Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 6.7L Power Stroke?

I have a 2011 Crew Cab 4wd with 85,000 miles on it.

Pulling a 31' RV that weighed 11,000 on the scales, the mileage average is 10 - 12 mpg depending on terrain and head vs. tail wind.

Without the trailer, 19 mpg is typical averaging 65 - 70 mph. On flat and level terrain such as near the coast, 21 - 22 is average. Again, this is 4WD with the stock Michelin 18" tires. I do not stand on it taking off, which helps with the mpg's.

One major shortcoming is the size of the fuel tank depending on the model. Mine came with a 25 gallon tank, which I changed to an aftermarket 50 gallon. In some areas in West and South Texas, stations can be 90 or more miles apart, which can turn into an issue. So, check the fuel tank size and go with a 50 gallon if that is an option.

Mine is used a fair amount off pavement, so my experience thus far is not quite as good as what I am reading here. The EGR went at 30,000, which seems to be a common problem with the 2011, which was the first year model. Hopefully that is fixed by now.

Adequate cooling capacity is the major challenge I face here. Temps in the summer are often is in excess of 100F, or even 110 F in the worst times of the summer. Couple that with off pavement, A/C on max, and loaded up, I've had to replace some cooling system seals twice, and a couple of electrical switches.

Brake pads needed replacing at 70,000 which is earlier than on my previous trucks.

One person I met one day that I struck up a conversation with who was driving a Dodge tried going to a Dodge after a Ford, but he recommended I stay with Ford and he is going back to Ford. He said the Dodge front end was a source of trouble for him. He finally had an off road shop do a complete front end rebuild for him before he even hit 30,000.

One big plus for this 2011 is that it tows so nicely it is easy to forget a trailer is on the back. The acceleration, suspension and braking with a trailer attached is like it is not even back there.

I had a 11 Ford F250 6.7 with the 6.7 and the truck was one of my favorite of all time. I had 18k when mine started to have a "miss" at times mostly near a regeneration. I took it in and they dealership replaced most of the transmission. This was not the issue and after reading about some of the valve issues, this sounded like what I was experiencing. The room and comfort in the truck is without comparison. I bought a 14 Silverado with the D-Max. The Chevy handles better but does not have the room or comfort of the Ford. I miss the quietness and quick spool of the 6.7. The 6.7 also smokes my D-max in MPG. I've heard the 15's have the issues worked out. My neighbor has a 15 and loves it. A co-worker has a 14 F250 and he got a bad batch of diesel with water and it cost his insurance company 4k to clean out the system. All the new diesel are complicated but provide unbelievable power.

Not uncommon on earlier Dodge/Ram trucks. Ram went to a 3-link front end in 2013 on the 3500s and did the same on the 2500s in 2014. It's now very similar to the Ford setup.

Whereas the front-end of a 4x4 F350 is nearly indestructible.

Didn't Pa Pa's creek crossing move prove Ford's front-end bombproofness and require a little 'yerkin to get un-destuckified?

Apparently not. I have a good friend that is contemplating selling his 2006 Cummins for the same reasons. He had most of his front end components replaced at just over 100K. Now he's having issues with his calipers.

That was the rear end.

Breaking through ice must have broke some u-bolts and the axle twisted at an angle and took out the pinion gear.


Trying to remember but I think it made it home?

It did, took a couple runs but we made it up a hill and to the county road with front wheel drive.


Our semi-retired 2003 feed pickup has over 100k on the front end and last time it was in the shop the mechanic said it's finally shot.

Bouncing over frozen cow chit all winter is pretty hard on things but Fords are by far the toughest.



Transmission gets hot pulling a trailer on the current feed pickup. Toasted one 2 years ago and now the current one is starting to slip just a little.

No idea why.

my old 97 Dodge cummins made it to 250K before it got new ball joints and front U-joints


now the 88 K3500 Chev I ran before that didn't make it to 100K before the front wheels ; literally ; fell off in the pasture

My pickup will probably never need the front end done.

But it doesn't really get used that hard at all.

That's my main complaint on my Dodge. U-joints, front and rear, every 40K or so. And I don't drive it hard at all.

Interesting - I had a '99 F250 7.3 Powerstroke, then an '02 GMC Duramax, and now an '06 Dodge Cummins. I don't do a lot of heavy hauling like some here, but do like my current Dodge bettered than the others. On front ends, I did have to replace front diff bearings and ball joints at about 100k, and other than a couple of minor repairs, the Dodge has been flawless. That said, the 6.7 Ford really has my interest...

still have one original u-joint on the 97.....the front one on the rear drive shaft; and thats with 285K of tough miles now on the clock

but I do believe alot of the parts are from different suppliers on those old 2nd generation trucks than the newish ones.....

Last time went in for a check the tech noted the rear brakes were about half gone.. IIRC, that was at 44K. I'll probably need to replace 'em by this late fall just to be on the safe side..

Our family has used nothing but Ford trucks on our farms since the 50's, and we've still got a bunch of them in use. That being said, I just bought an '07 Dodge 3500 with the 6.7 Cummins and Dad just bought a new '15 Dodge 3500 with the same motor, both with the 6 speed manual trans.

I just sold one '97 F350 with the 7.3 in it, and still have a '96 and another '97 that I use on the farm. They've been great trucks but the motor leaves a bit to be desired power-wise. From the little bit I've used the Dodges so far, I'm really impressed with the engines (mine has had all the emissions crap removed and has 63k on it) but less than enthused about the trucks surrounding them. The body and interior are made cheap compared to the Fords, and the suspensions are weak compared to my old Dana 60 leaf spring setups.

Ford lost two customers with us, and it pains me to say that I doubt I'll buy another Ford truck. The biggest deciding factor was the lack of a manual transmission option.

You can't get a manual in a Ford anymore? Well that changes everything.

There is a manual setting on Ford's 6spd auto. It does everything a manual does, but faster.

Manual transmissions are soooo much better. I hate the fact that I will have to go to a slushomatic unless I get a heavy duty Dodge with Diesel.

So much better at/for what?

Ummm, haulin heavy stuff? At least my opinion that's the way to go.

Yup, that just kinda cuts it for a Ford.

This is a very common sentiment! I loved my Cummins 5.9L, but the majority of the rest of the truck (transmission, suspension, steering, brakes, interior, dash that cracked/split into a hundred pieces, etc) was far inferior!