Well, I did it! A new TV.

[AirSeattle]

After much debate with buying new or used, domestic or imported, I finally settled on a vehicle. The Toyota was unable to give me a long bed with a four door cab, so bye byue to my favorite automaker. Then there was the new dodge body style I really enjoyed, but I had to almost buy new to get the newer lines I liked, they were out. Then the chevy I really wasn't impressed with, so be gone with you. Then, I started to eyeball the F250 super duty. I was sure that I wouldn't be able to get what I wanted for the $$, and the factory site confirmed that, but I went to a ford dealer anyway. At the very first store I went to (I had already been on their personal site), I saw and was sold on the F250, super duty with the King Ranch package. Very sweet truck!

Overkill for the AS, but not my other construction trailer.

Pretty excited.
Frank

[4RXLA]

Good choice. Is it new or used? gas or diesel? I think you will be happy with it.

[AirSeattle]

It's used. 2008, 44k on miles and it's a power stroke diesel.
It's big, maybe a bit too big, ideally I wanted the 6' bed but this one was the one I liked. Hopefully it won't be an issue.

[AWCHIEF]

Nice ride. Better to have too much TV than not enough. I am not happy with my current TV and am looking for something more suitable.

[4RXLA]

It is barely broken in at only 44k miles. You won't even notice your trailer behind you. I have the 6 foot bed and sometimes wish I had the longer bed for more storage. But I wanted the truck to fit in my garage. Good luck with your truck and I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Now you can upgrade to a 3 axle 34' Airstream!

[Mrs.Mod]

You'll love it! We were never 'Ford' people before. We actually bought our 2006 F-250 Super Duty, when it was new, on a whim and it's been a really great truck. I only wish we had got leather seats. We have no trouble towing the AS.
I kinda wish I could use our Toyota 4Runner to tow, but we have a 31 footer, so no go.
I think we need a second, smaller TT just for the Toyota....what do you think?
Congrats on the new truck, she's a beauty!

[jmpratt]

I've got a deisel '06 F 250 King Ranch, too. What a great truck. Definately overkill for Airstreams. I've towed 15k pound trailers with it. No problem!

[AirsDream]

Originally Posted by dougsale

It is barely broken in at only 44k miles.

No, I don't think it's broken in yet. My experience with my last two diesel vehicles is that they finally wore in at between 65,000 and 75,000. Up until that point the fuel mileage just kept gradually increasing as the engine part finally got mated properly at the speeds (and thermodynamic points) that I usually drive. One of em' I sold at 200k miles (worst decision I ever made in my life!) and the other still has same fuel burn at 250k miles as at 75k, uses no oil, etc.

[AirSeattle]

With only one regret, I bought said king ranch power stroke with the knowledge that I was able to buy the larger truck AND get the good mileage.
I've only owned it for 24 hours (and I'm out of town), but when driving it it's instant MPG was hardly 10mpg. I was hoping at least 15.
If you own a 6.4L powerstroke, what city/highway mileage are you getting?

[DKB_SATX]

"instant" mpg is somewhere between useless and a lie. Run a few tanks of diesel through it, calculating the mileage on your own. That will give you an idea of what kind if fuel mileage you're getting. The factory trip computers are s little better than random number generators, but not all THAT much.

[Okotoks]

My father has an 08 f350 with the 6.4, he "was" getting 22 liters per 100km average, maybe 18 on the highway unloaded. He towed a 1998 dodge 2500 diesel on a flat bed 2200 km and got what came out to be 7 MPG!! Sorry for the metric/standard jumping around but hey,I'm Canadian!He installed a DPF delete kit and jumped it to 24MPG ( 10.0 L/100)
So if your state does not do emission testing I would spend the extra $1200 and get rid of the DPF system. I am a dodge mechanic and all manufactures have DPF ( diesel particulate filter) on their diesels as of 2007.5

[AirSeattle]

When I kind of decided that I was going to look in this direction (being the F-250) I was at a camp site and was talking to a guy who had the same truck, but his was a lariat with a 6.5' bed. He looked at his trailer (some massive white brand name I can't think of), and said he only get 9 MPG when towing, so I thought I'd get way north of that with my little trailer. Anyway, I'm going to check it out, run a few tanks and see. If it sucks that bad, I'll sell it and get something else. I'd love to be wrong on this one.
One thing is for sure. I'm glad I decided to leave my trailer east of the mountains (Washington State) before heading west, because heading over the pass (with trailer in two) would cost a few extra bucks.

[BillTex]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news...but when it comes to diesels the pre-emmision years (<07) and the latest gen (2011+) are getting the best mpg.
Some of the "middle" years (08-11), when the Mfrs were trying to figure out how to deal with the new emmisison standards, the mpg is not so great.
In the big picture, the Ford diesels have never been known for efficiency.
The efficiency "king' has always been Cummins...closely followed by Duramax.

The are lots of reasons to own a diesel, and I believe you will enjoy towing with one, but if efficiency was your goal...I think you should have done a little more home work...or listened to the Guy with the big white box...

Anyway, congrats on the new truck.

(FSO)

[Skater]

Originally Posted by AirSeattle

With only one regret, I bought said king ranch power stroke with the knowledge that I was able to buy the larger truck AND get the good mileage.
I've only owned it for 24 hours (and I'm out of town), but when driving it it's instant MPG was hardly 10mpg. I was hoping at least 15.
If you own a 6.4L powerstroke, what city/highway mileage are you getting?

My dad has one and said he gets 14 mpg with it, I think. The good news is that it doesn't matter if he's towing their 34' trailer or not - he gets 14 mpg either way!

Looks like a nice truck. We bought ours about this time last year (ours is an '06 F-250 - sounds a lot like Mrs. Mods', though we do have the leather) and have been pretty happy with it. We wanted the 6' bed, too, but this came up at a price we couldn't refuse, and now I'm glad we got the 8' bed - I wouldn't buy one with a 6' bed after having this.

[JFScheck]

Great choice in a great truck - but then again I might be a bit biased...

[cms4140]

Originally Posted by AirSeattle

I've only owned it for 24 hours (and I'm out of town), but when driving it it's instant MPG was hardly 10mpg. I was hoping at least 15.
If you own a 6.4L powerstroke, what city/highway mileage are you getting?

I owned an '08 6.4 PSD for a few months up until late last fall (purchased used). Daily driving mileage was generally ~11mpg. Towing generally ~9mpg. Then I got ~0mpg when the turbo/injection system went out.

But all is good now...

-Chris

[noreen&sal]

2000 F250 7.3 with 2 wheel drive extended cab 14 towing 20 solo. Sal.

[Travel Bird]

Love it!!! Love Ford!!! Congrats!!

[Hibby]

I have a 2010 Ford F250 diesel 6.4 L, and my towing mileage is roughly 8 to 10 miles per gallon with a 30 foot flying cloud. My mileage unloaded empty on the highway going downhill with a tailwind is usually between 14 and 16. I have increased tire size by one notch and gone to a slightly more aggressive tread, which has reduced my mileage by approximately 1 mile per gallon.

The onboard computer calculates mileage usually within about 1 mile per gallon of accurate (for a full tank), however I always hand calculate my mileage and I have done so on every tank since day one. I have tried everything from a Banks performance tuner to diesel fuel additives and have seen no positive results with any of them.

This is the only downfall to this engine that I have found; it is in fact an amazing and well-built engine. The problem lies in the emissions equipment, and I agree with the statement made earlier suggesting that a DPF delete is in order. Keep in mind that this may void your warranty.