I do think it's a little high... retail KBB is ~$25k. Cash buyer could probably get it for $20-22.

Snow is an issue for us in the mountains, and that's the main reason I went with 4x4. I do agree 2wd would be preferable otherwise. I like a manual trans for towing, but that Allison is a great trans...

 

My experience with a dually in the snow has been unpleasant.
My department's F550 is atrocious.
Same story with my brother-in-law's F350.
My dad's 4x4 non-dually F350 is just fine OTOH.

 

I do agree duallys are less than optimal for snow, but my plans include a truck camper. Truck camper + trailer = dually. I was shocked to discover how much campers weigh (and cost!) these days!

 

Put some weight on em, dually ambulances (E450s) were just fine.

 

Well I sold my trailer a few months back for double what I paid for it. Then today took a deposit on my 3500 12v manual dually Cummins. Sold it for double what I had in it. I loved the truck but I used it to tow 3 to 4 times in the last year and didn't like daily driving it so it sat a lot.

Now the search starts for car/truck I could daily everyday & I could tow with a few times a year.
Top of my list is a 07-08 CRD Grand Cherokee
Also interested to see my friends project in setting up an LS400 to tow his 1800 pound civic with. I've seen guys towing 3500-4500 with these cars. obviously need a very low center of gravity trailer.

Can't really think of much else in the < $10k range that gets exceptional mpg for what it is. 25+ highway (I drive a lot for work so I want something good on gas even though it's cheap)

 

Manual transmission V6 Nissan frontier can do mid-high 20s highway. They're kinda hard to find though.

 

Um... Jetta TDI? Sportwagen can tow that weight (though of course it's not officially rated for it, with care it's no biggie).

Scratch that. Sub-$10k would only get you an older, smaller wagon, or a real high mileage MK6 that'd be into its nightmare age.

 

Durango/Dakota. V6 ranger. 4.3 S10/blazer

 

Finally found the holy grail.

Drove out to Long Beach a couple days ago to retrieve this. I was lucky that I found a craigslist seller that seemed trustworthy enough to drive 12 hours round trip to go purchase this. Deal actually went really smooth. Also driving this thing is 'Merica as ****, I love it.

2000 F350 XLT DRW Crew Cab Long Bed 2WD
7.3l Powerstroke
6 Speed Manual
4.10 Limited Slip Rear End
Gooseneck Hitch
Heavy Tow Package
Gray Cloth Interior with Carpet
Camper Pack (Stiffer front springs and added rear sway bar)
Only 113k Miles
Bone stock and unmolested for the most part.

Going to be hauling a 42' Haulmark Edge gooseneck enclosed trailer. Going to go through the cooling system, change all fluids, then do gauges, intercooler, intake, exhaust and probably a Garrett PowerMax turbo. (Bolt in ball bearing turbo with wheel sizes pretty much identical to a GTX4088r and 1.0 A/R v-band twin scroll turbine housing).

 

Nice find!

7.3s with mileage that low are chicken lips...

I had good results with an MBRP exhaust on my 7.3... cheap, quiet and performed well. One of the things you might want to keep on hand is a spare crank position sensor. They were known for going out, though mine never did. There's also a really cheap generic air filter that works great, goes on the factory inlet pipe, and sits perfectly in place of the stock airbox. Check the Ford forums... I don't remember the number.

 

Oh, the trailer I ordered back in November showed up last week...

It's a Look Ignite, 8.5x24




Plenty of room for either the NA or NC...


And I can still get my bike in the front, and have enough room for a workbench...


I already turned it into a storage shed so I can get both Miatae in the garage while the NA is getting its VVT swap...

 

What do those crew cab 7.3s 2wd typically go for?

That's pretty nice.

 

How much did that set you back?

 

Yeah it took me about 4 months of searching to finally get one between actually finding a suitable truck that also had a seller that wasn't shady.

I'm going with the Magnaflow 4" aluminized turbo back system with straight through muffler. Only $350 shipped and supposed to be almost as quiet as stock while towing which is what I'm aiming for. I have a Magnaflow catback on the '07 F-150 with 5.4L V8 and I really like it.

