Community Forums

rayza · 08-02-2019, 12:23 PM

I know diesels get all of the credit, but I have seen some old beater gasser's tooting around quite a bit.

In 1 year 3 months I already have 44K miles on my engine. I estimate with what we have planned that I will be putting ~20K miles per year onto it. That means in 3 years i'll be at 100K. It seems like people seem to have this impression that these engines won't last long past the 100K mark?

sbleiweiss · 08-02-2019, 12:28 PM

They are pretty good, but don't last as long as diesels. You sound like a good candidate to own a diesel. I have seen people say that the Fords should last 200,000 miles, but I also see people saying 500,000 or more for diesels.

Mojim · 08-02-2019, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayza

I know diesels get all of the credit, but I have seen some old beater gasser's tooting around quite a bit.

In 1 year 3 months I already have 44K miles on my engine. I estimate with what we have planned that I will be putting ~20K miles per year onto it. That means in 3 years i'll be at 100K. It seems like people seem to have this impression that these engines won't last long past the 100K mark?

I've never seen one wore out!

wildmanbaker · 08-02-2019, 12:38 PM

There are fleet owners that are getting 250,000 miles on their medium duty trucks with no major problems. These are usually rode hard and put away wet more often than not, but the do the required maintenance on them. Some of the RV rentals have class Cs that have over 100K on them. So, who can say for sure. I have seen all major pickup brands with over 300k on them, and they were not treated well. Quite a few were "Farm Trucks", so who can say. I have seen quite a few completely destroyed also. IF you have over 200k, don't take it Mud Bogging or drag racing, it kind of like having your Great Grand Mother run the high hurdles, it wouldn't turn out well....

Waiter21 · 08-02-2019, 02:26 PM

Change the oil and filter at 5k mile intervals, you should be good for 300k. Our usage is unique, they run on the freeway for a few weeks, then sit for months in storage. Highway miles are easy on an engine, even though our are working hard.

Most of the fleet users are urban, so not a lot of highway miles. They sit and idle for hours (bucket trucks).

I had the heads off of mine at 65k miles (broken exhaust studs) everything looked very good.

F53 Repairing broken exhaust manifold studs – 1999 Southwind 35S

..

rayza · 08-02-2019, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waiter21

Change the oil and filter at 5k mile intervals, you should be good for 300k. Our usage is unique, they run on the freeway for a few weeks, then sit for months in storage. Highway miles are easy on an engine, even though our are working hard.

Most of the fleet users are urban, so not a lot of highway miles. They sit and idle for hours (bucket trucks).

I had the heads off of mine at 65k miles (broken exhaust studs) everything looked very good.

F53 Repairing broken exhaust manifold studs – 1999 Southwind 35S

..

For sure, I do all of my own oil changes, Mobil 1 Advanced Full Synthetic every 5K miles, air filter every 10K unless it looks bad. Lube up chassis every 5K. Going to take it into a Ford shop to look it over once a year now that i'm past the 1 year mark.

**NLOVNIT** · 08-02-2019, 02:59 PM

Years or miles? Depends on how it's maintained. Ride it hard/put it away wet/don't do proper maintenance & it won't last long. Follow the maintenance schedule, inspect/fix small issues before they become big ones & it'll be good to you & outlast the house that's sitting on it.

Lori-

RiverBurt · 08-02-2019, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waiter21

I had the heads off of mine at 65k miles (broken exhaust studs) everything looked very good...

So, it lasted about 65,000 miles...

Waiter21 · 08-02-2019, 03:53 PM

Quote:

So, it lasted about 65,000 miles...

No, the exhausts studs were broke. thats why I had to remove the heads. But the valve trail looked good, pistons, cylinders looked good, timing components all looked good. no sludge or wear that I could detect.

daveandcarol · 08-02-2019, 04:35 PM

So it appears the main problem reported with these engines (so far) has been broken exhaust studs. The early v-10s would occasionally spit out a spark plug, requiring a specific repair procedure (had it done already). Other than that, they seem to be almost "bulletproof" (figuratively, not using real bullets...) and good for high mileage with proper maintenance.