Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ford V10 engine

I am looking for an early 90's or so pickup (truck) to haul an 8' camper and have found several Fords w/v10. How do rate this engine? Not a heavy camper but one of the slide in pop up models.

Pretty much like the Dodge V-10. Strong, but poor mileage. Those long stretches out west between gas stations can make you nervous...

Had a few of these and so have some of my friends.

My experience is the mileage varies greatly. Not that you are going to get great mileage, but I had some guys I worked with experience 7-8 mpg empty and unloaded. We had a couple expeditions with the V10 and were really happy. Got around 13-14 mpg. Tons of power and top end.

I would expect the pickup could easily handle the camper. Were it me, I would take it for a test ride filled up and go about 30-40 miles and then top it off. See how it does to try and avoid one of the real guzzlers and then enjoy.

Gas mileage is abyssmal. That's why there are so many on the market. You can't give those away. That being said, if you don't drive it much and need towing capacity, it's cheaper than maintenance on a diesel (if you ain't driving much).

Had a co-worker with a F-250 and V-10. 11 MPG empty was pretty much the norm for him.

This. Rented a camper about 25ft and it suck gas.


Clyde

Mine gets 12-13 on the highway and <8 around town.

Decent torque and power.

If I planned on putting big miles on it or doing a lot of towing, I'd go diesel.
The gasser is fine for my occasional boat towing and hauling rock and dirt a few times a year.

Well, that confirms what I had already been told. No V10 for me.

Place I worked for back in 03 had two new 1 ton trucks. A Ford with the V10, and a Chevy with the 454 V8. The Chevy had more balls, and got better mileage. FWIW, just a sample of 1.

I had 2010 f250 with the V10 and that thing was horrible 5 months later I traded it in for a ecoboost. I now have a2014 f250 with 6.2 v8 and well it's not much better than that V10 should of kept my Eco boost.

Were it me, I would run away from a V10.

Like a previous poster mentioned, the trucks can often be had for a song. You save $3000-$4500 on the initial purchase and that will go a long ways.

10,000 miles per year:

9 mpg = 1,111 gallons per year


13 mpg = 769 gallons per year


15 mpg = 667 gallons per year (diesel)

9 mpg fuel cost = $3,666
13 mpg fuel cost = $2,538
15 mpg fuel cost = $2,468 (diesel)

Keep in mind, when you buy a V10 you will get it cheaper and you can often get MORE truck. Meaning lower miles and newer model both for less money.

It would take more than 3 years to make up the difference in purchase price with increased fuel cost. And you still have a newer better-shape truck at the end of that time-period.

If you are driving fewer miles than this, then it would take longer.

Like I said earlier, I would test drive the truck for a good distance and if it wasn't one of the trucks that got less than 10 mpg empty, I would be tempted.

I wish the used Ford V-10 market was as flooded and depressed up here as many of you guys are talking about elsewhere. The V-10s come at a bit of a premium in Alaska, and there just aren't very many to choose from on the local used market.

When I moved up to Alaska, I towed a 6x12 enclosed utility trailer (3000#) with an F-250 and a 5.4L Triton V8. It struggled quite a bit and only got 8MPG on the trip up here. I had a fairly difficult time selling the truck once I got here, specifically because of the V8 engine. Most folks were looking for a V-10.

Since 2001 I've owned three V-10s, personally; two Excursions and my current F-250. Most of my friends' motor homes have V-10s in them as well. Yes, they are thirsty, but they can tow a heavy load and are very reliable. As a side note, all of my V-10 experience is with the older, 2-valve version. I've never had anything newer than an '03, so I can't comment on the 3-valve version (2005 and newer, if I remember correctly).

My Excursions would routinely get 14MPG and would drop to 9-10 when towing my 26-ft boat (about 6500#). My F-250 (crew cab, long bed) only gets about 11-12MPG on the highway, 10 around town, and the mileage drops to about 6.5MPG towing the 28-ft boat. The new boat/trailer is 38ft long, 9-1/2 wide, 12ft tall, and weighs just shy of 12K pounds. It's not an easy load to drag down the road, so I turn off the overdrive and try to keep my speeds around 55-60MPH, tops.

A diesel would probably be a better choice for towing my boat, but I'm not a fan of diesels in cold weather. Yes, the newer diesel engines are much better than their predecessors, in that regard, but I'm still not willing to pay the diesel premium in an Alaskan climate.

This. My wife drives an Excursion and it gets 11 city and 13 highway. Absolutely love that truck

I have an 08 F250 crew cab 4X4 with the V-10. 11-12 empty in town, 13-14 on the road. I pull a 29 foot fifth wheel and get about 9. i really like it. could be better mileage, but all in all good power and acceptable mileage for me.

If you want a truck for pulling, you just need to go diesel. Both the Ford/International and Dodge/Cummins diesel engines are just bulletproof and tend to last forever.

Pick one v10 lousy milage but cheap to repair or a diesel great on fuel but if it breaks get the checkbook out. I've been a Ford tech for a long time, choose your poison.

Just love how so many talk about pulling power and MPG different motors do and get with regard to gearing . Gearing can and does have a very large effect on pulling power and MPG

Gearing won't make a gas engine pull like a diesel,

As far as a diesel in cold weather, I have over 100k all AK miles, and 7 winters with the two problems a water pump at ~50k and a high pressure fuel line a couple months back. I think vibration killed the fuel line.

The 6.0 and 6.4s on the Fords are anything but bulletproof. The 7.3s are and the jury isn't out on the Ford built engine yet. International is ceasing to make diesel engines for on highway use next year. Just spec'd a truck out and my choice was a Cummins B series or the Maxxforce. Neither salesman would build me a truck with a Maxxforce in lieu of the Cummins and told me it was going away next year because they are POS.

The Ford V10 is a good engine but not very economical. Figure 5 mpg in a medium duty truck (550-750).

Dont expect super great mileage out of a diesel either these days either. I drove out elk hunting in a 2012 pulling a 6X10 enclosed trailer. 2 guys and their gear. We drove 5 over the speed limit and got 12. Yes 12. My V10 wouldnt have gotten much worse than that. Factor in the price difference and it would have been cheaper to drive my truck. The diesels do better if you slow them down. I think upper teens is possible out of the new ones if you are on a road trip doing 60. Around town, the 2012 gets 15. Again, my V10 gets 11-12 around town. Factor in the difference in price of fuel and it gets pretty close.

The diesels have way more power, that is a given. But you pay for it up front and most people dont need that much power.