Chevy Truck thread SCARES ME!!

[mitch2]

We just took our farm truck, drove it actually to the scrap yard. 1994 F150 2wd, 6 cyl 5 spd manual with over 240,000 miles on it. My dad made me after he crawled under it to find out if the clutch that was slipping was an easy fix or not. He crawled back out from under there when he said he could poke his finger thru the frame as it was rusted so bad.

I have been looking for many months to replace o' reliable for my husband and I came across what I thought was a good deal. At least until I read the "Chevy Truck" thread.

My husband had been out working on power outages the entire night before and was home on sleep time. And as was customary every lunch hour for the last how many months I began my daily search on the internet for a new farm truck.

My husband being the typical farmer, is tight. Squeaky. UGH. and sigh. And every day I would bring home possibilities of trucks. Too many miles. Too much money. Wimpy tires. O.My. I heard every complaint about a vehicle imaginable. I asked him on several occasions, give me a dollar limit. He could never give me one. I asked him to give me some pre-requisites. Nothing. He knew we needed a truck, really did not want to part with the money to get something he really wanted...but did not want to settle for something for less money as it was not what he really wanted. What a pickle I was in.

Back to my lunch hour... Lo and behold a new listing on craigs list, just put on the night before. 2003 Super Duty F350 4x4 6.0 Diesel auto, crew cab...decked except leather, spray in bed liner, bigger tires, new performance chip, 106K miles on it. O. MY. I call and the truck is less than 5 miles from my office.
It is like it was a sign.
I go over take it for a test drive and call my husbands boss who has essentially the same truck but a 7.3. He said if it was as nice as what I was describing for that price - BUY IT!
I bought it.... $14K
I drove it home and hubby was waiting at the door.
I am surprised he sleeps in the house... it has been about two months now.
It did require front ball joints.
Please dont' tell me this is a junk truck :bang:
I think poor hubby would crack... this is the most we have ever spent on a vehicle or a piece of equipment...EVER!
And I would never be able to live down a "told you so" I bought it without getting his blessing.
Please throw me a bone (?)
Michele

 

[cfpinz]

'03 was the first year of the 6.0 engine, I remember hearing folks fuss about a couple things pertaining to the engine but can't remember the particulars. Injectors come to mind, but I've never messed with anything that new. Careful with the performance chip, it can dump more fuel in than the engine needs and heat the exhaust gas temperatures up to a point where they can damage your engine. If it doesn't have a set of gauges to monitor the EGT and turbo pressure I'd install them before you do any heavy towing with the truck.

Congrats on the new truck.

 

[dun]

I had a 7.3 diesel, now a 6.8. The 6.8 pulls better out of a hole but the 7.3 got twice the mileage.

 

[Brute 23]

You read one thread on the e-net where half the people didn't know what they are talking about and let them scare you into a bad choice. :bang: Now you will learn from it.

 

[Thinbluelinetx]

The early 6.0's had problems with blown head gadgets due to weak head studs, and I believe they also had EGR issues. If you could get the maintenance records, that would help you in that department. I know hindsight is 20/20, but you could have bought a 7.3 in good condition for much cheaper than 14k. The 6.0 is a good engine though and the transmission is stronger than the 7.3.

 

[3waycross]

You read one thread on the e-net where half the people didn't know what they are talking about and let them scare you into a bad choice. :bang: Now you will learn from it.

I think she read the thread AFTER she bought the truck!

 

[Kingfisher]

It did require front ball joints. " How pray tell did ya'll figure that out? Who did that repair for you? What did they think about your new truck?

 

[1982vett]

They can't all be worthless pieces of junk.... and you only hear about the ones that are. :nod:

 

[TexasBred]

They can't all be worthless pieces of junk.... and you only hear about the ones that are. :nod:

Yessir....They'll all eventually have a little something wrong with them. Use it and enjoy it. ;-)

 

[mitch2]

They can't all be worthless pieces of junk.... and you only hear about the ones that are. :nod:

Yessir....They'll all eventually have a little something wrong with them. Use it and enjoy it. ;-)

This is some good advice... I guess nothing is perfect...

I am trying to upload a pic of the truck and I can't remember how to do it... :bang:
Michele

 

[mitch2]

 

[mitch2]

The topper came with... we don't want or need, so I am trying to get rid of it.

 

[mitch2]

I had a 7.3 diesel, now a 6.8. The 6.8 pulls better out of a hole but the 7.3 got twice the mileage.

Anything has got to be better than that 6cyl gas... I felt like we poured it right on the ground!

 

[mitch2]

It did require front ball joints. " How pray tell did ya'll figure that out? Who did that repair for you? What did they think about your new truck?

Well the man I bought it from said it was purchased and serviced at the local Ford dealership, so I went and talked with the service tech...went over all records, had them do a once over. They reported that right side was much more sloppy than the left, upper and lower ball joints should be replaced.

