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hhendrix · 09-27-2010, 11:07 AM

Just got my new 2011 F250 Lariat Super Cab Long Bed 4WD 6.7 Diesel. It replaced my 2001 F350 same truck with the 7.3 Diesel. I did a break-in trip of about 1000 miles round trip from Portland, OR to Chico, CA. I wasn't towing and I added a Leer canopy to the bed. Incredible power, 400 hp, 650 lbs. of torque. Very quiet too. Not only is the engine much quieter, but road noise is almost gone compared to my 2001. Seats are better, the 6 speed automatic transmission is a major improvement. Still learning where things are and how they work. I love the Sync radio functions. Back to the mileage. First tank was a mix of street and highway and averaged 15+ mpg. Second tank was all highway with an average speed of a little over 70 mph. Mileage on the second tank was 18 mpg. Keep in mind the general consensus is that a diesel takes longer to break in. My 7.3 diesel took over 5K miles for the mpg to stabilize. I also got the tailgate step option. I had misgivings at first when I ordered it, but now I'm so glad I did. The F250 and 350's tailgate is pretty high off the ground. When I bought my 2001, I was 53 years old and my knees could easily clear the down tailgate by several inches. 11 years later and the clearance was getting down to less than 1/2 inch. It was only a matter of time before I missed the hop and my teeth ended up on the tailgate. I thought the grab bar would get in the way of loading materials in the bed, but that has not proved to be the case. More after I tow my 2009 27' FB Flying Cloud.

**GCinSC2** · 09-27-2010, 05:46 PM

Congrats and good luck with your new TV. I know many folks will be interested in the 6.7L Ford.

Well, where is the family portrait?

You might want to state hand calculated vs. trip computer as a reference for your mileage numbers.

THEPILL · 09-27-2010, 06:19 PM

Congrats.!!
YES< The trucks are amazing. Going to be the leader for awhile.

400hp and 800lbs of Torque.

Ask me how I know.....

Shane

nmgt350h · 09-27-2010, 07:45 PM

I have a little over 3K miles on mine now and the millage is very impressive… empty I am getting 17mpg in town, and 20 on the highway. I have logged about 600 miles of towing the Airstream and averaged 16mpg and that’s through the NM mountains.… last week I got my first speeding ticket while towing the Airstream, 65 in a 55 near Chama NM… guess I need to slow it down. This truck just wants to Go!

wingfoot321 · 09-27-2010, 10:11 PM

I have been told this new engine is actually a mercedes? Person who told me this did not know answers to questions such as - Designed by? Manufactured by? Manufactured where?

I thought I would wait a while until the higher mileage reviews start to come in.

There will be quite a market for this engine when folks become convinced that Ford has fixed their engine problems.

My neighbor is a contractor that keeps three-four turbo dualies on the road. He bought a 2001 7.3 last year to buy him some time while he waits for Ford to get this new truck on the market. He's a Ford guy only.

Airslide · 09-27-2010, 10:23 PM

I was told it a venture with Volvo heavy truck. Just recently Ford parted ways with Volvo but they have been sharing information for the last 12 years.. Ford will say this is all Ford development and not shared but I know the secret... counterparts in Sweden told me... Should be a great engine.. time will tell.

Vinnie

r carl · 09-28-2010, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THEPILL

400hp and 800lbs of Torque.

Ask me how I know.....

Shane

hhendrix · 09-28-2010, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingfoot321

I have been told this new engine is actually a mercedes? Person who told me this did not know answers to questions such as - Designed by? Manufactured by? Manufactured where?

I thought I would wait a while until the higher mileage reviews start to come in.

There will be quite a market for this engine when folks become convinced that Ford has fixed their engine problems.

This is an all new Ford built motor and transmission. Ford built a $600 million plant in Mexico for this motor. I'm not sure if the transmission is built there. Former Ford diesels were built by International Harvester under the Navistar name. 7.3 is a great motor, but the 6.0 following that was a disaster. The 6.4 was next, still built by Navistar and gets decent reviews. I think Ford finally had it with Navistar after the 6.0 debacle and some labor problems that affected the manufacture of the 6.4.

r carl · 09-28-2010, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hhendrix

This is an all new Ford built motor and transmission. Ford built a $600 million plant in Mexico for this motor. I'm not sure if the transmission is built there. Former Ford diesels were built by International Harvester under the Navistar name. 7.3 is a great motor, but the 6.0 following that was a disaster. The 6.4 was next, still built by Navistar and gets decent reviews. I think Ford finally had it with Navistar after the 6.0 debacle and some labor problems that affected the manufacture of the 6.4.

