Bought a New Ram - No Thinking Required

[Ted]

Same thing applies really. Lots of short-trips and lack of turbo usage in an ecoboost results in excessive carbon buildup, which has created some failures. Additionally the oil not warming up causes some other problems. The people that work their ecoboost have not had the carbon issues.

The carbon issues may not apply to my Ecoboost at all..Several tweaks on the Gen2 Ecoboost to address it. It was more of a Gen1 issue. However I suspect that making it do some work will do it good.

There are two real issues on the newer turbo diesels where working them is good for it, but both apply to carbon buildup.

1) Heat keeps carbon off of the high pressure direct injectors, which keeps them working correctly. I'd expect this to apply to your Ecoboost.
2) Varying the VGTs on the turbo will help keep carbon buildup off of the turbo VGTs, which means they'll continue to work correctly. I'd expect this to apply to you also

So from those perspectives, I'd agree working your truck is good. From a core engine perspective, there's the bigger question. But I think Ford has probably got the core engine figured out pretty well such that it should last. Not as long as a Cummins, but longer than you'll keep it.

 

[MIFlyer]

i heard keep the ex brake in auto will help a lot with exercising the turbo. plus hammering it getting on the freeway must help

 

[jesse]

There are two real issues on the newer turbo diesels where working them is good for it, but both apply to carbon buildup.

1) Heat keeps carbon off of the high pressure direct injectors, which keeps them working correctly. I'd expect this to apply to your Ecoboost.
2) Varying the VGTs on the turbo will help keep carbon buildup off of the turbo VGTs, which means they'll continue to work correctly. I'd expect this to apply to you also

So from those perspectives, I'd agree working your truck is good. From a core engine perspective, there's the bigger question. But I think Ford has probably got the core engine figured out pretty well such that it should last. Not as long as a Cummins, but longer than you'll keep it.

A Cummins is designed to work hard all day every day until the rest of the truck rusts apart and is gone. Then you just sell the Cummins.

I think that my use case is ideal for Ecoboost longevity. Many of its miles are easy no load commuting to work. However it works hard on the weekends and those bursts of hard work should prevent carbon issues. Really I think the Ford engineers designed it for a mission that is precisely my mission. The problem is when people buy it thinking its a sedan and never go faster than 30 mph in the city and never boost.

They know about how many miles a year a guy like me would possibly drive. I believe they've built something that'll support my mission for far longer than I'll actually want to keep the truck. They'll have some new gadget on some new F150 that they know I'll want before the Ecoboost comes from together.

If I were retired and were pulling my camper around every single day all over the country then I would buy a diesel.

Right truck for any mission I'll have in the next ten years. And after those ten years I'll want a different one anyhow.

 

[SoonerAviator]

I was referring specifically to the Cummins powered trucks, but it would be interesting to see whether the Ecoboost is happier with routine higher power like the Cummins or not. Generally gasoline powered engines wear out faster from it, but the Ecoboost V6 is different in that regard.

Maybe by running yours hard you'll have the best longevity of all.

I'm sure the EB engines will fare well over time, but I wouldn't expect them to last over 200K miles. I'd definitely expect more than that out of the Cummins (or any other modern diesel). Turbos are particularly hard on gasser engines, so getting 200K out of one is probably a fair deal. I'd expect the turbos to need replacement once in that 200K mile period, probably around 100-120K. Not as terrible an expense as it used to be, since the popularity of turbo'd engines has caused a drop in turbocharger prices.

 

[jesse]

I'm sure the EB engines will fare well over time, but I wouldn't expect them to last over 200K miles. I'd definitely expect more than that out of the Cummins (or any other modern diesel). Turbos are particularly hard on gasser engines, so getting 200K out of one is probably a fair deal. I'd expect the turbos to need replacement once in that 200K mile period, probably around 100-120K. Not as terrible an expense as it used to be, since the popularity of turbo'd engines has caused a drop in turbocharger prices.

There are lots of examples of 200K Ecoboosts with no major engine work on the original turbos. One or two examples of 300K ones I think. The fleet just isn't old enough to get any real numbers.

