New to Me Tow Ride

[mmandley]

I finally pulled the trigger and got a bigger truck to pull my boat with. Ive been thinking of towing some other things lately so i decided if i could swing it i would buy a new truck.

I really wanted a new 2010 Dodge Cummings but i can fork out the 55K for what i want so i scaled it down a little LOL. I have always liked the Fords and i have to admit i don't like the 08 up F250-F350 Super Duty. I just don't like the front end. I really like the front end on my 06.

What i decided to do was get a like new 06.

This is what i got.

06 Black F350 Crew Cab 4x4 6.0 Turbo Diesel. Lariat package.
It has full leather, power everything like you expect.
Sunroof
Power Rear Sliding window.
Heated Mirrors
Full Power seats
Heated Seats
6 Disk changer with I Phone MP3 cable
Auto Climate Control
Front End Leveling kit

This thing is a huge beast of a truck, and as soon as i drove it i loved it LOL.

It also only has 46K miles and after my deal and trade in of Big Blue i paid 16K plus 4/48 complete warranty.

Wont have any issues on pulling Fierah now.

Got Ying and Yang for colors scheme. I really wanted a white truck to match but just couldn't get a solid white one.

Newty this truck will look bad ass in front of your boat bro but i got my own Ebony and Ivory now LOL.

[mmandley]

Few more shots of the black beauty.

[zegm]

Congradulations on your new tow vehicle!

Don't you just love Diesel Power! :D

[BRANDNIRON8971]

She's a beuty Mike,Congrats

[jmvotto]

Mike, awesome looking truck.!! Congrats.

Is that going to get the EXILE upgrade too?:p

[mmandley]

Mike, awesome looking truck.!! Congrats.

Is that going to get the EXILE upgrade too?:p

Well it wouldn't be very good to roll out to the lake with a whimpy system in my big azz truck and let my boat blow her away.

Yea ill be upgrading it but nothing to the level the boat has. New speakers and a pair of the smaller Exile Amps. Need to figure out a decent sub situation for it.

Claudia already put the brakes on me now LOL. I'm pretty much done spending any money on toys till next year haha.

< whistles Happy Birthday to me > LOL

[kaneboats]

Very nice! Now you can get an XLV.

[mmandley]

Very nice! Now you can get an XLV.

No sir i can tow an XLV still wouldnt fit in the garage LOL.

[thesack]

Congrats on your new truck. If you want a programmer for your truck my dad has one from his 06 that he is no longer using. Its the Edge Evolution http://www.edgeproducts.com/product.php?pk=54&pvk=217 The exhaust temp was never installed in his truck so that is still with it too. Don't know what he wants for it, bout I doubt its too much.

[you da man]

Diesels are the only way to roll. I'll never have a gas truck again. I have an 07 Dodge mega cab with the last of the 5.9L motor. I can't stand the new slant nose Dodge truck grills. My buddy has the same truck you have and it is nice...a little more noise inside the cab than my Dodge (even he says so). Ford has great interiors in their trucks.

[moombadaze]

Looking good there Mike.

[mmandley]

Thanks everyone. Wasnt a hard choice to pick this truck out of what i saw but it was hard to accpet another truck payment after not having any for so long.

I got a few minor things to fix on this truck as it is a used one but over all it was very well taken care of.

It should get some nice milage pulling Fierah around and maybe now we can take those trips to Fall Creek on Sundays to boat as thats my fav place so fare in Oregon.

[viking]

Nice Ride!
I went diesel last fall too with an 07 Sierra Crew Cab. Love it and won't go gas again. You can get tons of bolt on mods and more HP out of these trucks. Get your wallet out :) (shhhhhhhh......i won't tell claudia) :mrgreen:

[wolfeman131]

No sir i can tow an XLV still wouldnt fit in the garage LOL.

That big, ole' bad boy of a truck won't fit in the garage either, will it? :p

Nice looking ride!

