I have a 6 liter ford harley davidson... an 04 crew cab 4x4, and it is the biggest piece of shit i have ever owned. I will be hard pressed to ever consider ford as an option in the future because my truck has been so unsafe and SO many things have broken. It now shuts off regularly while driving, used to get nearly 20mpg everywhere i went, like combined, now, 10-13. Dash started peeling, truck bucks and gets compressor surge WHILE i am on the throttle! I do oil changes at 5000 miles the factory reccomended interval and follow all other factory service guidelines, my 04 now has 27,000 miles on it. FICM harness was replaced, EPT, reflash after reflash, and yet still, no good! I cant let my friends or my gf drive my OVERPRICED piece of garbage because of the liability, it shuts off as regularly as i drive it. Yesterday it refused to accelerate past 45mph, and covered 2 lanes of us 41 with thick black smoke, we literally couldnt see backwards if thats any indication! I have the hanging oil drip, the inconsistant turbocharger, and tons of other problems, and my truck exhibits all the symptoms of the trucks that ford was recalling, OR reaquiring! ill run out a quick list of stuff here so you can be prepared!
1. FICM - standard fare, replaced the fuel injection control module
2. ficm harness - you can assume
3.EPS - exhaust pressure sensor, recalled part
4. Reflash
5.dash peeling, replaced almost all of it
6.swaybar endlink broken, ripped bushing straight out of it
7.Alignments- never can keep an alignment, i think there are some faulty suspension/steering parts, but i dont hit shit and keep getting told i must have hit a pothole! alignment is constantly out! i have had it done 3 times in 20 k miles and dont give a shit anymore
8.sunroof trim rattles - its loose but its mounting hardware is not haha, this is the most annoying noise EVER while driving.
9.Rear power slider - broken once, entire window replaced, on its way out again, refuses to open anything but more slowly each day
10. Steering - pops and groans regularly, scary sounding and feeling, seems like steering wheel is going to fall off... and i dont doubt it will.
11. Loud belt squeal - startup, belts scream at ya intermittently upon startup
12.hard shift - sometimes on the 1 - 2 shift, my truck beats second gear like a goddamn 8sec. drag car, im really surprised ive never heard it scratch the gear i.e. no tires chirping, because you wouldnt believe it if you felt it!
13.Truck shut off on my while towing. I was towing another supra, and the car was valued at about 45k!!!! i lost power steering AND brakes, and the total weight that day, truck, trailer and the like was near 14,000 lbs!!!
14. other than that however, everyone seems to like the truck, and so does my dog
the seats are comfortable, and the truck is nice! well except for all that shit!!!
If i were you, i would vote for the cummins in a Ram, DC is the only domestic company making good money right now, and I can most definetly see WHY! Cummins itself as a company is strong, and i would take the claimed trans problems over my overpriced POS ford, as remember this is a shortened list of what ive had to deal with!!! Ive read real bad reviews with the gm trucks, be careful.. Ill put it this way, i had a loaded hemi ram, laramie, gps all that good shit, and i really, really wish i could have kept that damn truck.. it was wayy more reliable than this shitbox f-250!!! If ford would take care of me in another way than bandaids on my truck, i would like the damn thing, but i have had every fucking problem you SHOULDNT HAVE WITH A 50K truck!
nevertheless, good luck to you, hope you find what youre looking for in something, and i hope ive helped in one way or another!
take care
Mark
EDIT - i also agree with the 7.3 diesel, tried and true, the bitch works period!