I've also got a Gen 2 3.5 Ecoboost which is a total redesign over the Gen1. It was new last year so who knows how many miles it'll be good for. We'll know in another few years.

 

[Ted]

i heard keep the ex brake in auto will help a lot with exercising the turbo. plus hammering it getting on the freeway must help

That's what I've heard as well. I use the exhaust brake every drive, and really like it. Unfortunately I have to manually turn it on each trip, which gets on my nerves. The dealer says they can't change it within their software. Hopefully the aftermarket does something to address this.

I'm sure the EB engines will fare well over time, but I wouldn't expect them to last over 200K miles. I'd definitely expect more than that out of the Cummins (or any other modern diesel). Turbos are particularly hard on gasser engines, so getting 200K out of one is probably a fair deal. I'd expect the turbos to need replacement once in that 200K mile period, probably around 100-120K. Not as terrible an expense as it used to be, since the popularity of turbo'd engines has caused a drop in turbocharger prices.

I'd agree on that. 200k is about the life expectancy I'd put on that truck, which is longer than Jesse will want to keep it.

 

[SoonerAviator]

There are lots of examples of 200K Ecoboosts with no major engine work on the original turbos. One or two examples of 300K ones I think. The fleet just isn't old enough to get any real numbers.

I've also got a Gen 2 3.5 Ecoboost which is a total redesign over the Gen1. It was new last year so who knows how many miles it'll be good for. We'll know in another few years.

I agree, it's too early to tell as it's still in its infancy. The Gen 2 engines will obviously do better than Gen 1 due to the carbon-issues. Outside of diesel trucks, I won't likely own any vehicle with over 200K on it just because the rest of the vehicle normally turns to mush, lol. Interiors get worn, electronics start going haywire, and the transmissions are usually about done for. By the time you refresh a lot of that, you can pick up another used vehicle and go on down the road.

 

[Ted]

I agree, it's too early to tell as it's still in its infancy. The Gen 2 engines will obviously do better than Gen 1 due to the carbon-issues. Outside of diesel trucks, I won't likely own any vehicle with over 200K on it just because the rest of the vehicle normally turns to mush, lol. Interiors get worn, electronics start going haywire, and the transmissions are usually about done for. By the time you refresh a lot of that, you can pick up another used vehicle and go on down the road.

Generally true. Our E55 has 218k on it and is still overall in quite good shape. I bought it with 190k on it and my wife has since commandeered the car for her use and I don't get to drive it much anymore. She loves it for her highway commutes to Wichita, and in fact I'm looking at doing some performance upgrades because 469 HP isn't enough for her.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Generally true. Our E55 has 218k on it and is still overall in quite good shape. I bought it with 190k on it and my wife has since commandeered the car for her use and I don't get to drive it much anymore. She loves it for her highway commutes to Wichita, and in fact I'm looking at doing some performance upgrades because 469 HP isn't enough for her.

Lol, nice. Well, I have a feeling that with all of the techy gizmos on the late-model vehicles, those electronics will start rearing their ugly heads when you get to that 15-20yr old time frame. Power window motors go out, rear/side view cameras, radar cruise control, auto HVAC systems, heated/cooled seats, power liftgates, etc. all have a finite lifespan. There's a reason to rarely see any 90's Cadillacs on the road anymore, the fancy air-suspensions busted and were more expensive to replace than the car was worth. The electronic gadgets went belly-up, so the only people driving them were those who were fine with driving a low-rider Cadillac, lol.

There's many a 90's/00's BMW driver riding around with all sorts of warning lights and messages on the dash from electronic sensors that are complex to track down, and expensive to rectify.

 

[denverpilot]

While towing my camper - it's always boosting - about 6 psi of boost to hold 65 mph on the flats.

Heh. I chuckled at this. I don’t even think I’m having any fun until the boost meter says at least 20 in the 3500! But it weighs thousands more, has the aerodynamics of a rounded brick, and totally different turbo setup. Sadly without a trailer on it, it’s too low geared to get it above 25 lbs.