[meech]

very nice!!

put some whistle tips on this bad boy ... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnzw_i4YmKk

[mmandley]

Viking haha yea i know lots of things are more expensive when its diesel but im really happy i was able to get one finally.

Wolfman nope Black Betty doesn't fit in my garage eighter LOL. I hope she at least fits threw the door to work on her but even that looks questionable lol.

Meech OMFG im so happy that's not a fad in Portland. I live 1/5 mile from the track and lucky only once in a while can i hear a whistle from the train. I cant even see why someone would want that in there muffler.

[newty]

Prick! Prick! Prick!
because 1 prick did not have enough characters to post!

[zegm]

Prick! Prick! Prick!
because 1 prick did not have enough characters to post!

Hummmmmmmmmm.....................this is over my head????


I love my Diesel, but I can't talk the wife into the 1200 dollars for the chip! :(

[viking]

I love my Diesel, but I can't talk the wife into the 1200 dollars for the chip! :(

Don't!! What she doesn't know won't hurt her :)
It might come back to you and eventually hurt you.......................ah - but you'd have had it for quite some time by then :D

[zegm]

Don't!! What she doesn't know won't hurt her :)
It might come back to you and eventually hurt you.......................ah - but you'd have had it for quite some time by then :D

Actually she has come in second in the nation in the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Solo II Championships a couple of times. If I got a chip then she would want a chip for her Jetta Station Wagon Diesel too (she was a diesel fanatic before me and talked me into one)! And if I start spending all of this money on chips she won't let me buy a Ducati Hypermotard which is what I really want.

Yeah I am working her hard for a street bike right now, gosh have been for a few months now. Maybe I should just buy her a chip.......hummm maybe that is the ticket! :D

[stretch55]

Good lookin rig Mikey! I am a little dissapointed that it's not a Dodge Lol! But as long as your happy with it. Black Betty huh, you got a name for all your belongings?? Lol

[newty]

I've been drooling over black diesels for some time (you know to match the boat). I'm just a tiny ity bity bit jealous. Mike you did that just to spite me!:p
Seriously bro beautiful truck! Maybe one day when I pay my boat off I'll get one too!:D
Mmandley knows my humor. (I hope):confused:

[zegm]

I've been drooling over black diesels for some time (you know to match the boat). I'm just a tiny bit jealous. Mike you did that just to spite me!:p
Seriously bro beautiful truck! Maybe one day when I pay my boat off I'll get one too!:D

Hey if you get a diesel you will save the money on fuel cost and will be able to afford what you want! In my case it was 15mpg vs 20mpg. AND almost twice the torque!

[Razzman]

Very nice! I'll bet Claudia has some sort of anti-spending device attached to him somewhere now! Ya know some kind of a shock device that zaps parts when he reaches for his wallet! :p

[mmandley]

Very nice! I'll bet Claudia has some sort of anti-spending device attached to him somewhere now! Ya know some kind of a shock device that zaps parts when he reaches for his wallet! :p

Steetch55. Yes all my vehicles get names and they all have female names. If im spending this much money on something and keeping it that clean and pretty she needs a name LOL.

Newty ohh yea i know your humor man hahah. I was patiently waiting for you to respond or text me or something LOL. I didn't do it just to spite you but as soon as we got home when i opened the garage to introduce Fierah to her new pulling partner i looked at Claudia and said "Man Newty is going to be pissed and say this truck matches his boat not mine LOL " But i have the Ying and Yang factor now LOL.

Wait even better, i got a little reminder of Newty each time i hook up because now i got the Black in the picture LOL.