Spare CPS is already on its way lol.

I know the NAPA air filter you're talking about but I'm going to go for the S&B intake system. Fit and finish is worth it to me, and the re-usable filter element is actually a close second to a paper filter so I'm comfortable with the filtration it will provide.

Your new trailer looks nice, I think the quality of Look has gone up recently. Didn't they buy Pace?

It depends on what you want but they can be found anywhere from $8k to $18k depending on condition and what it's equipped with. Price varies regionally a ton. Bring a no rust truck from AZ to states where they salt the roads and they pull a premium.

He was asking $14k but we agreed on $13k via text and phone call before I left. When I got there I spotted a gash in the sidewall of one of the front tires and the front rotors are worn down and warped pretty good. I didn't try to negotiate because it was already a solid deal, but when I handed him the cash he peeled $300 off the top and gave it back because he didn't notice those problems the last time he drove it. So $12.7k for the purchase and $35 in gasoline for the Mazda 3 round trip, and $60 in diesel to get the F350 back to AZ. It got exactly 15MPG cruising at 75MPH the whole way, which is 2500 RPM because of the 4.10 rear end so not bad. That's what a stock one should be getting realistically on the highway unloaded. After the mods I hope to be around 12MPG towing the huge trailer at 70MPH and about 18 to 20MPG unloaded for mostly highway cruising.



So, not a bad deal but downside is that it needs 6 new tires right off the bat which is a bit steep but they will last me the next 8 years probably. Also the temp gauge started to creep a bit when charging up hills at 75MPH. The cooling systems on these trucks are amazing from the factory so this problem is 90% chance the radiator is plugged. Coolant is not the correct stuff either. And the fan clutch is locked up solid. Not a bad thing but noisy as hell at higher RPM.

List of immediate replacement items:
Radiator
Upper/Lower Rad Hoses
Thermostat
6 Tires
Coolant Expansion Tank
Expansion Tank Pressure Cap
Serpentine Belt
Tensioner Assembly
Idler Pulley
All Fluids

But, was kind of expecting most of that **** anyways so oh well. It will be solid and pull like a freight train with no heat issues after I go through it.

 

A 7.3 F350 is a beautiful thing.
For reference, we get around 22mpg unloaded at 65 mph.

 

I did a bunch of shopping, and the Look trailers were much nicer than the Haulmarks I looked at. Not sure whether they bought out Pace... I was told by my dealer that Look is the folks who used to make Wells Cargo in AZ. After WC was bought out, they went out on their own...

Don't forget to look at your spare before buying tires... you might need 7 like I did. I think the spare on mine was the one that originally came from the factory... And buying tires for duallies hurts...

At least diesel is cheap again!

 

Yeah I made sure to check the spare... discovered that there wasn't one. I just picked up a wheel with tire from a guy that responded to a post I made on an Arizona diesel Facebook page. It's a Duramax aluminum dually wheel, not sure if the bolt pattern is correct but it was free and only a 10 minute drive so I just picked it up and will see if it fits tomorrow. I'm going to get Michelin LTX MS/2 tires, good reviews, found them for $1150 shipped to my door for a set of six. Still sucks to drop that much on tires but they should last like 8 years...

 

Cheaper than my truck tires.

 

Not a bad price, they were over $200@ when I was shopping back in Nov. I almost bought the LTX, but went with an AT tire because 4WD. $1543 for seven mounted and balanced....

Something else to think about while you're having tires mounted is to go with metal valve stems so you can use extenders or equalizers for the duals if you want to down the road. I didn't think about it, and now I'm going to have to pay to have them installed. Still learning all the idiosyncrasies of duallys...

 

Most places they are still over $200 a pop but OnlineTires.com has them for like $185, and a special on shipping right now so only $50 to ship all of them.

I'm pretty sure I already have metal valve stems but will definitely keep that in mind, thanks for the heads up.