I have the limiter set at 30 now. I blew the head gasket on the trip where it was staying up there and hitting 35 on hills with the 12,500 lb trailer. But the wastegate being wired shut was the real problem with that. I just learned afterward that I have the “light case” that’s prone to cracking so I decided I’d better limit my fun to avoid having to rebuild the engine in a different case later on.

That thing is just a monster air pump that happens to burn diesel while it’s pumping air.

The other day with a 30 knot headwind it needed 13 lbs just to hold 75 MPH on the highway unloaded. ROFL.

I bought the oil and took my Fleetguard filter to the quick lube place I trust (rare) the other day because it was muddy out and I’m lazy. Cost me $30.

All in with the three gallons of Rotella was $75 and I literally have a case of Fleetguards and don’t even remember what I paid for them anymore. Haha.

(By the way @gkainz that’s what I paid for the Rotella with my discount at the auto parts place. Three gallons, $45 since you were asking about Costco and I don’t know their prices.)

The guy doing the little spiel at the end listed off every underbelly pan and every diff as having leaks. LOL. I laughed and said, “It’s a Dodge.” He laughed back and said, “Livin’ the Chrysler life, baby!” hahaha.

He also joked, “We didn’t bother to check your air filter.”

“Don’t have any tractor sized filters in stock?” Hahaha. I’ll take care of that. NAPA has ‘em.

I was talking on here a bit ago about wanting a daily driver Mercedes or some other sleeper with an insane engine in it. Then I realized I have one sitting in the driveway. Who cares if it’s attached to a 6000 lb truck?!? Haha. Go flog it once in a while and get the horsepower need taken care of for a while.

I found a perfect on ramp that’s about 3/4 of a mile long, starts at a stop light, and merged into I-70 in a 75 MPH section. It’s great fun seeing how far back the normal cars are as I merge into the highway lane. I haven’t timed it yet but I think unloaded it’s doing about a 4.5 second 0-60. Can’t complain. The on board add on computer has a 0-60 timer. I should do that sometime just for fun if I remember. See how good my gear shifting technique for drag racing is. Hahaha. It isn’t exactly a short throw.

Only downside will be tires. Six heavy duty tires is a sucky tire bill. I could go all redneck and put cheap tires on it that aren’t rated for the cargo trailer...

But y’all know me. Other than the on ramp launches that truck lives at the speed limit on cruise. Interestingly because it’s a stick with cruise control it’s the least annoying cruise control ever when in rolling hills because it’ll actually compression slow the truck in downhills and if it’s really steep and gaining too much speed I just slap the shifter switch to turn on my exhaust brake.

Actually I leave the exhaust brake on quite a bit in town too. Saves the brakes. And it’s noisy as hell so nobody wants to crowd the dually back end in blind spots. Everyone wants away from the 5.9 Cummins noise. It’s a safety feature!

 

[denverpilot]

Lol, nice. Well, I have a feeling that with all of the techy gizmos on the late-model vehicles, those electronics will start rearing their ugly heads when you get to that 15-20yr old time frame.

Won’t take that long. Co-worker bought a new Subaru Outback with all the goodies three years ago. In the first month he had a scenario where the entire vehicle dash cluster and entertainment system rebooted along with killing the adaptive cruise control.

Dealer told him it was a known combination of events that trigger it, Subaru is aware of it, only happens on the larger engine, and there was a patch “coming soon”.

Three years later, no patch. He’s only had it happen three times but I’d be so mad. He spent way too much money on that thing to have it spontaneously reboot itself completely while driving it. No thanks.

He also says the adaptive cruise is great on the highway but it’s tuned all wrong for the right lane and someone slowing to make a turn in front of you and it’s done a couple of panic stops a long way from the person turning in the intersection ahead because it thinks it’s a stopped vehicle in the lane. It can’t “see” that only the bumper is still in the lane and the turning vehicle is accelerating away from the intersection.

He likes driving so he just turned half of the crap off and drives it and uses the toys on road trips.