Ill have to bring it by for you to look at Newty, but in the mean time OMG does this Diesel move. Shes all stock so now 0-60 in 7 or 8 seconds but when that turbo spools up and whines < love that sound > she rolls to 50 in no time and i keep catching myself speeding because shes quite at 1500 RPM lol

[zegm]

Ill have to bring it by for you to look at Newty, but in the mean time OMG does this Diesel move. Shes all stock so now 0-60 in 7 or 8 seconds but when that turbo spools up and whines < love that sound > she rolls to 50 in no time and i keep catching myself speeding because shes quite at 1500 RPM lol

Gotta love the sound of whining turbos! :)

[mmandley]

Gotta love the sound of whining turbos! :)

Yea its like when i put the duel exhaust and flowmaster on Blue i kept stepping into her to listen to the rumble. Now i just want to step into the Diesel enough to hear that turbo whine haha. I was surprised to see this turbo has over 40PSI of boost. She normally is making 16 running around my neighborhood. Looking forward to hooking Fierah up and making her breath a little as i know right now im not making her do squat driving with no loads LOL.

Ohh and Zegm yes sir yes sir im proud to be part of the Diesel power movement i really just didn't know what i was missing lol.

[newty]

Make sure you take good care of my truck! The boat sould be paid off next spring, I'm sure by then you'll be ready to upgrade to a white one. Heck I'll buy a white one and we'll trade!;)

[zegm]

My Touareg has 3 large grills in the nose. One in the center for the radiator and then 1 under each headlamp. When I first bought it a guy at work was saying to me "man why do you have 3 radiators, one in the middle and 2 on each end". I said "dude those aren't radiators, those are intercoolers for the turbos"! You should have seen the look on his face! My wife used to have a Porsche 911 and one day she got into a race with a Turbo 911 on the interstate and it blew her doors off. She said one day I am going to have a Turbo. Well when she bought her Jetta I said "babe your dream has come true, you now own a Turbo and she smiled! She loves her Jetta, and she should she gets 40mpg and they little thing will do 128mph!!!

[mmandley]

Make sure you take good care of my truck! The boat sould be paid off next spring, I'm sure by then you'll be ready to upgrade to a white one. Heck I'll buy a white one and we'll trade!;)

Now thats a possibility LOL. Just make sure it is a Lariat with all the options. This thing has so many cool things like...When you are done on the lake and you have the wet shorts, and your azz is cold. Turn on the captain chair heated seats hahahah.

Ohh man that reminded me of a funny story.

Buddy of mine was talking about his truck and he is older 55+ but he was with his old military friend. This friend was a Cornel in the military and very structured did all these tours in nam and all that good stuff right. Well they were driving and this guy was fidgeting and moving all around in the seat but he wouldn't say anything. Then my buddy finaly asked the military guy what the hell is wrong with you? The guy said idk what the F is wrong but my azz is on fire. The guy had bumped the seat heater on LOL.

[mmandley]

My Touareg has 3 large grills in the nose. One in the center for the radiator and then 1 under each headlamp. When I first bought it a guy at work was saying to me "man why do you have 3 radiators, one in the middle and 2 on each end". I said "dude those aren't radiators, those are intercoolers for the turbos"! You should have seen the look on his face! My wife used to have a Porsche 911 and one day she got into a race with a Turbo 911 on the interstate and it blew her doors off. She said one day I am going to have a Turbo. Well when she bought her Jetta I said "babe your dream has come true, you now own a Turbo and she smiled! She loves her Jetta, and she should she gets 40mpg and they little thing will do 128mph!!!

Honestly i have never been a turbo fan because they dont work off the line. You have to wait for the turbo to spool up. Ive always like Superchargers.

I will say i really like this Turbo and im a believer now LOL. Course im not looking to changing the oil at 3K all the time now because i know dirty oil will destroy your turbo. In the F150 i changed it at 5K

[zegm]

Honestly i have never been a turbo fan because they dont work off the line. You have to wait for the turbo to spool up. Ive always like Superchargers.

