V10 durability

cattleguy

I'm the guy that buys your trucks after the warranty has expired. Looking at buying a V10 and I have no preference whether Dodge or Ford. Just wondering what your comments are on which is the better motor. From everything I've read here it looks like the Ford V10 gets better fuel economy, is that right? All comments appreciated.

wpalkowski

Love my 2001. Has more torque and hp than '99,'00s. Careful on early '99s: most were probably replaced under warranty, but Ford did have a problem with "piston slap" on start up. Other V10 problem is called exhaust flutter. Basically a resonance in y-pipe coming off exhaust manifold - makes the gaser sound almost like a diesel. Supposedly no long term damage, but sure makes an expensive vehicle sound pretty crummy. There's a replacement y-pipe but it wasn't a good fix - engine seemed less powerful to some; lot of folks changed to headers to solve it completely. Have also heard problems of blowing spark plugs out of the head - only about 4-5 threads hold plug in on earlier engines. Not common, but expensive repair.
  I get about 10-11 mpg in town, 12-13 on highway. Driving like my Grandmother can get 14 mpg with a tailwind. But motor is too much fun, so I usually get my foot into it. Mine's not my daily driver so I don't mind the mileage. Towing 7-9K lbs, gets about 7-9 mpg, but truck barely knows load is there.
   Got almost as much hp and torque as 7.3L Ppowerstroke diesel, but with lighter front end. Driveability is lot easier - no glow plugs, or engine heaters, etc. Great choice for me.
   Have heard that Dodge is discontinuing their V10 and only putting the new Hemi into their trucks. Ford is rumored to be developing a 30-valve version. Prefer Ford body to Dodge. Think SuperDuty may have lower incidence of problems compared to Dodges - of course I'm only comparing to the two Dodge trucks in my neighborhood.

dustyk

The Dodge V10 is based off of the 318 V8. That motor has enjoyed a famous reputation for near bullet proof reliability and according to my Dodge sources, the V10 has been equally reliable. As to fuel consumption, based on the V10 owners I know the difference between 11.6 and 11.7 is so miniscule that it's more meaningful to consider other attributes when deciding on which truck you'd want. The Dodge V10s will get in the same range as the Ford V10.

As to the rest of the truck, I don't know. My company has both Ford and Dodge pick-ups and I would say the Dodge's ('98-01s) were more reliable overall. The early RAMs ('94-'96s) had some paint problems. If you look at the TSBs for both Dodge and Ford you'll get a more credible picture of reliability of the body series. I know of two people with the SuperDuty series that are very unhappy, but overall the Ford and the Dodge are both pretty good trucks. I don't think you'll go wrong with either one.

Chrysler will discontinue the current V10, mostly because the new Hemi is more than the equal of the V10 in horsepower and pretty close in torque as well. It is rumored, however, that larger displacement versions of the new Hemi as well as a V10 version is being planned for future release.

Best regards,
Dusty

leroybkr

I have a 99 F350 SD V-10 Auto 4.30 LS SRW SC LB Truck. I bought it new 5 years ago. It was from the Fall 99 production. It has 121,000 miles. The oil was changed every 3000-4000 and have used Mobil 1 most of the time. For the last 50,000 miles it has used a quart every 1000 to 1500 miles. It has not gotten any worse. I tow a 15,000 LB 5th RV from coast to coast. We line in the RV full time. About 25% of the milage has been towing the trailer. The tran was serviced by the ford dealer at 60,000 90,000 and 120,000. Changed the plugs at 95,000. The rear axle was serviced at 120,000 with synthetic ($20/pint). No problems with the truck so far. I intend to keep it as long as I can.