# New F550, which engine?



## johndeereguy (Oct 19, 2006)

I am looking at ordering a 2013 Ford F550. I have 10 Ford trucks now, always knew what I wanted before, but this one has me confused. It will have a 4 yard spreader on it in the winter, no plow. Summer will pull a trailer about 10,000 miles, weighing about 9000# I wanted to go with a V-10. It is $10 grand less, will pull just fine, (have a few in F350's now) and gas is way cheaper. But the problem is Ford only lets you buy with 4.88 gears. That would mean very bad fuel economy. The diesel I can put 4.10 gears, plenty of power, much better fuel economy, but way more money, and higher priced fuel. What route should I take with this one?


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## Spool it up (Oct 30, 2012)

johndeereguy;1578826 said:


> I am looking at ordering a 2013 Ford F550. I have 10 Ford trucks now, always knew what I wanted before, but this one has me confused. It will have a 4 yard spreader on it in the winter, no plow. Summer will pull a trailer about 10,000 miles, weighing about 9000# I wanted to go with a V-10. It is $10 grand less, will pull just fine, (have a few in F350's now) and gas is way cheaper. But the problem is Ford only lets you buy with 4.88 gears. That would mean very bad fuel economy. The diesel I can put 4.10 gears, plenty of power, much better fuel economy, but way more money, and higher priced fuel. What route should I take with this one?


go diesel , you know it .


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

Gotta agree. Pick ups, no problem gas. As soon as its a 350+, has to be diesel.


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## Buswell Forest (Jan 11, 2013)

I drove a couple new 6.7 powered F550 4x4 dumps. Get the diesel.


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## randomb0b123 (Jul 14, 2010)

that truck wont get much better mileage if its a diesel and after you add in the exhaust fluid cost and increased fuel price its def going to be more expensive to operate. if i were you i would save 10k and get the v10 if you think it will be sufficient. its got plenty of horseys and torque


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## tjctransport (Nov 22, 2008)

i have run them both. diesel all the way.


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## theholycow (Nov 29, 2002)

Have you done the math on how many miles it will take for the diesel to pay for itself?

If you don't intend to keep the truck forever, the diesel will hold resale value better.


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## unhcp (Jan 20, 2010)

A company I do some work for has a 2012 f550 dump truck that has the 6.7 in it and last i checked it got around 10 mpg, but this is heavy towing and city driving. I don't know what the gears are but I would say they are high, first gear is a beast.


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## scottydosnntkno (Jan 4, 2010)

randomb0b123;1578994 said:


> that truck wont get much better mileage if its a diesel and after you add in the exhaust fluid cost and increased fuel price its def going to be more expensive to operate. if i were you i would save 10k and get the v10 if you think it will be sufficient. its got plenty of horseys and torque


DEF is $12/gal so $60/10,000 miles = $.006/mi or just over 1 penny for two miles. Hardly a factor at all.


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## tjctransport (Nov 22, 2008)

2011 F550 crew cab diesel mason dump. empty it gets 13 to 15 mpg.
loaded with 5 ton of stone in the body and a cat 272 skid steer on the tandem axle trailer it get 7-9 mpg.
and it pulls out into traffic just as good with that load as it does empty.


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## johndeereguy (Oct 19, 2006)

Well I got a price from a dealer today, finally. I had been using Ford build it yourself part of their website. After all is said and done, with discounts, the diesel is about 5 grand higher, so that pretty much answers my question. Will go with a diesel if I end up ordering it.


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## BMWSTUD25 (Aug 21, 2008)

randomb0b123;1578994 said:


> that truck wont get much better mileage if its a diesel and after you add in the exhaust fluid cost and increased fuel price its def going to be more expensive to operate. if i were you i would save 10k and get the v10 if you think it will be sufficient. its got plenty of horseys and torque


As already mentioned, while DEF may be a slight nuisance it is certainly not much of a cost factor. Now down the road maybe the maintenance on that system would be but who knows yet. We all know the V10's are known to be fuel hogs, especially in a truck like that with those gears. cost to operate may be more to own in the short run with the diesel but it sounds like you'll be making a good choice. I have a 2012 F-550 diesel with 4.88 and I'm averaging 10.4 with a good mix of errand/estimate running and heavy hauling 16,000lbs+ In the process now of trying to figure gal/hr while plowing. VERY happy with mine so far. Hope this helps


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## mnglocker (Dec 24, 2008)

Something to consider with the 4.88 gears is the final drive ratio of the transmission. The new autos have quite the high final drive ratio.


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## redneck farmer (Dec 2, 2006)

No question the diesel


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