 

[Ted]

Lol, nice. Well, I have a feeling that with all of the techy gizmos on the late-model vehicles, those electronics will start rearing their ugly heads when you get to that 15-20yr old time frame. Power window motors go out, rear/side view cameras, radar cruise control, auto HVAC systems, heated/cooled seats, power liftgates, etc. all have a finite lifespan. There's a reason to rarely see any 90's Cadillacs on the road anymore, the fancy air-suspensions busted and were more expensive to replace than the car was worth. The electronic gadgets went belly-up, so the only people driving them were those who were fine with driving a low-rider Cadillac, lol.

There's many a 90's/00's BMW driver riding around with all sorts of warning lights and messages on the dash from electronic sensors that are complex to track down, and expensive to rectify.

You're absolutely right on the extra gismos meaning more things to break. But much of it has to do with which company built it in the first place. Cadillac's engineering and quality in the 90s was horrendous, hence the lots of issues there. BMW's quality/engineering in the higher end (5 and 7 series) was better but still not great, hence all the lights. Mercedes seems to have done the best out of all three.

That's not to say our E55 is trouble-free, but the thing is built like a tank and it wears like iron. It's had a lot of dealer MX done over the years by previous owners (I lucked out there). We basically did zero work to it the first 20k miles, and then in the past 8k miles we eliminated the air suspension after it had a bad leak, had to replace the brake module, let them do belts while they were at it. The driver door module went bad and that was causing a battery drain. I didn't know what caused it, so I let them diagnose it and repair it. The charcoal canister and fuel tank pressure relief valve weren't working properly, which was causing the car to not take fuel when you tried to fill it up (this got really annoying) and also once it warmed up it would idle poorly and throw a "Check Fuel Cap" warning. From time to time the radar on the adaptive cruise control doesn't want to work and when that happens you can't use it, although that's pretty rare.

The car has two nagging lights that I'm not likely to do anything about. There's an SRS light for a sensor in the passenger seat, the dealer quoted $1k to fix. It's exceedingly rare for anyone to sit in the passenger seat, so I opted to skip that one. There's a check engine code for the cam to crank timing being out of limits. What I've determined is that after 218k miles the timing chain has stretched enough that it's close to the limit. If you drive the car at lower RPM it never trips. Then my wife drives it (read: uses all 469 HP) and when she comes home the light is on.

The car has had a minor exhaust leak since we got it that is getting noticeably worse, almost 30k miles later and the motor mounts and transmission mount are bad. You can tell when you hit the gas hard that the engine and transmission are shifting quite a bit, plus there's the vibration at idle which should not occur. Conveniently, you have to remove part of the exhaust to change the motor mounts. So I'm looking at some options for headers and asking the dealer if they'd consider putting those on. 40 HP or so is the claimed improvement from the headers. Hence, more horsepower.

So in reality by the time all of that is done we'll have spent as much on maintenance for it as we spent on the purchase price, and I've got some more items that I'll probably do on it for her since she likes more horsepower (although I'll do those myself). But the purchase price was $9k, my wife loves it, and despite having 218k on it, it really is a good and reliable car that we trust for her trips and is a lot of fun. It could cost a lot less if I did all this work myself instead of letting the dealer work on it for some of these more complex items, but they're easy to deal with, their pricing really isn't awful for what they do, and I don't have to mess with stuff that I don't want to mess with. Win win.

The BMW 740iL we had before was a real POS. Some of that was the guy we bought it from, but even after putting a ton of work into it, it still had a lot of issues that I was never able to resolve. The E55, it just works. I saw a video of one with 400k miles on it, and no error codes. A lot of money spent at the dealer on repairs over the years, but it was reportedly the original engine and transmission.

 

[gkainz]

A Cummins is designed to work hard all day every day until the rest of the truck rusts apart and is gone. Then you just sell stuff the Cummins into another RAM shipping container.

fixed it for you

 

[gkainz]

I bought the oil and took my Fleetguard filter to the quick lube place I trust (rare) the other day because it was muddy out and I’m lazy. Cost me $30.

All in with the three gallons of Rotella was $75 and I literally have a case of Fleetguards and don’t even remember what I paid for them anymore. Haha.