I think Volvo was involved in the development of that new motor.

backflow · 12-08-2010, 07:42 AM

We have a 27' 1977 Airstream and have pulled it with a F150 - 5.4 - An '03 F250 6.0 (currently) and we are now looking at getting a 2011 F250 6.2 gas or 6.7 Diesel -- Any thoughts on the gas vs. diesel -- My wife and I are retired and this will probably be our last towing vehicle - we do tow in the mountains where the 5.4 struggled some. We are leaning toward the diesel?

AirsDream · 12-08-2010, 08:56 AM

Backflow - there are many threads on this topic. I think it comes down to three major things:

First, a 3/4 ton tow vehicle will haul more, but I personally always max out on cubic volume before weight. And a 3/4 tonner will have beefier brakes, transmission, driveline gears, etc.

Second, you may not need the beef of a 3/4 ton machine, especially if you are mostly traveling in "flatland" areas. If I were you, I'd go to a big rally somewhere and talk to folks who tow with both and see how they feel about their machines. On this topic, the stiffer suspension of a 3/4 tonner is generally thought to be "harder" on trailers, conveying more road and suspension shock to the trailers. This is probably true, but there are lots of variables such as tire inflation pressures, load transfer bar settings, running gear balance, etc. to take into account in this calculus. I don't personally know anyone (myself included) who has experienced any trailer damage from tow vehicle suspension issues, but it is probably out there.

Third and finally, there is the diesel issue. I am personally a big fan of diesels (which are currently hard to come by outside of 3/4 ton vehicles), having had several over the years, in both pickup trucks and sedans. They have tons of torque and make towing a very pleasant experience, especially getting up to speed on on-ramps. They used to be considered to be much more durable than gassers, but it's not clear to me that this is still true. I've never kept a diesel past about 250,000 miles and have never had any sort of major issue in that mileage, but a well-cared-for gasser ought to be able to go that distance as well these days. All other things being equal (but of course they never are...) you WILL get better fuel mileage out of a diesel, because there are more BTUs in a gallon of diesel fuel than a gallon of gasoline ... but you will likely pay more for those gallons of diesel at curent prices.

At the end of the day, ya' gotta pay 'yer money and take 'yer chances. I suspect that I will always tow with a diesel pickup truck, but some of that is just me and my experiences. Talk to a lot of folks and you'll get a lot of opinions. Good luck!

backflow · 12-08-2010, 12:09 PM

Thanks for the info -- it is like you said with the 5.4 -- on flat land great -- going downhill or steep grades - not good-- however -- the 6.0 diesel obviously did better -- The 6.0 was a nightmare for us with repairs and that is the only reason we are looking at the gas - we have 200k on our 6.0 and no longer trust it -- like we ever did after a 100k%&&%--- however, we will probably go with the diesel -- we will attend some rally's and talk to some -- good idea --- Thanks again for you comments.

newroswell · 12-08-2010, 04:28 PM

Got this one Sunday. This is a shot of the Instant MPG read out on a quick 40 mile trip down I-5 doing 75-80mph. You can kind of see it has 170 miles total at that point.

It has the 20" wheels and the 3.55 gears (with electronic locking diff) plus about every other option you can get including the engine block heater. No plans to be anywhere it's that cold, but we didn't want the camper package with the extra springs and we got heavy discounts on this one off the lot.

flyfisher · 12-08-2010, 05:07 PM

I had a 2000 7.3L F250, and while it was a wonderful truck and engine for us, I found that I was just over the rear axle weight limit when loaded and towing our 31' Classic Ltd. Although I never had any known problems as a result of being overweight I would have felt better, in hindsight, had I gotten an F350.

