2008 Ford F550

[Bird]

Thought some of you RVers might like to see a couple of pictures of my youngest brother's RV. You don't have to be crazy to rig one like this, but it helps.

And yep, that's a wood burning smoker he bought in Waco and is taking to Ellensburg, WA, along with mesquite and pecan wood to do the smoking since that kind of wood is hard to find up there. And he made a picnic table this winter while down south that he's taking north with him.

The truck is, of course, a 6.4L diesel, with automatic transmission and so far he loves everything about it except the fuel mileage which so far has averaged 9.1 mpg without the trailer. He'll soon learn what it does with the trailer.

 

[MrJimi]

Nice truck, does he get 9.1 with the rack loaded? don't look very aerodynamic. What rear ratio does he have? I have the 4.88 limited slip and I'm hoping to get better than that and thats is one serious trailer he has

 

[Bird]

Yep, Jim, he has the 4.88 rear end. The 9.1 mpg has been with no load. Then for this trip, he loaded about 2,400 pounds on the truck, and with that trailer, his gross is about 31k pounds. He just came up from Elm Mott, TX, today, then filled up with diesel just to see what kind of mileage he got and figured it at 7.38 mpg as you see it. However, as I'm sure you know, a single trip and fill up doesn't always give you an accurate figure, and today he was going north with a 15-25 mph south wind gusting to 30 or more to help push him along. And you're right, that thing isn't very aerodynamic right now. Of course when he gets to Ellensburg, WA, he'll unload all that stuff for the Summer.

 

[MrJimi]

I'm not liking any part of 9.1 MPG empty
I have the 7.3 turbo
I don't know if I'll be liking this

 

[Bird]

Jim, he's been driving a 2000 F350 with the 7.3L engine and a 6-speed manual transmission. It did do better on mileage, but was overloaded even with the airbags he'd added to the rear axle, and of course it had over 150k miles on it. He told me that everyone he's talked to who has one of the 6.4L Fords loves everything about it except the fuel mileage and he hasn't found anyone who is happy with the mileage the 6.4L gets.

 

[JESSE1]

The new EPA required emissions equipment is what's killing the mileage. The new Diesel Particulate Filter catches all the soot from the exhaust. When the backpressure reaches a certain level, the engine starts a regeneration. This requires fuel to be injected on the exhaust stroke in order to burn the soot out of the DPF. You burn more fuel to get a cleaner exhaust.

 

[MrJimi]

I don't know squat about a 7.3 PSD but everything I've read says it's the best diesel ford made and I think International made it
I'll find out in time and anything over 10 MPG I'll be happy

 

[Bird]

Jim, I, too, have heard many times that the 7.3L turbo was the best. My brother just wanted a bigger truck than the F350, wanted a new truck, and wanted to go back to an automatic transmission. He says this 2008 6.4L F550 definitely has more pulling power than the 2000 F350 7.3L and he loves this new automatic transmission so far.

Now I grew up in the service station and auto parts business, did a lot of my own maintenance, shade tree mechanic, etc. and at this stage of my life have no intention of doing those kinds of things anymore. But under the hood of that new truck looks like a nightmare to me. Most of the stuff under there I don't even recognize and it's packed so full I don't know how you'd get to anything to service it if you wanted to. But I've got a grandson who is going to college and working for a Ford dealer learning to be a mechanic (I guess they're "technicians" now instead of mechanics).

 

[MrJimi]

10-4 on the technicians, they wear white coats instead of coveralls

I hope nothing goes wrong with mine? I have no idea how to do anything under the hood

 

[JB4310]

Most of the stuff under there I don't even recognize and it's packed so full I don't know how you'd get to anything to service it if you wanted to.

Bird,
The cab has to come off the truck to get to the engine to do any major repairs. I wouldn't want to do that out of warranty, no more shade tree mechanic, maybe shade tree oil changer but that's about it.
I have an 07 Dodge with the new 6.7 Cummins, it's still an in-line 6 but has many complex systems, maybe a tad bit simpler than the Ford but I'm only getting around 10 mpg also, that's all around town with no highway, on the highway it's up around 14.
Yup, from everything I've heard the 7.3 was Fords best, maybe not the highest HP and Torque but what good is HP and TQ with out reliability?