I will say i really like this Turbo and im a believer now LOL. Course im not looking to changing the oil at 3K all the time now because i know dirty oil will destroy your turbo. In the F150 i changed it at 5K

I am not sure who makes VW's turbos but they are variable vane turbos so I don't really feel any lag. Again I am not the fastest off the line but she does move pretty good. It is when diesels are moving and you go to pass someone that they will throw you back into the seat and leave everyone else behind (I have done this to a Mustand, a new camaro and a Maserati). They have so much low end torque there is no need to downshift, they will pull a higher gear easily.
OK Diesel Oil, the VW "pump duse" (some German word for the injection system) pumps the fuel into the cylinders at 29,000PSI!!! We can only run 5% bio as anything else will solidify (we were told it would make the oil back into french fries). Because of the wear on the cam turning the pump we have to run VW approved oil (some shear property) and if you lose your motor while it is under warranty VW will test the oil to see if it has that property, if not you bought yourself an engine. So I use Lubri Moly oil designed for the VW engine 15W-40. This stuff cost me 40 dollars for a 5 quart jug (cheapest price I can find online) and my 5.0 Liter Touareg uses 14 quarts so it cost me 120 dollars for the oil alone (the wifes little 2.0 Liter Jetta uses 6 qts). That being said the owners manual, the dealer, the VWVortex board members and everyone else I talk to say change it a 10,000 miles and that is what I do. But you are right the day after you change the oil this stuff gets BLACK!!!

[Brianinpdx]

All I'm saying is 2 things....

Damn nice truck!

and, you seriously need to marry that girl.

Congrats mike!

-Brian

[viking]

Course im not looking to changing the oil at 3K all the time now because i know dirty oil will destroy your turbo.

Mike,
Go to Synthetic!

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

this chip you guys talk about for 1200 bones what is its purpose and is it worth putting in ?

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

hey mike are those stock rims for the Lariat package or did the first owner put on aftermarket rims?

[viking]

this chip you guys talk about for 1200 bones what is its purpose and is it worth putting in ?

All vehicles have programmers for them now that they are really just rolling computers. They just help you get more of the potential HP and Torque out of your vehicle. Some have "chips" that are just pluggins that change timing and rev limiters and such. Others are programmers that you can modify settings the way you want and some even you can change while on the fly. They also let you change your tire size for correct speedo calibration and different settings for the different octane levels you might be running.

"Canned Tuners" are pre-programmed settings that you can load. Others like EFI Live are programs that you run on your laptop to really modify the settings. Depends on what you are looking for.

I have a Hypertech Chip plugged into my 90 Mustang and have for years.

On my Diesel I have a PPE canned programmer that has about 5 different settings. It really helps with power and gets better fuel mileage than the factory settings.

[viking]

OH - and there are several manufacters out there for both gas and diesel.

Hypertech
EFI Live
Superchips
BullyDog
Edge
Godzilla

.............just to name a few!

[mmandley]

I had an Gryphon on my F150 i wonder if they can reflash that for the Diesel. It was strickly a fuel and timming type computer and had lots of cool displays LOL.

As for my rims no there After market. Some dill weed sprayed acid base cleaner on them at some point and the insides of the rim are flacking chrome. The outside he wiped off fast enough but at some point i will be rechomming them.

Brian- Yes i need to do that and i will dont you worry you will get an invite LOL.

Zegm my engine has that Varible Vane system turbo its spooling at 1200 RPM and by 2K its pumping 20 PSI i misread the boost gauge it goes red at 40 but looks to read normal up to 35PSI. As for injection pressure idk yet. Ive been reading like crazy on this engine and drive line. Looks like i got the best of the 6.0 even though there general rep isnt as good.

Main problem with them seems to be when you modify them they tend to fail more often. So if i do change anything i think it would only be for extra milage. At 325 HP and 570FT of torque i think ill be fine LOL.

[moombadaze]

Wish the one of big 3 would put a oil burner in a 1/2 ton.

[zegm]

Wish the one of big 3 would put a oil burner in a 1/2 ton.

