deal.  Truck ran perfectly for the 70 miles home.  Have to look at that coolant line under the manifold.  Nice to be able to use 4th and 5th gear.

[Corley5]

I looked at the mpg avg. tonight and it's getting 7.2.  

[mudfarmer]

Nice  ;D That is a real sweet truck!

Mine seem to get near about the same mileage totally empty or completely overloaded. Used to cost $20 to go anywhere including the gas station but that number has bumped up a bit...

[farmfromkansas]

Don't know your rear gear ratio, mine is 4.88, but highway coming home from Colorado made about 12 mpg, loaded seems about like yours.  Last time I hauled cattle with my Chevy 2500 with the 6.0 gas, made about 4 mpg, so this old Ford is doing considerably better.  Handles the 20' cow trailer a lot easier as well.

[Corley5]

  I treated the old girl to some new shoes Thursday morning.  Falken open shoulder drives and closed shoulder steers and I jumped to 245s from 225s.  I've put almost 4,000 miles on it since I got in it to drive it home from Ohio.  Still getting 7 mpg with change no matter what it's doing.  It's going into the shop the week after Thanksgiving for a complete service.



 

 

    

[snowstorm]

Rear end gears was 4.88 for the diesel and I believe 5.17 for the gas. You will like the 245 tires I have had them on one of my f550 s for several years. For those that don't know lug nut toque is 165 lbs after that drive it 200 ft tighten it again then a couple miles do it again and then at 20 .that's the only way I have found to prevent breaking studs. The 8 stud wheels were bad. They never should have used them. And never use Napa studs or nuts they are junk. And for those that do there own repairs go to Ford parts .com put in your vin number and you can look up any part you want. If you sign up and pick a dealer it will show list price and your coast. I have a fleet account with the local dealer so I get a pretty good discount but if you order for the parts site it's less money. As the dealer told me it's less than dealer cost. And it comes from the same warehouse. In the northeast it Hartford ct. if you are buying Ford parts from Napa or any of the others you are paying to much

[farmfromkansas]

Have found that the weak point of the v-10 engine is the hydraulic chain tensioners.  The shop that did my work said they recommend changing timing chains at 200,000. Anyway, the hydraulic chain tensioners have a gasket that blows out, creating a leak in the oil flow, and lets the oil pressure drop, and your engine shells out.  So don't skip changing the timing chains. The kit includes the tensioners and guides as well as sprockets.

[wisconsitom]

Going to try and bid on this city's auction item-a 2008 Ford F550 1-ton dump.  4WD, plow hydraulics (which I don't need), decent dirty condition.  Was used as a salter and alleyway plower, so has had some use.

But I'm only going to do this if A), my CFO approves, and B) if I can grind a heck of a deal on the thing.  I looked at lots of online adds and it seems these rigs can still Bluebook in the mid $30's!  But I isn't going to go anywhere near that dollar amount.  Only looking for a sleepy sale, heh heh.