Ford Longevity - Montana Owners Club

SlickWillie · 08-03-2008, 02:07 AM

Talked to my son in East TX earlier this week. Was telling me about a service call he made. Found the folks grew up near my hometown in LA. The fellow did hot shot service with a 2000 Ford 250 diesel. He invited my son to take a look at the odometer; 875,000 miles with only an injector changed out. Same fluid still in the tranny. I don't think he pulled a trailer, but has specialized racks to carry some type of oilfield pipes used in blasting wells. Not being a Ford owner, I don't know which engine it is, 7.3 or 6.0, but undoubtedly, he got a good 'un.

HamRad · 08-03-2008, 03:02 AM

Almost for certain it is a 7.3. The 6.0 didn't arrive until 2003 or so. I got one of the last 7.3s and I got mine in later 2002.

The 7.3s are noted for their longevity and dependability. Didn't want to take a chance with the newer engine. So far I'm relatively happy.

HamRad

steves · 08-03-2008, 03:05 AM

The 2000 yr - it would be a 7.3. I've seen them with over 350K. If it wasn't for emissions Ford would probably still have the 7.3 as their base diesel. I have a friend who tows professionally and he has over 275K on a 6.0.- he did have some injectors replaced. I think all the big 3 diesel will give you the longevity if not abused.

Jim Dickey · 08-03-2008, 05:03 AM

I'm running a 1996 7.3 have 130,000 miles on it, have pulled a 25ft, 31ft tt and now a 327 Mountianeer. The only work that has been done to it is Ford has replaced the CPS. Get approx. 10 towing and 18 not. Plan on keeping truck several more years.

richfaa · 08-03-2008, 05:08 AM

I have run both Cummins and International diesels (busses) with over 300K miles on them. In fact we have 2 small gas (chevy) busses with over 180K miles on them. The newer motors will last a long time with proper care.. The truck, however, will fall apart long before the motor wears out.

Fire5er · 08-03-2008, 05:32 AM

I had a 2000 7.3L F-250 LB 4x4 prior to my current 2006 6.0L LB 4x4, and if it wasn't for the Tow Command system on the new truck I would have never switched. The 7.3L is a great motor.

Charlie · 08-03-2008, 06:19 AM

Mine is a 2001 7.3 with 105K miles. Only problem so far has been the CPS, replaced once because of failure and the second time on a recall for the upgraded CPS.

tcorbitt · 08-03-2008, 11:25 AM

Sounds like a tampered ODO. A strange thing some people do with Diesels.. the typical, come see for yourself, I have 875K miles on this baby.

Not likely on a MY2000. Even if purchased in 1999 and it has been driven for 9 years, that would be 100K/year. A vehicle would have to be driven 40-50hours/week every week for the past 9 years to get that kind of mileage. No company would have a service person behind the wheel 40-50hours a week every week. He would never have time to work and make money.

One injector in 875K miles, not possible, original Trans Fluid. No way. 375K I can believe, but not 875K!

TLightning · 08-03-2008, 02:41 PM

Sorry, but IMHO, no way that truck could have that many miles on it. To expand on tcorbitt's numbers...if it is eight years old, that's nearly 110k year/9,200# per month/2300# per week/460 miles per five day work week. Original trans fluid...could not happen. When/if my truck gets to that many miles, the trans fluid will have been changed 35 times.

exav8tr · 08-03-2008, 05:09 PM

Yep, sounds like wishful thinking to me!!!!!

SlickWillie · 08-04-2008, 03:04 AM

HA! I don't know how the miles got on the odometer. I just know my son was at the guy's house when he called me. I just wouldn't understand anyone adding miles to an odometer for bragging rights. Maybe so. I would go the other way with it. My son is not a Ford fan by any means. He's drives a Chevy Duramax.

I took by the conversation I had with him the man was self employed. The actual reason he called was that the fellow played on the LSU football team back in the 60's, IIRC. Being from LA, I am a Tiger fan. His wife grew up around the same area I did.

So, take it for what it's worth. I could care less, just found it interesting. And I sure wouldn't be changing the transmission fluid 35 times. Different strokes for different folks though.

bigred715 · 08-04-2008, 01:23 PM

I would still be driving my 2001 F-250 7.3 if I hadn't totaled it on our first major trip after retirement. Was a great truck up to that point and only had 18,000 miles on it after 4yrs.

jim n deb · 08-05-2008, 01:07 AM

There was a fellow in western ohio who had a 94 dodge that had over a million miles. This was back in 2005. He pulled rv for a living the article in the paper didn't say any more than that. jim

John Bowers · 08-05-2008, 06:21 AM

in the original message, mention was made of the driver doing "hot shot" service. This is a business where long-distance hauls are made for emergency door-to-door freight delivery. My company utilizes a local business for such services, and we are usually sending the driver from Atlanta to Toronto, or Cleveland, or some other northern locale. We do so a couple times each week, and I know we are not the only customer for this business. Therefore, I don't doubt high mileage business needs for certain vehicles.

An additional example is my brother-in-law's business. He drives a Chevy van for Henry Schein dental/medical services. His territory is western Georgia, and he averages over 2,000 miles per week.

My truck is a 1999 F-350 with the 7.3 TD, and I only have 96,000 miles on it. The engine is fantastic, and can pull my 2007 3400RL over Monteagle accelerating in 4th gear. My only complaint about the vehicle is that it has a shimmy over 63 MPH. If I can get that fixed, I'm happy. The only thing that would make me happier would be if my 2002 GMC Denali could pull the Monty.

John

sreigle · 08-06-2008, 04:11 AM

On my calculator that works out to 374 miles per day, five days per week, for 9 years. That's a lot of miles, but not impossible, especially if he's running around to various oil rigs. I don't know what 'hot shot service' is but it sounds like it may be oil rig related to me.

Whether the single injector is accurate is not something we can know but I think the mileage is possible, albeit not something we'd often see. Those 7.3's are known for running a long time.

lightningjack11 · 08-09-2008, 04:33 AM

Just upgraded my old 97 to a 2002 PSD with 65000 miles. Looks like I got a lot service left.

Charlie · 08-09-2008, 04:10 PM

Tom-
Sounds like you found a great deal. Not many 2002's with that few miles. Mine is an '01 with 105K.

lightningjack11 · 08-09-2008, 04:30 PM

Charlie

Yes I did. I absolutely love the truck. Get to try it out towing Florida to Kansas next month. I had to pay about 13500 difference but it was well worth it. Maybe I will update my pix when I get a good one on the road. It is a crew cab which is what I required.

I am still making a decision on installing a "Vegistroke" kit. Maybe get serious after the trip.

sreigle · 08-23-2008, 01:00 PM

Good to see you back on the forum, Tom. We missed your sense of humor and intelligent posts.

lightningjack11 · 08-23-2008, 03:00 PM

Thanks Steve, I check in from time to time mainly for reading. But I always think about you guys. I like to post once in while just so the Lady won't de-activate me. There is always good info here.

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