(By the way @gkainz that’s what I paid for the Rotella with my discount at the auto parts place. Three gallons, $45 since you were asking about Costco and I don’t know their prices.)

I didn't make it to Costco today like I had planned, but I did check out Murdoch's online ... Rotella is $13/gal if purchased in the 5 gallon bucket, $15 in the 1 gallon jugs. Delo is also $15/gal (1 gallon jugs is the only option there.). I'll check out Costco in the next day or 2.

 

[weilke]

That's definitely an anomaly, but also the other reason why I'm hesitant to do anything that might compromise the warranty.

It's an ISX at 550hp on 52000lb double axle tanker. What is anomalous is the use. Sits for a week at a time and then is taken on a 5 or 10 mile sprint followed by plenty of idling. If one was to devise a method to destroy a truck engine, this would be it ;-)

 

[denverpilot]

I didn't make it to Costco today like I had planned, but I did check out Murdoch's online ... Rotella is $13/gal if purchased in the 5 gallon bucket, $15 in the 1 gallon jugs. Delo is also $15/gal (1 gallon jugs is the only option there.). I'll check out Costco in the next day or 2.

It sounds like the auto parts store is in the ballpark with their frequent flyer discount card then.

Don’t worry about it too much. If Costco isn’t selling it for $5 a gallon, it’s not going to make enough difference for me to care.

I mean yeah, if they’re selling it for $10 then it’s $15 total net difference and nothing to sneeze at, but this is a truck that gets one oil change annually most years.

I’ll probably survive the $15 loss. Can’t recoup the Costco membership for that, and we already learned Costco and what we needed to buy didn’t really save us much. Our reason for having the Costco membership was their screaming good deal with AMEX back then, and when they switched to Citi or whoever, it wasn’t as good for us.

Funny thing is, cancelling the membership STILL has Citi all confused. They send us a letter or two every year reminding us that they can’t issue us a card until we re-up our Costco membership because I went in the last month Costco had AMEX and cancelled the membership.

Costco even refunded my membership fee for that year and I told them it wasn’t necessary. I had used it the previous 11 months. Well not really but I still figured on paying for the membership. They disagreed and then they refunded it to the closed AMEX account ... LOL... which took a couple of months for AMEX to sort out and call us. Hahahah.

 

[Ted]

It's an ISX at 550hp on 52000lb double axle tanker. What is anomalous is the use. Sits for a week at a time and then is taken on a 5 or 10 mile sprint followed by plenty of idling. If one was to devise a method to destroy a truck engine, this would be it ;-)

Good point, that would definitely be it.

My truck has a relatively ideal life other than I don't do enough towing with it. But I hooked up the trailer and put a 6,000 lb tractor on it, going to take it to the exhaust shop and get a custom exhaust made up for it to make it quieter and divert the exhaust out the bottom to make it easier for me to mow.

 

[jsstevens]

I can't see Rotella in this thread without mentally substituting:

No useful content, carry on.

 

[Ted]

I can't see Rotella in this thread without mentally substituting:
View attachment 61192
No useful content, carry on.

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work very well in any engine.

 

[denverpilot]

I can't see Rotella in this thread without mentally substituting:
View attachment 61192
No useful content, carry on.

Smells about the same. Hahaha.

 

[Bill]

Smells about the same. Hahaha.

Yeah, but nutella on a graham cracker tastes better.

 

[jsstevens]

Yeah, but nutella on a graham cracker tastes better.

I'm willing to bet (I've never actually tried rotella on graham crackers) that's true.

 

[MIFlyer]

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work very well in any engine.

but, but, but it's got like, all natural oils man (said in a stereotypical hippy voice)

 

[denverpilot]

but, but, but it's got like, all natural oils man (said in a stereotypical hippy voice)

Essential oils, even.

 

[Katamarino]

I hate Shell.

 

[Ted]

Finally attached a load to it. It's "bring your tractor to work" day, apparently:



I was trying to take the tractor to an exhaust shop as I wanted a custom exhaust made up for it that would go under and out the back, giving me more clearance when mowing around the trees on the property. Show up and get told "Oh, we don't have a pipe bender. So we can't do it." "Don't you think that would've been important to tell me when I called and clearly stated that I wanted a custom exhaust made for my tractor?"