Chevy was going to launch their 1/2 ton diesel in 2009 and then the bottom fell out, there is much on the web about this.
And Dodge is also about to do something with a diesel, I believe it was related to a Mercedes diesel so that one may have left the radar too now that Mercedes is out of the picture. We will see what Fiat does. If you go to Europe now everyone is driving diesels and this is a good thing because Europeans also like to drive fast.
Not sure that Ford was going to do anything with 1/2 ton trucks. The problem is making them 50 EPA legal (notice if we dropped California they would probably be sold already). And the other issue is that gas prices did come back down. Now people will argue Diesel is just as much but when my wifes car gets 40mpg everywhere and she is a LEAD foot then you still can't argue, especially when this little 2.0 Liter makes 235lb-ft torque at 2000 rpm.

[mmandley]

Fill the rig up yesterday first time. 94 bucks for 28 gallons. I thin it has a 40 gallon tank as it was on 1/4 tank.

No biggie i guess.

I took the boat out and man its true you don't even notice the weight when accelerating. The turbo spooled up to 15 psi and off the speedo went headed to 50 in no time lol.

Desided to hit up Yale because i really wanted to drive on the highway and see my mileage.

Dam lake was closed. I was so pissed. 1.5 hour drive for a closed lake. Then drove all the way back to town and drove out to the Hagg. Spent almost 4 hours just driving, i was furious as i got to Hagg and all the days Clear Sky's and sun had turned to nasty dark clouds.

Still launched and after a couple beers i calmed down and finally took a few sets behind the boat. Water was chilly, not as cold now as its 60 degrees.

I will say i was a bit disappointed in Black Betty for mileage. After all that driving i still only averaged 12 MPG. I was getting 10 in Big Blue. I expected to see a lot better and i really didn't. I had a lot more power, man did i have power no issued out running people on the on ramp, getting to free way speeds, no problem climbing the big hill by the zoo at 55MPH lol.

Is there Diesel tune up? Wondering if i need some attention and maybe shes not running tip top. I think i need a new idle arm as i have some play in the steering wheel too. Thought's??

[thesack]

Sucks that the lake was closed on ya.

12 MPG is probably on par for your truck. My dad had 2 Ford with the 6.0L diesel in them. All of the trucks my dad has owned get approx. 125K-150K miles of freeway driving put on them before he trades them in. He rarely towes anything, so he mainly looks for fuel economy. His 04 was getting around 17 mpg and his 06 was getting around 14 mpg on average. With his 06 when diesel prices jumped to over $4 a gallon (about $150-170 at least once a week to fill the tank) he looked into increasing the fuel economy. He added an air intake, 4" exhaust, and a programmer which was set on economy mode. His mileage increased to 16.5 mpg on average. More then likely your best bet to increase mileage is going to be thru mods.

But to begin with make sure your air filter is clean. When ours would get dirty we would see a decrease in the average fuel economy after our monthly trip to Grants Pass for work. Also if the oil life was over extended, which was usually around 15K+ miles of use we would see a degrease as well. So check to see how your oil looks. If you are wanting to change it just be prepared for an expensive oil change as compared to your F150. Think the 6.0L takes something like 14 quarts. So just go to Costco and get the case of Delo. But at least the oil filter is easy to change, its just a drop in filter.

You could also change your glo-plugs, but I would think that with the mileage on your truck that they would be fine still.

[viking]

Mike,
Isn't there a river there close you can dump in at too?? Or can you play on that?

[Sled491]

I have a F250 SD with the 7.3 turbo diesel. Before that I had the Dodge. Here is what I've noticed. The Dodge had less power probably due to the inline configuration, but got better gas mileage. the Ford has more power but worse mileage.

My dodge didn't work well until I switched to a 4" exhaust, K&N FIPK and chip. My Ford needs the same upgrades.

