300,000 mile Superduty?

[broncobilly_69]

I'm looking to by a 99-03 Superduty. I'm finding lots with around 200,000 Miles. I know the engine will last to about 400,000 but how reliable will the vehicle be. How many of you guys have 300-400k on your rig. would you still trust it enough to let your wife take off towing her horsetrailer to go someplace 1,000 miles away? Dead on the side of the freeway with a trailer full of horses is not a good situation. I currently have a 92 F250 7.3 IDI with 230,000 miles on it and it has it's issues. Neither I nor She would trust it on a trip like that. Just wondering if that's more age than mileage. Would I find a 250,000 mi Superduty to be as reliable as I want? I appreciate any thoughts, opinions, and experiences.

 

[ameristar1]

Hypermax is in my backyard, and they have a customer with a 99 dually that did a regular car hauling commute between Illinois and California. By the time he sold his truck, it had over 800k and the engine has not been opened up. Right now the truck is still going and it has something like 1.3 million miles. Give them a call and they can verify that for you.
I've never been afraid of miles, I'm afraid of poor maintenance. If someone has a truck that has been loved on but high in the miles, take it. With the PSDs it's all in the injection system and not in the longblock. The longblock will go forever, literally. I believe what this guy did was budget $5000.00 per year for injection system work and once a year went by Hypermax to go through the system. He had some of their upgrades done, but nothing that made the truck a hot rod.
My former work truck had almost 200k on it, and the only thing that made me buy it was the transmission was rebuilt a little while before the previous owner put it up for sale. I drove it from Florida back to the Chicagoland area, then used it everyday as a delivery vehicle. Only thing that happened was the high pressure oil lines popped, and that was from a sloppy install.
As an aside, there was a brief write up in Diesel Power from one of the readers who put 600000 miles on a 6.2/6.5 diesel; original pump no less, original engine, nothing rebuilt.
Only mentioning it because the truck you have now, provided it was given some TLC would give you what you need without having to deal with the PSD's only vice, which are the killer bills when she breaks on you.
I would keep the IDI and go through it with a fine tooth comb and make her right. The folks on this forum will set you straight about what works and what doesn't. The truck you have still has a lot of life left in it, and it's amazing what a cleanup, some paint, and a turbo can do for you. The new Moose and Baby Moose pumps and injectors really wake these engines up, and you can get your truck into PSD territory. The biggest concern I have for taking a long trip is whether I can field service the truck, and with the IDI you can easily.

 

[69oiler]

my SD has left me stranded twice in the past 2 months and it only has 183k on it. once the radiator blew up and once the fuel heater fried and took out the fuse for the computer.

the IDIs are simpler but in the end they will all let you down. i blew up a tranny when i was using my IDI for work while my SD had a blown up rad. talk about a kick when you're down.

the IDI can be more easily fixed on the side of the road if you know a little about them. with the PSD you almost need a scanner to do much of anything. and parts are way cheaper on the IDI trucks.

 

[Mike]

The problem with most light duty diesel pickup (you pick the flavor, they all are in the same boat) is that the engine will far far outlast the remainder of the vehicle. So with that said it is of utmost importance when buying one with high miles to look for one that had all the proper care to the rest of the components. You can usually tell, especially if buying from a private party what kind of care the owner gave the old gal, get under it and look for mud caked under the frame, signs of rust etc etc.... give her a good looking over before committing to buy.

Most tranny's, auto or manual, wont live as long as the power plant in front of it. You are either rebuilding the auto or putting a clutch/pressure plate/ flywheel in the manual after 2XX,*** miles. U-joints, ball joints, steering components, wheel bearings, brake system components all will wear out. Then take a look at the interior, broken or sagging seats, door panels that are cracked, abused, torn off etc etc..... It can be a crap shoot but buying used doesnt mean that you are buying junk.

 

[Mike]

I believe what this guy did was budget $5000.00 per year for injection system work and once a year went by Hypermax to go through the system.

Thats 600 a month! You can make payments on a nearly new very low mile truck for that kind of coin.

 

[towcat]

Thats 600 a month! You can make payments on a nearly new very low mile truck for that kind of coin.

homer-
$600/mo for maintence on a OTR truck(even our baby trucks) is nothing.
I treated myself to a restuffed bench seat yearly on my carrier. You'd be suprised how quickly things wear out when you pack an ungodly amount of miles on a chassis.

