how reliable is your diesel truck?

[socal41]

If you want all honesty, I've had many trucks, many diesels, many vehicles. The diesel trucks have been the least of the reliable, and the most maintenance intensive, and the highest cost to repair.

I agree with the.jmo.
When the time came for a new truck I wanted a gas f-250 with 4.30 gears. Then my wife picked out a 15k empty 5th wheel and we were forced into the 1 ton diesel category.

2019 F-350 6.7 SRW short bed. We’re in southern CA and it’s not my daily driver but I do use it for grocery trips and short drives. No issues so far in 4k miles. Half of that has been towing the toy hauler everywhere from up steep mountain grades to crossing the desert in 115* temps. It doesn’t miss a beat. Very stable, quiet ride and confidence inspiring.
The 360* camera system is amazing. Makes parking these big trucks a breeze.

[Johnbr01]

We looked at all options and went with the bullet proofed 2006 F250 from powerstrokehelp.com. We've pulled of 5th wheel for about 6000 miles since Aug 2017 with no issues at all.
Price was much cheaper than a new one, no def or other of the pollution control items, all issues with the original model were replaced with current correct items. I can't say enough
good about the quality and workmanship of this vehicle. The people at powerstroke are the greatest and so is the customer service after the sale.

[fez111]

I agree with you...Bullet-proof being the operative word.

We bought a 2006 F250 6.0 diesel long box truck about 6 years ago. It was a landscaping truck and except for the bed being beat-up, it was in very good condition with stereo, air, power doors and windows, 150K miles, and not much else. Pulling a 9000# fifth for a few years we had no issues.

When we got the "deal of the century" on our Solitude 379 Front Living, we started having issues. We bought the Solitude in Florida while we were there with our first Fifth Wheel. My wife pulled the older one back to Michigan and then bought the truck back to Florida...Still no issues.

When we took our "new to us" RV back to Michigan we made it south of Dayton, Ohio before a hose broke. My friend towed the RV home. Almost $3000 later to a Ford dealer which included a new oil cooler and other things the truck was ready again. That summer went fairly well for two vacations. On the trip back to Florida that winter we had turbo problems which resulted in a blown inter-cooler south of Atlanta. I repaired all of this in Florida after paying someone to take our RV the rest of the way. We made it home in the spring with no issues.

Two more vacations last summer...Between the two we had high pressure oil problems. I was able to replace all of the seals and O-Rings to solve that problem. The last vacation yielded no truck problems. December 26, 2018, Driving back to Florida we stopped before Cincinnati for fuel. I shut the smooth-running engine off at the pump, mostly to kill the noise. When I started it back up...BANG, CLANG, SMOKE, MISS. I have no clue what caused this. It was discovered that a leaking fuel injector caused hydraulic lock when I started it back up and shrapnel went through the #4 cylinder.

Now for the good news... We decided that we NEVER wanted to have these problems again. A new engine just like mine was over $15K plus the swap. I spent an entire day researching engine rebuilders, calling them and asking questions. I spent the entire next day researching reviews and comments of their work. This was very eye-opening. The larger the rebuild shop was in volume and variety of motors rebuilt, the worse the reviews were. If I bought another engine built the same way with the same parts, new or used, I could be in the same boat very soon.

I happened upon a company called Ashville Engines in Tennessee, a father and son company. They rebuild ONLY Ford Diesel and the V-10 gas engines. I could find only one bad review out of dozens and it was proven false. I called their number at 7 Pm New Year's Eve and they answered the phone and graciously fielded all of my questions. A week later I ordered my engine with options that should make it bullet-proof: Studded heads instead of bolts, stainless steel O-ringed heads, a new cam shaft more conducive to performance and mid-range torque, and a high-rev valve train (heaver pushrod tubes and springs). If a valve floats even slightly at high RPM's it will be hit by the piston.

Lessons learned: 1. Tow vehicles must be driven often and not just put in storage until vacation time. 2. I have much more peace of mind knowing that my engine was over-built instead of just stock. 3. I pull the RV at exactly 62 MPH...the engine lumbers along at 1800 RPM in overdrive in tow-haul; it will torque the 14K+ RV up slight grades without downshifting. 4. Always have really good roadside assistance, for both the RV and the vehicle. Not many towing services can haul a 14K Rv. 5. And best of all, even with all of the repairs and parts for my older truck, I still have less than half as much money invested in it as my brother paid for his brand new 2017 GMC Sierra Dura Max Diesel truck! MOTOR ON!