The truck tows great, as expected. Even with my trailer which is pretty crappy (need a bigger trailer).

 

[Bill]

Are the wheels OEM? Were they and all the blacked out trim part of a special package? That truck looks bad ass. Tint the front windows and it could be Darth Vader's very own truck.

 

[Matthew]

I was trying to take the tractor to an exhaust shop as I wanted a custom exhaust made up for it that would go under and out the back, giving me more clearance when mowing around the trees on the property. Show up and get told "Oh, we don't have a pipe bender. So we can't do it." "Don't you think that would've been important to tell me when I called and clearly stated that I wanted a custom exhaust made for my tractor?"

The truck tows great, as expected. Even with my trailer which is pretty crappy (need a bigger trailer).

Take it back up to Jeff at his shop - he'll rig up a beautiful powder coated system for you in no time.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Finally attached a load to it. It's "bring your tractor to work" day, apparently:

View attachment 61212

I was trying to take the tractor to an exhaust shop as I wanted a custom exhaust made up for it that would go under and out the back, giving me more clearance when mowing around the trees on the property. Show up and get told "Oh, we don't have a pipe bender. So we can't do it." "Don't you think that would've been important to tell me when I called and clearly stated that I wanted a custom exhaust made for my tractor?"

The truck tows great, as expected. Even with my trailer which is pretty crappy (need a bigger trailer).

I don't see an exhaust stack sticking up on the tractor (guessing it's already removed), so what's the clearance issue with trees? I'd just look into a horizontally-mounted muffler that exits towards the front. You could easily enough extend the exit down closer to the belly if desired. The trailer seems perfect for the tractor you're carrying. If you had anything bigger than a box blade on the back it would become problematic I suppose.

This guy did some custom work. Only thing I'd be concerned about with his setup is starting a grass fire if he got into any tall brush/grass. It almost looks factory option.

 

[Ted]

Are the wheels OEM? Were they and all the blacked out trim part of a special package? That truck looks bad ass. Tint the front windows and it could be Darth Vader's very own truck.

Thanks.

The wheels are OEM. This truck came with the sport package which included 20" blacked out wheels (regardless of truck color) and then painted bumpers and grille to match the truck color, plus I think some suspension improvements to help handling. The truck really handles very well.

I've thought about tinting the windows but I'm happy with them not tinted. The truck has no problems keeping cool in the summer and I've owned enough vehicles with the full on Darth Vader look.

Take it back up to Jeff at his shop - he'll rig up a beautiful powder coated system for you in no time.

Ahh, it's just a tractor, don't need nuttin' purdy. At this point I think I'm going to check the auto parts store to see if I can just buy the bends etc. that I need and make it myself.

 

[Matthew]

Thanks.

The wheels are OEM. This truck came with the sport package which included 20" blacked out wheels (regardless of truck color) and then painted bumpers and grille to match the truck color, plus I think some suspension improvements to help handling. The truck really handles very well.

I've thought about tinting the windows but I'm happy with them not tinted. The truck has no problems keeping cool in the summer and I've owned enough vehicles with the full on Darth Vader look.



Ahh, it's just a tractor, don't need nuttin' purdy. At this point I think I'm going to check the auto parts store to see if I can just buy the bends etc. that I need and make it myself.

Bailey's on 159th, about 1 block west of 169 does exhaust work. Not sure if they do any cutting, bending, and welding, though. But if you aren't looking for anything fancy, they might be able to do something for you.

edit: Aaaand, never mind.

 

[Matthew]

Wonder if the Tractor Supply has anything you could cobble together?

 

[Ted]

I don't see an exhaust stack sticking up on the tractor (guessing it's already removed), so what's the clearance issue with trees? I'd just look into a horizontally-mounted muffler that exits towards the front. You could easily enough extend the exit down closer to the belly if desired. The trailer seems perfect for the tractor you're carrying. If you had anything bigger than a box blade on the back it would become problematic I suppose.