I missed out with the 6.0L generation, although my best friend has had an F350 6.0L for the past 5-6 years (I don't remember his model year), and has yet to experience a single major mechanical issue with it. He claims that religiously changing the oil at 3,000 mile max. intervals is very important to keeping the engine running w/o problems - I don't know about that but it seems to have paid off for him.

I sold the 7.3L and got the 6.4L in 2008. It was also a great truck for me, but the only isssue I ever had in 3 years was having to make frequent pit stops to refuel that thirsty beast! On a VERY good day, with a slight tailwind and a downhill grade I could coax 15mpg out of it running empty.

I know that MPG alone isn't a justification for buying a new truck, but I just sold my 6.4L and have plans to buy a new 2011 F350 early next spring. Ford claims the average MPG on this engine is 18% better overall that the 6.4l's. From everything that I've read, the only persistent problem that I've heard about so far is that a number of owners have experienced some apparent minor intermittent transmission slippage between a couple of gears. I'm not sure that Ford has come up with a solution to this issue yet.

John

HiHoAgRV · 12-08-2010, 05:27 PM

I have a 2011 F450 dual cab long bed 4x4 with a topper at work...
13.9 on the highway - not towing and running +5 on the speed limit. Kinda glad I got a 50 gallon aux bed fuel tank! Hoping the MPG jumps up when it breaks in...

It does have so much power that I can't imagine anything giving it a hard time towing.

newroswell · 12-08-2010, 05:36 PM

John, I've been following the 6.7L diesel related forums very closely for the last 6 months, while I inched my way up to pulling the trigger to buy it. There are a few really good long threads on that transmission issue and from what I saw it was rough shifting from the transmission control module. It usually occurred while the truck was empty and driven very slowly with the throttle being feathered. The TCM is basically trying to learn when to shift based on how it's being driven. The new computer code released in the last few weeks is smarter.

The one thread has an actual ford engineer answering questions & asked that anyone seeing the issue PM their VIN so he can track it and make sure you're notified when the update came out. Too bad Airstream doesn't do the same here... It looks like the latest 'puter flash has smoothed out the shifting and ford is saying the transmission was never causing any damage (except maybe to the drivers neck).

If a 2011 Super Duty owner pulls his dip stick out, if it has the thin blade style it's build date was several months back before a few other small improvements slipped into production. If you have a cable style dip stick (which slides much better in the tube) you have a recent build. In any case visiting any dealer can check to see if you need any 'puter flash upgrades...

Job 2 trucks are being built now, I didn't wait because the changes are not to fix problems, only changing a few options with the 5th prep package, etc, I'm not interested in, but more importantly my dealer is motivated to sell what he has before they show up.

JBinKC · 12-08-2010, 05:39 PM

Newroswell: Pack up the babies and grab the old lady and the 8,000-lb Airstream, then we'll talk MPG. While you're runnin' down the road tryin' to loosen your load, your 23 MPG isn't legit. I'll be waitin' on the corner in Winslow, AZ, for your real MPG. Best wishes, John the Duramax Guy

newroswell · 12-08-2010, 05:48 PM

JB, you d'max guys really have your panties in a bunch lately. The new Airstream's having some options installed at the dealer, should weigh out close to 9,000 when we're loaded to go. I'm sure the MPG will be fine.

backflow · 12-09-2010, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBinKC

Newroswell: Pack up the babies and grab the old lady and the 8,000-lb Airstream, then we'll talk MPG. While you're runnin' down the road tryin' to loosen your load, your 23 MPG isn't legit. I'll be waitin' on the corner in Winslow, AZ, for your real MPG. Best wishes, John the Duramax Guy

i am with you on the 23 mpg -- Just went through the 6.0 nightmare where we routinely changed the oil filters etc -- costs a mint to repair time after time -- Hopefully, the new diesel will pan out like it sounds like!

slowmover · 12-09-2010, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by backflow

i am with you on the 23 mpg -- Just went through the 6.0 nightmare where we routinely changed the oil filters etc -- costs a mint to repair time after time -- Hopefully, the new diesel will pan out like it sounds like!

What repairs? 170,370 miles/4,300-hrs with u-joint replacement the single repair. 120k on first tires/brakes. 24-27 hwy, solo. 15+ mpg with a 34' . . . whoops, it's a Ford thread.