Diesel versus gas maintance

[sandman2234]

If what I have figured out from what you guys tell me, if I drive 30,000 miles a year, then it is going to cost me around $600 to cover oil and air filter changes plus buying a spare CPS sensor to stash in the glovebox. Does this sound about right? Add in another 6K for fuel and such and your approaching 6500 in fuel costs.
David from jax

 

[franklinute]

I think 30k miles driven maintenance will be closer to $1,000. Don't forget 2-3 fuel filters, 1 trans filter and fluid, 5 or 6 engine oil and filter, 1 air filter & a whole list of little items grease jobs, tire rotations etc.
When you reach the 50-60k miles then figure time for new tires, brake repair is coming, coolant replacement is coming etc.
On my 7.3 I keep a log of fuel purchase and miles driven. Overall I get 14 mpg. Lots of farm driving and hauling.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I plan on tires every 35K. I have had 4 diesel trucks and maintain a few others and even with rotations every other oil change its just what I get. Granted, I do 90% pulling at or over max rating.

Chris

 

[ModMech]

If what I have figured out from what you guys tell me, if I drive 30,000 miles a year, then it is going to cost me around $600 to cover oil and air filter changes plus buying a spare CPS sensor to stash in the glovebox. Does this sound about right? Add in another 6K for fuel and such and your approaching 6500 in fuel costs.
David from jax

You should need 6 oil changes ~ $90/ea = $540.
You should replace the fuel filter twice ~ $35 = $70

CPS = $35

Fuel = Driver and truck dependant, but $6k is a good estimate unless you have a lifted 4x4 or are constantly dragging a trailer, then $8k would be more appropriate.

Ford specifies a service interval of 5,000 miles and this is a good interval!

 

[sandman2234]

I think 30k miles driven maintenance will be closer to $1,000. Don't forget 2-3 fuel filters, 1 trans filter and fluid, 5 or 6 engine oil and filter, 1 air filter & a whole list of little items grease jobs, tire rotations etc.
When you reach the 50-60k miles then figure time for new tires, brake repair is coming, coolant replacement is coming etc.
On my 7.3 I keep a log of fuel purchase and miles driven. Overall I get 14 mpg. Lots of farm driving and hauling.

The current owner also keeps a log and I plan on continueing that paperwork. I did forget to add in the tranny oil changes but no filter in a standard transmission. Tires and tire rotations also were left out as well as grease jobs.
Since there are six tires, is there a typical rotation of which tires go to which position? I would assume that inside rear to the front, o/s rear to the inside rear and front to the o/s rear.
What frequency would standard transmisson oil changes be required? Anybody know what the capacity is and what weight oil is in them?
Another question is what is the expected lifespan of the six speed transmission? How about replacement costs, when it goes. Hopefully with my years of manual transmission driving, and a little luck (and some good maintance) this one will last past it's expected lifespan, whatever that is.
I had a 71 F 350 that we did an engine change on, and the junkyard motor came out with a ceramic clutch, so we left it. Due to the excessive wear on the previous flywheel, I often wondered if that was a good decision, but I never had any problem with it.(we did use my flywheel). Has anyone ever had flywheel problems after changing to a ceramic clutch?
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

One of my reasons for wanting to know extended costs is to be able to pay for the maitance as I use it, instead of needing to fund them as they surface. For normal truck useage, it kind of gets figured into the budget, but since I own tractors that I really don't absolutely have to have, and hauling them to the shop and our property 120 miles away really isn't a gotta do, since it is cheaper just to pay somebody to mow the property in Ga. rather than doing it myself. However, since I enjoy my tractor time, it allows me a little bit of leeway in my expenditures, but if I drop a bombshell on the wife, she might balk, which is why my planning keeps me tractoring. So far we are running around $0.22 cents per mile, which is $0.03 cheaper than the budgeted amount for the 1971 Ford F-350 (390cu"). I did well with that quarter per mile on that truck including a rearend and a motor changeout, but I did have some serious connections back then, which included a towing service friend who has passed away. Whenever I pay bills, I just add a check to the maintance account for the miles I have driven, and forget it. Keeps me out of trouble, and the wife happy because it is justifiable and not much money each month, but adds up quickly.
David from jax

 

[ModMech]

Air filters are "as indicated" by the restriction gauge, DO NOT over service air filters! The dirtier they are the better they filter. The restriction gauges are VERY VERY sensative to restriction, far more than one would suspect, so use them.