I took the truck to the place that handles all of our alignment and front end work. He told me the same thing, I had him replace and align.

There is not one person I have talked with that has not thought I got one heck of a deal. I hope everyone is not lieing to me.

Michele

 

[Kingfisher]

Well the man I bought it from said it was purchased and serviced at the local Ford dealership, so I went and talked with the service tech...went over all records, had them do a once over. They reported that right side was much more sloppy than the left, upper and lower ball joints should be replaced.

I took the truck to the place that handles all of our alignment and front end work. He told me the same thing, I had him replace and align.
That's all I wanted to know. ........I was trying to figure out how a squeeky farmer would let his wife spend 15K without letting a professional look it over. Looks nice!

 

[Anonymous]

I've got the 04 with 6.0, and its got 220k on it. 4 injectors, a high pressure oil pump, and egr cooler is all that's been replaced on the engine. Both fron ball joints, and a rear axle seal. Been chipped since it had 40k on it. Biggest concern on the chip is they increase cylinder pressures if not tuned right. Some chips are worse than others. My tunes are all custom from superchips. The egr system is the biggest POS on these trucks. Mine ha been bypassed also since it had 40k on it. That may be the difference on why this one is a good one..don't really know. The tranny is great, and hasn't given me a lick of trouble. If you need any nore info with specific questions let me know..I know these trucks really well, better than some of the dealers techs did

 

[bigbull338]

thats nice looking truck.

 

[TexasBred]

The topper came with... we don't want or need, so I am trying to get rid of it.

Mercy If my old truck looked that good I'd have to get out or it about every 5 miles and let my ass laugh. :lol2: :lol2:

 

[High Cotton]

I've got the 04 with 6.0, and its got 220k on it. 4 injectors, a high pressure oil pump, and egr cooler is all that's been replaced on the engine. Both fron ball joints, and a rear axle seal. Been chipped since it had 40k on it. Biggest concern on the chip is they increase cylinder pressures if not tuned right. Some chips are worse than others. My tunes are all custom from superchips. The egr system is the biggest POS on these trucks. Mine ha been bypassed also since it had 40k on it. That may be the difference on why this one is a good one..don't really know. The tranny is great, and hasn't given me a lick of trouble. If you need any nore info with specific questions let me know..I know these trucks really well, better than some of the dealers techs did

Pretty much what he said. With the ball joints thats just the nature of the beast. Heavy trucks are a little harder on suspension parts. If you have problem out of the EGR cooler, buy the egr delete kit. If you have problems with the headgaskets have the gaskets replaced and also replace the factory head bolts with ARP studs. Change your oil every 5000 miles or sooner if the injectors get "noisy". This will be beneficial to the HPOP and injectors. I change fuel filters every other oil change no matter what. Also change the coolant on a regular basis once a year or every 4-5 oil changes. This will help to keep from having problems with the EGR cooler. This will for the most part fix the downfalls of the 6.0L.

The problems with the 6.0L started when the EPA came out with the TIER 2 emission standards. Navistar had built the engine when the regulations came out. That put everything in a tailspin trying to design an EGR system. The problem with headgaskets comes from the fact that 7.3l's have a 18 head bolts vs. 10 on the 6.0L.

If your not very mechanically inclined don't buy a programmer. They are taxing on the HPOP (high pressure oil pump) and injectors. IMO that would be opening a whole can of worms. If you want a programmer or a high performance diesel buy a cummins.

The days of the bullet proof diesel engine are dead and gone. They died with the 12v cummins and early 7.3L powerstroke. All newer diesel have their downfalls. 24v cummins has the crappy Bosch VP44 injection pump. Common rail 5.9 cummins sometimes have injector issues. Thenew 6.7's all have EGR and DPF systems. 6.0Ls are already stated above. 6.4L powerstroke and the new 6.7L ford scorpion engine also have EGR and DPF also. 6.5L GM diesel were turds. The early duramax had a injector issues also. Most of the issues were fixed with the LLY. IMO the LBZ duramax and 5.9 common rail cummins are the best of all diesel engines built after 1998 or so.

Mitch2 if you have any questions feel free to pm me.

Randy

 

[tncattle]

I've got a 2004 Dodge 2500 4x4 5.9 Cummins. I bought it with 192K miles on it and knew the owner had driven it 140 miles round trip 5 days a week on the interstate to and from work. He had it maintained regular at the dealer and I got all the records. It runs great (now 215K miles) with original tranny. He never pulled anything, just drove it--I put the goose-neck ball in it and it pulls good. I think the tranny could be stronger but it pulls better than my old 97 F-350 7.3 did. If Dodge can ever put a tranny that equals the Allison or better then they will be hard to beat. They all have power but the key is putting it to the ground through the tranny. My Dodge does pull much better than the Ford did from a dead stop, it has better grunt if you will. Oh yeah, the Dodge will get 18-20 mpg when not pulling if I drive it easy.