 

[Mike]

No, that was his yearly injector fund.... not truck maintenance.

 

[towcat]

oic.
I'm wondering if he has anything special built around the cab that may add to the cost of working on it

 

[averagef250]

Maintenance is key. My 70 F250 4x4 is over 600K, mostly hard tow miles the last 200K I've had it with the last 140K on a 390 that looked the same inside when I pulled it for a cummins as the day I assembled it. You wouldn't know the truck has remotely that many miles on it. On the other hand, my ex-7.3 89 F350 was a fleet truck with 900K on it and it's on its second body, third set of doors, the cummins I just put in makes engine number 5. The truck is beat cosmetically, but the chassis is still in good shape.

Seams the PSD's I see with lots of miles tend to develop electrical gremlins. A friend maintains a fleet of F450 rollbacks and they have electrical fits on a regular basis. Probably due to the extra smooth ride of the 450 chassis shaking the truck apart.

Really the best you can do is get a deal on it because of high miles and expect the worst. Act surprised when it just keeps going.

 

[rebel_horseman]

I have a close friend who's family is in the construction (they demo concrete and re-pour slabs and such). They regularly haul a dump trailer and skid steer combo all around south LA. My buddy has a '03 F350 CC 4x4 DRW with the real Powerstroke and his brother and dad both have '01 F250 CC 4x4s. I think the lowest miles is his brother with about 215k on it and my buddy has about 250ish (he used to hot shot with it). The only issues he's had were suspension related...new brakes, new king pins, ball joints, etc. He's never had to do anything to the engine or trannie. The only downside is the fuel economy but he knew that going into the deal.

IMO a truck that has high mileage but has been maintained is not something to be super wary of. Just try to get the best deal you can and set aside a little each month for repairs.

 

[ameristar1]

Thats 600 a month! You can make payments on a nearly new very low mile truck for that kind of coin.

That's just a tax write off, but at the same time it's what I truly despise about the PSDs. I love the way they sound and run, but in the back of my mind know that there's a price to pay for that love. One of the things that I knew about these motors is that anything that can be done to reduce the thermal loading will make the HEUI system last longer, and that's why I've run synthetics and Problend in them no matter what.

 

[Diesel_brad]

for these trucks there is only a handfull of things that go wrong. Cam position sensor($30) and 5 min to change. Injector Driver Module IDM ($30 used) 5 min to change and the auto. But if your going to be hauling that faer on a regualr basis i would put the bulit proof BTS or John Woo trans. These are very reliable trucks just like the idi, you just have to learn them

 

[ameristar1]

for these trucks there is only a handfull of things that go wrong. Cam position sensor($30) and 5 min to change. Injector Driver Module IDM ($30 used) 5 min to change and the auto. But if your going to be hauling that faer on a regualr basis i would put the bulit proof BTS or John Woo trans. These are very reliable trucks just like the idi, you just have to learn them

The reliability is not the issue, it's the cost for ownership over the life of the vehicle that makes me not like them, and the ability in an emergency to fix it. If someone tells me that I have to carry an extra IDM, CPS, scantool to fix my truck, I'd go. Worktrucks should be strong and simple, and relatively easy to fix. Spending $3500 or more dollars for injection work on a $3500 truck does not add up, especially if you add in the money for an auto trans rebuild and upgrade, clutch and flywheel job if it's a stick and anything else the chassis may need.
There is another option ; that would be to put a Cummins in the existing chassis, give it a mild upgrade (300hp) and it would solve the fuel economy, complexity and parts availability issues in one stroke (no pun intended ;p).

 

[rebel_horseman]

Personally, the older my truck gets the more I like it. It's getting more and more complicated (and expensive) to fix vehicles nowadays. If it was me in the OP, I'd keep the simpler IDI and do some upgrades or find a 1st Gen or early 2nd Gen 12v Cummins as a replacement or donor for an engine swap.

But if the OP is set on a SD then the information he's getting here definitely has merit.

 

[ameristar1]

oic.
I'm wondering if he has anything special built around the cab that may add to the cost of working on it

Figure the injectors cost 300.00 each, HPOP is 400.00 to 450.00, gaskets, if any of the harnesses need to be done, fuel filter, glowplugs, an oil and filter change, and whatever else needs to be done, plus 100.00/hr or more for labor.
It just gets real expensive really quick.