The manual trans oil change is every 100K or something, no reason at all to do it early with a good driver. I believe it would be a total waste of time and $$$.

Grease, this should be included in the oil change cost, in fact if you read the list of items they check or service most places include "greasing lubrication points". If it's a DYI thing, count on about $8/year for the tube or two you will need.

Tires, rotation depends on the tires you have. Generally the fronts and RR wear fastest, IF you rotate on a good schedule (5k or 10k) then anything that seems to make sense to you will work. If that is extended, I suggest keeping the tires on the same side all the time to avoind possible belt issues.

If you have steer tires in front and M&S tires in the rear, rotate the front seperately for obvious reasons and the rears inner to outer on the opposite side. This has proven to be a good option for even wear.

 

[clemsonfor]

You should be happy with your new truck. That vintage motor is (IMHO) the best that Ford ever offered. You'll spend a few more bucks on maint. (than gas) but mostly to make it last, not to make it run! It will take 17 qts with a filter change (allways) and keeping up on your fuel filter will add years of life/hrs to your (expensive) fuel system. I've got/seen the 7.3 with 7000+hrs and still going. And one thing that the new diesels can't do that the 7.3 can is run on heating oil! I use one off road and run red fuel only in it.

This is because offroad heating oil and onroad are all the same. All though some areas are still LSD instead of ULSD but that vintage motor can run them all.

 

[sandman2234]

The first diesel truck p/u that took notice of had a 7.3, pre turbo, as the driver was straining peanut oil from a french fryer in order to save from the rising cost ($1.30) of diesel. I wondered just how bad it was on the motor.
David from jax

 

[Soundguy]

I hear ya. sometimes you are in a situation and just have to hop in and go.

I was at work one night and a buddy called me and told me of a killer deal on a real cheap tractor in lousianna.. he had worked out the price and deal to buy it. it was kind of a rare model.. and priced way low. his financing fell thru, and at that machines price, other were showing up to buy it the next day. I got off work that night at 11pm.. got home by 11:30, had called a buddy to meet me at my house. he got there first and got my trailer hitched for me. We left before midnight and drove 75 to 10 and across .. got there the next morning just about 20m before the business opened. had breakfast at some dive of a roadside diner in a post katrina devestated area ( no diesel for sale!!.. I had taken 4 5g cans inthe back of the truck for emergency ).. got the tractor and was headed back home after being in lousiana for only a couple hours..

another similar thing happened. me driving buddy's BIL and familly broke down on the way home from a trip and were stuck in georgia.. again..I got off work at 11, my buddy had got to my house and walked my dogs, hitched my trailer, and picked up a bag of fast food for us to eat on the way. by midnight were heading up 75 to go pull em home. another friend drove up an hour ahead of us in a mini van and got the sister and kids home. the BIL stayed with the van ( 350 stretch conversion van ) to guard it till we got there. used the spare battery from my winch to get the truck to crawl up on the trailer.

was a bit of a trip but we got em home.

soundguy

I understand that! I went back into trucking after a couple years off, and started out teaching at a school, then the school moved to Orlando, so I went while I finished my Instructor's license. After that, I figured if I was going to be gone all week, I might as well make the money real truckers make, so i started training the students out of the school in order to finalize their training. Dispatcher's figure if there are two people assigned to a truck, they must be able to run 24/7 and it is a MAJOR challenge to be able to sleep the first couple of weeks while you break in a new student. Try sleeping with a stranger driving that you know can't handle the rig your driving!!! Makes power naps an art!
I understand about hitting the road for a quick trip to retrieve an item or a vehicle. Worse one I had was a firearm purchase that the seller was supposed to bring to Florida and at the last minute told me he was leaving for California and I had 24 hours to figure out what to do about it, and that he didn't have time to ship it. Since he had 4k of my money, the only thing left to do was fuel up the wife's Blazer and hit the road with my co-driver. We were back from DC before the 24 hours was up that he gave me to pick it up.6 on 6 off but should really do 5 because the 5 in the early morning gets LONG. My wife says men handle traveling fine, it is renting a motel room that they don't understand, lol!!
David from jax