I bought my F150 in 2005, because the price was a lot less and diesel fuel has been costing more than gas here. My F-150 tows great. The suspension is perfect for our Safari 25 - soft enough to give a nice ride for both the people and the trailer.
So all is good... except long mountain passes, where the Nordskog digital transmission temperature gauge that I installed can creep up to 230 F. I added an Derale electric fan to the tranny cooler, but I don't have it working yet... the push-in radiator fin probe in the tranny cooler fins is not turning on the fan, even when running hot. I may have incorrectly installed it into the "cool" side of the cooler. My next step is to install an switch to turn on the fan manually to see what the fan is capable of. If it does the job, then I can work on the thermostat problem.
If I didn't have the tranny temp gauge, then I could be driving along in ignorant bliss... right up until the transmission dies.
I imagine that the 3/4 folks don't have to deal with this problem at all.
dmac.. I have an Infrared Temperature gun that I use all the time when out on the road towing. You could use one of these to pinpoint the hot spots on your rad for sensor selectioon. The guns work very well.
__________________ Airstreams..... The best towing trailers on the planet!
We turn the fan on manually when we know we are coming up to a long climb so that it's already quite cool by the time we get into the serious climbing. Typically there's a subtle climb happening long before we get to the actual hill so this way we don't start at an already higher temperature. It works well at keeping things reasonably cool all the way up.
Barry
__________________ The best things in life are health, family, friends and enjoying your Airstream in a campground. Wally on Bro
Barry & Donna Life is short - so's the door on an Flying Cloud (ouch)
If I didn't have the tranny temp gauge, then I could be driving along in ignorant bliss... right up until the transmission dies.
I imagine that the 3/4 folks don't have to deal with this problem at all.
dmac,
Some 3/4 ton gassers may have the same issues with the tranny overheating as the 1/2 ton you have. The question is: does a 3/4 ton (no brand in particular) have larger or better transmission cooling for towing grades? I am assuming that the 3/4 ton has a tow package. Anybody have a clue, maybe some of the techs out there know the answer.
John
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
When I bought our 2500 Silverado Duramax, diesels were on dealer allocation. I'll believe Bob Lutz assessment of the future of diesels when GM can produce enough to meet demand
__________________
Mike & Joan
WBCCI #1521 New England Unit
07 25' International CCD FB
06 Chevy Duramax/Allison
I have a 94 Chevy 3500 dually with a 454 (7.4 Liter) Gas Engine. My babysitter has a 07 Ford F-350 dually with a (7.3 Liter) Diesel.
We were comparing our trucks, because these trucks are virtually the same, except one is gas and the other is deisel. The only real difference was the mileage. The Deisel got about 16 miles to the gallon and the gas got about 6 miles to the gallon.
Neither truck has any problems with towing, braking, hills, etc...
Now it is important to point out some things that could be affecting the difference in mileage. The Chevy (gas engine) is over ten years old with 130,000 miles, and is over due for a tune up. The Ford (deisel engine was bought new a year ago, and only has about 20,000 miles.
Although his diesel is extremely quiter than yesteryears diesels, it is still louder than the gas truck.
Even though I have made his deisel sound better than my gas truck, I would probably still by gas, just because I like it. Although, I wouldn't be turned off about a diesel either.
But lets face it. If your buying a truck this big, your more conserned about having a truck that can move your stuff, than the mileage. Which is why we bought a commuter car, and only drive the dually when we need a truck that big.
When I bought our 2500 Silverado Duramax, diesels were on dealer allocation. I'll believe Bob Lutz assessment of the future of diesels when GM can produce enough to meet demand
hiker,
I am fairly certain that is not happening in todays market. The Duramax/Allison combo is still a favorite of many, and so it should, but Ford and Dodge both stepped up with new diesels in the 6.4 PSD and the 6.7 CTD and the competition is closer now than ever, although I believe that Ford is still suffering from the backlash of the 6.0 PSD reputation.
time
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
I am fairly certain that is not happening in todays market. The Duramax/Allison combo is still a favorite of many, and so it should, but Ford and Dodge both stepped up with new diesels in the 6.4 PSD and the 6.7 CTD and the competition is closer now than ever, although I believe that Ford is still suffering from the backlash of the 6.0 PSD reputation.
time
You may be right. In any event, Lutz's comments about diesels focused primarily on the small car market and argued that, despite the current hype, diesels are not a "panacea" for meeting the future fleet average of 36 mi/gal.
Not sure what if anything they have to do with gas vs diesel in the light truck market.
__________________
Mike & Joan
WBCCI #1521 New England Unit
07 25' International CCD FB
06 Chevy Duramax/Allison
dmac.. I have an Infrared Temperature gun that I use all the time when out on the road towing. You could use one of these to pinpoint the hot spots on your rad for sensor selection. The guns work very well.
I have a Craftsman Multimeter with a built in Infrared Temperature gun kills 2 birds with one stone. Use on the road to check tires and suspected hot-spots. Use on the boat to check wet exhaust temperature and hunt for hot-spots. Check power at camp site and so on.
You may be right. In any event, Lutz's comments about diesels focused primarily on the small car market and argued that, despite the current hype, diesels are not a "panacea" for meeting the future fleet average of 36 mi/gal.
Not sure what if anything they have to do with gas vs diesel in the light truck market.
I tend to agree with you on the relevance of his comments in relation to "duty" type vehicles like HD trucks that do more than transport people from point A to point B.
time
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
With the 08 diesels noise is NO LONGER a factor in any way. Take it out of the equasion. I drove a brand new F-450 pickup Lariat a couple weeks ago and I got to tell ya my old gasser is louder. Drive a new diesel from any of the big three ...and 08. I prefer the F-450 to any limozine....I truly mean that. I turns short.....drives like a car....and the navagation system is....OK..enough.....Noisey it not a word in NEW diesel vocabulary. I WANT ONE SO BAD I CAN TASTE IT.
With the 08 diesels noise is NO LONGER a factor in any way. Take it out of the equasion. I drove a brand new F-450 pickup Lariat a couple weeks ago and I got to tell ya my old gasser is louder. Drive a new diesel from any of the big three ...and 08. I prefer the F-450 to any limozine....I truly mean that. I turns short.....drives like a car....and the navagation system is....OK..enough.....Noisey it not a word in NEW diesel vocabulary. I WANT ONE SO BAD I CAN TASTE IT.
I have shot my wad so I am not tasting it like you, but after driving most of the trucks on the market, including all of the Fords, 150, 250, 350 and 450, the F450 is by far the most for the buck, and it drives really nice for being such a monster...
As for noise being a reason not to buy a diesel, I think most posters so far have agreed that noise is not an issue on the current diesel models, the noise complaint is only related to earlier diesel models, and they are LOUD.
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
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