[chrisM6]

Im thinking of getting an F250 diesel to pull my boat. Does anyone have this truck? Is it reliable? Hows gas mileage? And defects? Thanks.

[AndrewAZ]

I have a friend that has a duramax 2500hd. He has a chip in it and is really quick.. Never head of any issues with it. Gas milage is crap partly because the thing is so big, but when he pulls the boat with it he says it has so much power he can hardly tell he has a boat behind him. I have also seen a few of them with chips running 12 second 1/4 mile.

[quagmire]

While I haven't driven the new 6.4(?) Powerstroke Diesel, if it is anything like the 6.0, avoid it. The 6.4 has had fuel injector problems( though this problem added a very cool flame thrower accessory) so it may indicate it might follow the quality path of the 6.0. Blame Navistar for it as this engine was developed by them. Ford is developing a new diesel in house so hopefully it will be better.

As for power wise, the 6.0's I have driven, the thing takes forever to spin up. Power is like, " I will accelerate when I accelerate, don't rush me." Hopefully, the 6.4 with its two turbo setup( one small one and one large one) will have fixed that. I have driven many Duramax's though as a lot attendant at my local Chevy dealer, and it is instant power. Plus with the Chevy/GMC HD trucks with the Duramax, you get the Allison heavy duty transmission. Which is fairly bulletproof.

[TurboFan]

6.4 has had as many problems as the 6.0, if not more. International and Ford are at each others throats in court. If ford would have dropped a cummins diesel in.....they'd own the market.

The Chevy Duramax diesel is actually an Isuzu diesel. Not a bad engine, not a bad truck. The new ones are actually ok looking, IMO. I don't think I'd want one, but that's me. The Allison tranny is a good tranny. Best part of the truck.

Toyota has all but announced their HD / diesel lineup for 2009. That would be a good truck, Toyota knows a thing or two about diesel.

Can I ask why you want diesel? How big is the boat? I pull a 5000lb ski boat with my Nissan Titan, and I couldn't be happier. The truck is a monster on its own, and with the boat, it hardly even breaks a sweat. I'm pushing almost 400 lbft stock, and if you want to do a little work, 400+ is easy. A little more work and you can push 500/500 and 13 sec 1/4 mi w/ the bolt-on SC.

Here's a forum for the F Series HD Diesels: http://www.powerstroke.org/

[S_M]

If you want a real diesel buy a cummins. Ive got a 06 Dodge 2500 chipped, intake, exhaust, and a slight lift. We only use it for towing and its holding up awesome. No problems at all, the thing is bulletproof and it hauls ass. If youre towing on the highway it'll never drop a gear, and unless you have over 10,000 lbs behind it, you dont even feel the weight of the trailer.

We get around 18-20 mpg on long trips towing with the chip in tow mode. Usually a little less when not towing because i tend to beat the crap out of it...

[quagmire]

Originally Posted by reallyslow

If you want a real diesel buy a cummins. Ive got a 06 Dodge 2500 chipped, intake, exhaust, and a slight lift. We only use it for towing and its holding up awesome. No problems at all, the thing is bulletproof and it hauls ass. If youre towing on the highway it'll never drop a gear, and unless you have over 10,000 lbs behind it, you dont even feel the weight of the trailer.

We get around 18-20 mpg on long trips towing with the chip in tow mode. Usually a little less when not towing because i tend to beat the crap out of it...

Bad thing about the Cummins that is in the Ram is that it will be the only thing that wouldn't break in the vehicle. Don't get me started on my history of Chrysler products......

While Toyota does have Hino, I hear they are looking at CAT for their diesel so they can further wrap themselves with the American flag. But, with the Tundra HD Dually concept having a Hino diesel, that could throw that rumor out the window. Also, not to mention Toyota now owns GM's share of Isuzu. I also have heard rumors of Toyota putting the Tundra HD on the back burner for now. So that is up in the air.

Oh and GM owns 100% of the design and name of the Duramax now and the new 4.5 V8 Duramax is 100% in house. Awesome part is that where ever a Small Block V8 can fit, the 4.5 Duramax can also fit.