My buddie bought almost the exact same truck color year and everything last fall. Has been in the shop twice now for major work. Watch the heads and seals on that truck. There's a reason Ford gave a 100k warrenty on the heads :(

So that all being said, if I were you I'd live with the stereo and upgrade the exhaust, intake and tuner first, then you'll be smilling.

[mmandley]

Thanks guys for the advise.

Viking yes we have tons of Rivers here. Claudia hates them all. So to make her happy we use the lakes LOL.

Sac, yea sounds like your right about my mileage.

Sled yea i read a ton on the heads and other issues these 6.0s have. I got a solid 4/48 extended warranty. Do you know if the 100K on the heads is a factory for the truck or only a 1 owner type of warranty?

As for upgrading the truck, i stopped by the exhaust shop and i got a 3.5 straight pipe already but it does have a muffler. They said honestly they would sell me anything iw anted but the only real change i would get is sound if i went with a different muffler and 4inch pipe.

I kept the programmer off my f150 and talked to PHP today. They said for 165 they will reprogram it to a Diesel, give me a new dash mun and include the thermocouple? Whats a thermocouple and where is it located?

Sounds like a good tuning start.

[zegm]

I have a F250 SD with the 7.3 turbo diesel. Before that I had the Dodge. Here is what I've noticed. The Dodge had less power probably due to the inline configuration, but got better gas mileage. the Ford has more power but worse mileage.



Inline sixes are awesome engines with 120 degree crank throws (anyone who has a BMW baby six will tell you it is the best engine in the world and it is) they are very smooth running and tend to make more torque than a 180 degree engine due to the piston dwell!!! But being a large bore means you lose efficiency, smaller pistons make more power per cc (cubic inch for you old timers). So a V-8 will have smaller pistons if the displacement is the same. Now because hp is a function of rpm times torque a smaller bore & lighter pistons will spin faster so you get more hp too. My Touareg is a 5.0Liter V-10 (500cc per bore) it redlines at 4500 rpm . My wifes Jetta is also a 500cc bore but they now have these 2.0 Liter diesels redlining at 5000rpm!!! The 5.0 makes 313hp and the 2.0 makes 140hp (current state of the art diesel engine = 1 Liter = 70hp, 5.0L x 70 = 350hp, 7.3L x 70 = 511hp!!!) , now if only VW would make a pickup!!! And to think GM was making a 4.5Liter V-8 diesel with over 300hp for the 1500!!! Probably had 5000k tooled up ready to go, wonder where they are sitting???? I have a thought, I wonder if Indmar needs some diesels! I would wait in line for a Diesel powered ski boat! Oh that's Right Master Craft had one! What was that a VW V-10 diesel! Hey but I don't have a 100k! All fun in the world of boats and truck and what could have been! :)

[zegm]

I kept the programmer off my f150 and talked to PHP today. They said for 165 they will reprogram it to a Diesel, give me a new dash mun and include the thermocouple? Whats a thermocouple and where is it located?

Sounds like a good tuning start.

A thermocouple is a temperature sensor that provides data for view or for control. Diesel engines are pretty much governed (the amount of fuel injected) by the amount of heat the cylinder heads experience. So these chips take away the factory settings and let the engines make more power but also more heat but not to the point of damage.

[Sled491]

Bottom line is that a Diesel is just a big air pump. Bigger inlet, bigger Outlet, it just works better. Exhaust temp is the determining factor with a diesel. Running too hot, get a bigger exhaust. I don't care what the guys say, if it don't breath right it won't run right,, simple as that.

Z I believe the biggest problem with a diesel in a ski boat is the weight, they just weigh too much. In order to get the weight down you need exotic materials which in turn drive the cost up.

[viking]

Sled,
Good argument for installing an EGT guage. Get things too hot and you've got issues. When towing large loads and taxing them uphill they'll tend to creep up a bit. I've got one just haven't installed it yet. Not looking forward to tapping the manifold!

The twin diesels in the offshore boats are impressive! Saw a couple of them down at SEMA last year! I'd like to see them on the water.