This guy did some custom work. Only thing I'd be concerned about with his setup is starting a grass fire if he got into any tall brush/grass.

Right now the muffler is removed, and it's really loud. The stock muffler goes straight up hence the issue with the trees. Removed like this, I get a lot of exhaust blowing in my face when I drive, and it's hard on my ears (even with hearing protection).

I've debated whether I want to try to do something that results in a muffler dumping out the front or out the back. When sitting and idling having it dump out the front is probably better since it'll be further from me, but when I'm driving (which I normally am) having it out the back I think makes more sense. I'm basically thinking the same as that photo you found.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Right now the muffler is removed, and it's really loud. The stock muffler goes straight up hence the issue with the trees. Removed like this, I get a lot of exhaust blowing in my face when I drive, and it's hard on my ears (even with hearing protection).

I've debated whether I want to try to do something that results in a muffler dumping out the front or out the back. When sitting and idling having it dump out the front is probably better since it'll be further from me, but when I'm driving (which I normally am) having it out the back I think makes more sense. I'm basically thinking the same as that photo you found.

Both of our Kubotas exit out the front (by design from factory) and work well. I'm sure I smell the exhaust more than I would dumping it under the tractor, but I've never noticed it being a problem.

 

[Ted]

Both of our Kubotas exit out the front (by design from factory) and work well. I'm sure I smell the exhaust more than I would dumping it under the tractor, but I've never noticed it being a problem.

Thanks. I figure at this point I'm going to be getting some different bends so I can make the exhaust how I want it and can then decide which option makes the most sense.

 

[jsstevens]

Are the wheels OEM? Were they and all the blacked out trim part of a special package? That truck looks bad ass. Tint the front windows and it could be Darth Vader's very own truck.

Could be Darth Vader’s? Have you ever seen Ted and Vader in the same place at the same time?

 

[gkainz]

Nice lookin' truck, Ted. I'm in the process of blacking out my '07, stripping all the chrome, de-badging and then using bedliner to "paint" my rocker panels and the bed. It's black, but won't be as gloss metallic black as the rest of the truck.

 

[denverpilot]

Just for posterity sake...

I did the real 0-60 today. After a couple of practice launches they all came out around 12 seconds. And I was trying like hell not to tear up my synchros or clutch. LOL.

The problem is in the stop launch. It’s geared too low so you start in 2nd or you don’t have time to shift it 1-2. Haha.

Also learned that it’s really easy to miss 5th when slam shifting it. Didn’t get into reverse but came close. LOL.

Also not quite sure if I should wrap it up to 3000 each shift or dump it at 2500 and let the diesel grunt a little.

So... my dually feels faster than a minivan but it’s not. Hahahaha. Still fun as hell though.

Maybe I do need to shop for that V12 AMG...

Conditions were 61F and it’s absolutely chock full of fuel which doesn’t help on weight any. 30 knot direct crosswind I think but could have had a little headwind. Engine fully warmed up, tranny still at 75F which made the shifts slower.

I should have videoed because the turbo sounds just lovely doing this but didn’t think about it. Heh.

 

[Ted]

Nate, your 0-60 in 12 seconds sounds more accurate.

Towing my tractor around today, my 0-60 time is probably around 30 seconds. The shifting is a lot of it. Normally I can start in 2nd just fine, but with the extra 7,000+ lbs on the back I need to use the granny gear to get going, at least without burning up the clutch. And I'm not trying to shift too quickly because I want my transmission to be happy and last. However, the thing has no problems accelerating, and I'm also shifting around 2,000-2,400 RPM. The engine as a whole seems happiest shifting around 2,000.

No doubt, an automatic would be faster. Shifts instantly, no need for the granny gear, etc. etc. Don't care. Life's not all about numbers, and I enjoy rowing my own, especially with a load attached.

 

[Ted]

Also regarding the V12 AMG, we really enjoy the E55 and it's fast. However I've heard the V12s have a lot more little issues than the V8s, which are more or less bulletproof. Once I put the headers (and new motor/transmission mounts) on, it should be that much faster.