Nice looking rig your brother has, but like Jim said not very aerodynamic!, in the first picture it looks like he's pulling a van?

 

[Bird]

in the first picture it looks like he's pulling a van

Nope, the van's not attached; that's mine parked behind him. That's at the entrance to a Corps of Engineers campground in Hickory Creek, TX, on Lake Lewisville; about 4 miles south of my house.

 

[jinman]

And he made a picnic table this winter while down south that he's taking north with him.

Gotta love that "observation deck" seating.

 

[Bird]

Jim, a few things are not shown in the picture. That front bumper/grill guard has a hitch receiver in the middle of it. He has an electric Harbor Freight winch that fits right into it, then a piece of angle iron with two pulleys that sit on the front of that top deck and he has some 2 x 12 ramps, and that's how he pulled that picnic table up there by himself.

And here's a picture of the last truck he rigged for pulling his fifth-wheel. It's a 1991 Ford, 460 gas V-8, 5 speed manual, and the picture was taken when we were parked on the beach at Prudhoe Bay, AK. You can see the tool boxes under the bed, and on the other side was a box that contained a generator (his current fifth-wheel has the generator in the trailer). And those are barrels of gasoline we had on the back because we sure didn't want to pay Prudhoe Bay or Cold Foot prices for gasoline on that trip. We just siphoned gas from the barrels down to the truck's fuel tank when needed.

 

[EddieWalker]

Bird,

I think your brother is part gypsy!!! LOL

I love the way he created ways to haul everything around and be able to change locations twice a year. I remember you saying that he works as a mechanic at an RV Park near Waco, does he do the same thing when he goes to Washington?

I'm very dissapointed in his mileage when empty and have now given up any desire to buy a diesel truck. For what you pay at the pump and for the lousy mileage, it's become too expensive without any return in my situation.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Eddie, the brother who owns this truck and trailer is my youngest brother and he and his wife go to Washington state for the summer. He used to be an RV salesman for a dealer in Oklahoma and later in north Texas, and then he was one of the first RV technicians or mechanics for Camping World when they went from accessory installation only to full service repairs, also.

Of course, they go to Ellensburg, WA, because that's where his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandkids live. And his wife has family there, too, since she was born and raised there.

Our other brother (13 months difference in their ages) is the one who still works as an RV service technician. He lives in a motorhome, has never been married, and never moves his motorhome anymore; just stays in Elm Mott year round. I guess you might say he's semi-retired; still in the RV service business, but I think he spends more time golfing and fishing than working now. And the younger brother helps him with some jobs during the winter when they're living in the same RV park.

And I think you're right about diesel pickups now. They are definitely better for towing heavy loads, but I'm afraid their other advantagesm such as longer life, are pretty well negated by the higher initial cost, higher cost of diesel, and low fuel mileage. But of course, I don't know just what kind of mileage the Ford diesel pickups are getting because my brother's truck is an F550 with 4.88 differential.

 

[JB4310]

And I think you're right about diesel pickups now. They are definitely better for towing heavy loads, but I'm afraid their other advantagesm such as longer life, are pretty well negated by the higher initial cost, higher cost of diesel, and low fuel mileage. But of course, I don't know just what kind of mileage the Ford diesel pickups are getting because my brother's truck is an F550 with 4.88 differential.

There's a gentleman in my town whom I recently met, He was an independent over the road trucker (18 wheelers) all his life, told me he did his own over hauls on his Cummins right in his own shop. Saw he had a fairly large RV so I just assumed it would be diesel, he said "nope, not worth it" he said he would never recoup the extra cost of that diesel engine option package, which I think he said was close to $20,000.
He got his RV about 4 years ago when diesel was only $2.00 a gallon, with $4.50 diesel prices he'd of ran out of that dealer with one hand over his butt.

 

[Bird]

Yep, John, I've driven a diesel pusher motorhome with air brakes and loved the way it drove and handled, but I owned an even bigger (40 foot) gasoline powered motorhome. The difference in the purchase price and the fuel price just is too much.