"New-2-me Tow Truck"

[Bill-N-Donna]

Just up-loaded a photo of the “new-2-me” Tow Vehicle in my signature. I’ve been driving it a couple of days to work and the on-board computer is showing an average of over 17/MPG. I've yet to actually calculate it with a fill-up. Not sure if it’s totally accurate but it’s better than I was getting with the Ford.

My manual indicates there isn’t any way to read the DEF tank level until it gets down to 1,000 miles left & then it gives you a message. I haven’t seen it yet, so I’m anticipating that it will show up soon.

[sambam]

Very nice, Bill. I'm sure you'll be happy with it. Congratulations. My '07 doesn't get that kind of mileage, but I believe the LML motor was an improvement fuel- mileage-wise over the LMM.

[DQDick]

Congratulations, nice looking truck.

[twindman]

I can squeeze out about 15-16 if I am VERY careful - creep away from stop signs, etc. And don't hit too many red lights. Every time I have to completely stop and start up I lose about 2 mpg. If I can cruise at 45 or so for 1 or 1 1/2 miles it gains it back. Some days I hit about 7-8 lights in 5 miles which sucks the mpg right down.
I think I got about 19-21 when I did a 120 mile trip on the highway.

[1retired06]

Nice truck!

[bigskyjimmy]

Sweet ride my man.I LOVE my 2007 LBZ Duramax but I would love to have a 2011+ Duramax..Congrats

[MARK A]

Nice..My 6.7 Powerstroke will go 5000 plus on a tank of DEF not towing. It's supposed to regen passively while towing.

Mark

[Former StClairSailor]

Congratulations on the new vehicle. May you have many happy camping memories.

[DarMar]

Great looking truck, thanks for the pic.

[bullroc3]

Nice find, Bill. Good luck with it.

[HOOK]

Way to go Bill! Ours has 135000 on it with no troubles. Did loose one glow plug at about 75000.

[Bill-N-Donna]

Actual Milage check today after fill up was 14.6.
Not quite what the computer was telling me.
Also got my first DEF warning and it told me I had 300 miles to go.

[mlh]

Very nice ride. You will love the power.
I was wondering what type of trouble you had with your 6 L Ford.
Lynwood

[mhs4771]

Bill, you'll see that DEF waring show up all over the place. I've never seen it at 1000 miles, generally anywhere between 300 to 600. Enjoy the Exhaust Brake and Tow Haul mode. I've got just over 90K on my '11 and still on the OEM Disc Brake Pads and most of that mileage has been towing, but with trailers with Disc Brakes also.

[Bill-N-Donna]

quote:Originally posted by mlh

Very nice ride. You will love the power.
I was wondering what type of trouble you had with your 6 L Ford.
Lynwood

Ok you asked for it so here it is! LOL
The EGR cooler went out on me twice while I owned the F-350. Each time I had billowing white smoke coming out the exhaust, more so the second time with a loss of power both times.

From what I’ve learned the oil cooler will plug up and overheat the EGR cooler. The coolant runs through the EGR then travels through the oil cooler to remove the heat. For whatever reason/reasons the oil cooler would plug up and overheat the EGR cooler. At this point the coolant would feed directly into the oil creating the white smoke and putting me out of commission until repairs were made. I’m neither an expert nor a mechanic, so I’m merely relating what I’ve learned and or experienced as I understand it.

The normal temperature differential should be about 15° with the oil being warmer than the coolant. The standard gauges never indicated any kind of problem either time. After the second break-down I purchased a set of after-market gauges where I could monitor the actual temperature and watch it while I traveled down the road. This gave me a lot more peace of mind. This was working fine with the temperatures running in a normal range and we enjoyed another camping season.

After about another year I noticed that the oil temperatures started getting hotter than the coolant temperatures and it appeared that the oil cooler was plugging up again. When it would get hot the gauges would get into the red on the oil temperature running about 220+° with a differential temperature of up to nearly 40°. At this point I contacted a mechanic that used to work for Ford and worked a lot with these engines. I had him put an after-market EGR cooler on to replace the standard one. I told him I wanted the “Bullet-Proof” brand replacements. Well I had both coolers replaced. I will say that the oil cooler he put on wasn’t the high quality air cooled one that is advertised on the internet at their web site. I’m not sure what I got. I also had him replace the head gaskets and replace the bolts with studs. The normal torque on the bolts was about 80 some pounds while the torque on the studs is about 220 pounds torque per stud. This was to eliminate a known head gasket problem that has been an issue with these engines, of which I never had any problems with. He actually pulled the engine from the truck to accomplish all of this work.

OK, present time another year has passed and the oil cooler is starting to show signs of plugging again. We made one short trip about 25 miles one way camping this spring and while towing I watched the temperatures get to a place I wasn’t comfortable with while again the standard gauges didn’t indicate a problem. This left us with what seemed to be only two options, Sell the camper quit camping/traveling or get a more reliable truck.

I drove past the GMC on the way home from work and told the D/W about it and we went to look at it. We decided that it would have to be. We purchased it the next day and the F-350 is history.

Time will tell but I’m confident with what little I’ve driven it, it’s going to be a winner!

[Bill-N-Donna]

I got the rails put on for the hitch. I will be able to use the same hitch as before. If I need to get a larger hitch at some point I’ll be able to use the same rails. Anxious to test drive the new truck pulling the Monty. I guess it’ll have to wait until next weekend.

[mlh]

Thanks Bill. With 350000 miles not bad service. Why replace the EGR? Just delete it. I met a guy last week with a 2013 F 350 diesel with 450000 miles on it. All the polution controls, the EGR, the DPF, the DF injection had all went bad and been deleted. It had also lost 2 injectors.
Lynwood

[Bill-N-Donna]

quote:Originally posted by mlh

Very nice ride. You will love the power...

You are correct on that statement. We're in the smokies & when I topped Jelico mountain I was showing 71- MPH. We had to slow down a bit at times due to the trucks & campers slowing traffic but other than that it would have kept me right @ 70 MPH all the way up. Our camper really feels much lighter now. It's also a smoother ride.