F-350 Diesel question

[Bud Williams]

What kind of gas mileage will an F-350 get with manual trans and diesel engine?

 

[JK II]

My 7.3L gets 14mpg but its an auto. Its stock no mods yet.

 

[Mike Dziubina]

what year are you looking at? 6.9 (pre 92), 7.3 non turbo (92-93), 7.3 turbo (94-03), 6.0 (03.5-06), 6.4 (07-09), or 6.7(09-up)?



manual transmissions are the ZF5 for the 94-97, and ZF6 for 99-up.



my 2000 7.3 (T444E) gets well over 20 mpg (i coast neutral when possible) and I do have a manual transmission. I just did an intake and the truck is straight piped. my last tank, full to empty, 32 gallons - I got about 550 miles. Current tank - im on 1/4 and i have 440 miles. I drove it hard this past tank though. the turbo spool after straight piping it is insane.



I just bought a TW tuner for it as well so power will increase and fuel mileage will increase slightly. automatics will see a bigger increase in MPGs after a tuner.



good luck finding a manual tranny though. took me 2 years to find the one I wanted. but I was kinda picky. they are few and far between though, and the manual tranny's sell fast.

 

[Bud Williams]

Actually...my son had a notion to sell the new focus we bought him and get a huge pre--1990 f-350?!? I said WTF, are you insane, he is 17 years old and smart and stupid at the same time. I feel that the focus is a great car that will last him thru college and a couple of years beyond....

He was reading and said he saw they get good mileage....the focus gets 30+



Just wante to get some real world input...

Thanks

 

[Mike Dziubina]

my son had a notion to sell the new focus we bought him and get a huge pre--1990 f-350

Boys will be boys. :supercool:



I can relate to your son. I am 22 years old and in college lol. I was never a car guy from the start. I has a 2000 monte carlo ss and i had it for about a month before i said enough. thats when I got the S/T. I only sold the S/T because i needed (ok not really needed but wanted) something bigger. And i wanted to get into diesel because its a whole different beast. Also, at a young age, louder = better. If you son buys a diesel he will never go back to gas. I crossed to the dark side and I am hooked. 2 of my friends bought OBS fords after I bought mine and they too swear they will never go back to gas.



it is a big investment, i know I dont have to tell you. Diesel is over 3 bucks a gallon but he is right, you will get better gas mileage. BUT, when something goes wrong, its big $$$$. an oil change alone for my truck is about 150 bucks (every 5k miles). That being said I would not buy a really old one, unless you know the motors well. They eat a lot of everything and all the parts are extremely heavy. if you do go with an older one I would highly recommend the early dodge's with the 12 valve Cummins turbo diesel. they are wayyyy better than the others of the time, parts are cheap and power is easily increased at good prices.



Honestly, the cummins diesel is the best motor. I am a ford guy and drive a powerstroke, but the cummins is the best. Ford is a better all around truck than dodge. Chevy's, well I am biased and would never buy one, but they have the allison transmissions and those are by far the best (auto) transmissions. If you are looking older, like early 90's, late 80's, get a cummins. if you are looking mid 90's, I would suggest either the cummins or the powerstroke. if you go older, my knowledge isnt as strong, but I know the IDI systems in older trucks are not great.



Not sure on how serious you guys are, and the price range, but I will help you out. feel free to email me if you get serious. I could make this thread very long. I know a thing or 2 about them as I did my homework for about 2 years before I bought mine.



Also - you mentioned something about wanting an older style truck. Well I know a guy selling a '89 K20 silverado with a 12 valve cummins diesel motor swap from a 1994 ram. the truck is absolutely amazing and the 12 valve cummins cant be beat. He is asking 9.5k for it. located in CT. he owns an auto repair shop and works at a dealer. he isnt a joe shmoe. I know it seems a little high, but to do a cummins swap alone will go for like 5 grand in just parts alone. not counting time and labor.

 

[Mike Dziubina]

ok did some quick homework for ya -



and, the chevy I was talking about is an '85, not an '89.



I forgot the early Chevy's had detroit diesels. they are pretty cool trucks. I dont have much knowledge about them at all as I was all cummins or powerstroke. But, I know that was detroit in its golden days, cant kill those motors. plus 2 of our fire trucks have detroits and they are still running strong.



there is a lot of homework that needs to be done. If you do get serious i would suggest joining websites such as powerstroke.org, cumminsforums, and local people/sites as well.

 

[Bud Williams]

Thanks for all the great info!

bud

 

[EddieS'04]

bud,,my b-inlaw wants a f-350 dualie. I asked him what for. He said, He just like them..LOL

 

[Bud Williams]

I like them too! But way too much truck for my simple needs!