Tractor Hauler

GordoSD · Nov 18, 2009

The Stip Bros auction in SD is only 40 miles away, 1 Dec. Need a truck for farm and tractor hauling. Nice garaged one owner trucks. These are my picks.
Would you buy ?
1) 05 Duramax GMC (55k)
2) 02 Ford 7.3 (20k)
3) 00 Ford 7.3 (74k)
4) 99 Ford 7.3 (45k)
5) 04 Ford 6.0 King Ranch 18K (Spendy?)
and why?

Gordo

Anonymous-0 · Nov 18, 2009

Gordo where are you i am east of Madison have known the Stips for 52 years

Adrian Billheimer · Nov 18, 2009

Hi Gordo,
I personally am partial to the Fords, I have an '04 w/6.0 & 82k trouble free miles and a good friend has an '02 w/7.3 & close to 200k, he bought used 2 yrs. ago with very few problems.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 18, 2009

the 7.3 engine is bullet proof, I had a 6.0 and it was junk, spent $5,000 fixing it besides what the warranty covered, So then i switched to a duramax and realized what real junk was, I had it a month and a half, and got an 08 Ford 6.4 and have been trouble free since. Cant go wrong on a 7.3 or a 6.4 Ford.

forddoc · Nov 18, 2009

you didn't specify if they are 3/4T or 1T. That in my mind makes more difference GVWR is what I look at when shopping around and then at the engine equipped with.

Nancy Howell · Nov 18, 2009

Stay away from the duramax and the ford 6.0. Any of the 7.3 are a good choice.

IaGary · Nov 18, 2009

Don't own a duramax but a few neighbors do and seem to like em.

What's the problems with the duramax?

Anonymous-0 · Nov 18, 2009

What Nancy said.
The 6.0 has a poor track record.
Any 7.3 is bullet proof.
The Duramax is ok if your hauling lawnmowers or whatever it is the city folk think they need a truck for, but you want a Ford frame and drive train if your pulling 20,000 Lbs +.
A guy I know hauls 2 jeeps and 4 fourwheelers on a long trailer with his Duramax. He says the motor over-heats all the way up the mountains and the transmission over-heats all the way down.

GordoSD · Nov 19, 2009

I am near Mt Vernon.
I'll take the board advice and watch the 7.3 Fords. I shopped KBB.com for prices. Think the wholesale price is about 15% high. for example 2000 Crew, 4wd, 74k miles, $11,750. 2002 XCab, 4wd LB,59k miles, $14,000

Gordo

kyplowboy · Nov 19, 2009

Nancy,

What do you have against the Duramax? The only man I know who makes a live'n with a fleet of pickups switched to Chevy Duramaxes after have'n a few Ford 6.0s for six months. He trades after about a year at 75,000. He has tried a few fords the last few years but says the Chevys are still the best for his money.

bill mart · Nov 19, 2009

what happened to cause the dispersal(auction)? Bill M.

John M · Nov 19, 2009

The 7.3 is in fact a good engine, its just the rest of the drivetrain thats junk, and could have possibly been repalced by now, just my experience with the 7.3s drivetrain. The 6.0 is OK, but its a King Ranch, to yuppie for a work truck, by 04 most of the problems had been fixed. I have a Druamax now, and wonder why I didnt get one sooner. Anyone who says a Duramax wont pull, well, bring it on, Ill put mine up againt their Powerjokes anydays! All in all, all of those would be a good by.

Dblair · Nov 19, 2009

99 and 02 are great trucks need the oil regularly changed because of the injection system and the timing pickup needs replaced regularly because it just is poorly made . these are the problems friends of mine have with their trucks which are these models.

Kentb of SWMO · Nov 19, 2009

I do not own a diesel truck but was told the first Duramax engine had main bearing oiling problem to the point that they were withdrew from the market. When they re-appeared the oiling problem was said to be fixed. I DO NOT know this from experience just what I have heard.

Kent

Nancy Howell · Nov 19, 2009

I've never owned a duramax, so I don't have any firsthand experience. But, other than the posts here, I've never heard much good about them.

When I was shopping for a truck earlier this year, my mechanics (both worked for the same Ford dealership for years before starting their own shop) warned me that the Ford 6.0's had bad problems. They said the 7.3 was a good engine.

They do a lot of work on diesels and they also said the duramax had a poor track record. In fact, when I talked to them about trucks and diesels, they had a duramax in the shop that didn't have a lot of mileage on it and had some major problems. $5,000+ fix if I remember correctly. Logically, there has to be a reason why the duramax is not competitive in the diesel market. Perhaps they had issues in the early years and the bad rap has stuck.

Anyone know of a website (consumer reports?) that has long term repair stats on diesels? I'd be interested in looking at them.

GordoSD · Nov 19, 2009

All three brothers , bachelors, in their 70's died in the past 20 months. They had tens of millions of dollars worth of land also.

Gordo

4010 puller · Nov 19, 2009

I would say 1 through 4 depending on the prices and options. That duramax would be the LLY which had the external injectors making it a little better than the first ones. It is a allison automatic correct? The top 3 fords you listed have the 7.3 and they were the intercooled models which had more power than the 94-97 models, are they auto or standard? Fuel mileage will probably be the same for powerstroke vs duramax. The duramax would be more of a comfortable ride. You can have the same injector/turbo trouble as a duramax, things happen to vehicles over time but I"ve learned to just deal with it. I"ve had 3 dodges (a 92, and 2 01"s) and am now running a 04 duramax. Mileage is real low on these trucks for the years so they should all be good buys, just which you like better as far as options and what they are going to bring. If they are a regular cab they won"t bring much over 14000, if a crew cab they will probably bring 16-18 with the duramax being well over 20.

F-350 · Nov 19, 2009

There were several early Duramax's in my area and they spent more time in the shop than they did on the road.The newer ones are lots better.

RwEny · Nov 19, 2009

I have an 05 Duramax with 130k. I love it. no problems at all. I would buy another in a minute.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 19, 2009

i have a 06 duramaxx with a utility bed on it i carry a miller welder and a set of cutting /torches with bottles and the boxes are full of tools she weighs 10500 lbs loaded.it is 3/4 ton(but i had 3 springs added ).it has 122000 some miles on it.so far i have replaced both trans oli cooler hoses $300 bucks had the egr valve cleaned $100 bucks a air sensor $286 bucks and both front wheel bearings at $250 bucks each thats with me putting them on.all of this happened between 120000 and 122000 miles.maybe ill be good to go for awhile wish me luck RICK

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