Hi i was wanting opinions. i currently have a 99 Ford F350 lariart 6spd now there isnt anything wrong with it or anything i have had it 6 yrs with no issues. 177k miles on it and i love it. I recently brought a featherlite 10ft lq 4h. and im really wanting to go to a automatic truck but wanting to stick with fords but open to all options.But im not going to trade my current truck in just wantin to get a newer one.

I buy a new truck every 3-4 years. So I have had a 2000, a 2003, 2006 and now a 2011. 

I work my trucks pretty hard, They have some sort of trailer hooked up almost every day and I put 25,000 to 30,000 miles on them each year.  Most of it around town with lots of start and stop driving.

The 2011 is the nicest truck yet. But I expect Ford to keep improving and adding new features.  The new 6.7L engine is more powerfull than any of the previous stock models.  Some of the folks on the truck websites complain that it doesn't offer the ability to be souped up like the previous 6.4L engine did. That it's stock horsepower/torque is limited by fuel rail and turbo size. So the new engine is not what the Hot Rod folks are looking for. But for folks keeping a truck in stock configuration, It' is great.

It is very quiet. plenty of power, interior creature comforts are top of the line.  Fuel ecconomy when empty is better than any of my previous Fords. But under loads working, It is about the same mpg as my 6.0L engines.  Warranty issue for a new model have been better than any of the previous new model introductions.  Ford seems geniunely interested in making sure that their first in house produced diesel engine has a great reputation.

The new emissions are pretty passive. very little involvement on your part. DEF needs to be filled about once every 5000-6000 miles. Or about the same as your oil changes. Even if the exhaust system regens during a hard tow, you probably won't even notice unless you see the message on the display screen.

The additional items that the automakers keep installing in these trucks is amazing. Electric Locking Rear Ends, Hill Descent Assist, Integrated Brake Controllers, ( which I love that it tracks the mileage by individual trailers), back up cameras, hands free cell phone integration, heated and air conditioned seats. The list just goes on and on.  I'm sure that Dodge and GM offer similar features  and their trucks are equally impressive. If they are not, they will be left behind as the truck market evolves.  

If you are not in the market for a Brand New truck. The 2008-2010 6.4L offers more power and better towing than the 2003-2007 6.0L trucks.  But as mentioned the 6.4L gets worse fuel mileage and has a much more complex turbo system that is very expensive to repair. In 2008 Ford re-did the interiors of their SuperDuties, So trucks newer than 2008 will have a fresher interior look and start to include some of the newer options like integrating your Ipod or using blue tooth for hands free phone use.

There are lots of used trucks that are a lot less than the $50,000+ that  2011 cost.

The 2006 King Ranch that I traded for my new truck was only worth $20,000.  That was a little more than half of the $39,000 I paid for that truck brand new in 2006. Which I don't think was bad depreciation for 108,000 miles and 4+ years of heavy use. I'm sure who ever bought it will get many years and miles of service from it.

A quick look on the local websites show a lot of 2008 F350s pretty well loaded for $30,000. With a little dickering , you might get one of those for $28,000. So you can get a well equiped Lariat or King Ranch with an automatic for far less than the price of a brand new truck. And even if the 6.4L doesn't get as good of fuel mileage as the new 6.7L.  For $25,000 savings you can buy an awful lot of diesel.

So it really just depends on your budget and what you can afford. I wouldn't be scared to own any of the 2006 and newer Ford if the price was right. If you are looking to stay even closer to what you have, with a little shopping, You should be able to find a 2001-2002 7.3L with auto for not much difference than what you sell your current truck for.

Hello adiberti,

As you can see I live in ND but grew up in Cupertino, always said I had the best of both worlds. the big city life and all it had to offer, and my family allranched here in ND.. so was able to spend all vacations back here...

I see you ride a shire, we have had a couple of shire teams over the years, love them...

Nice to talk to you...

There are a lot of folks very happy with their 2008-2010  6.4L Fords.

Do they get worse mpg than the 6.0L and the new 6.7L.  Yep.  Do they all get as bad as what was mentioned above. No.  Go over to the websites that discuss Ford Powerstrokes and look in the 6.4L forums.  There are folks gettting 18-20 on hiway empty and folks getting 10mph  empty.  I really think a lot of it depends on how you drive,  what type of terrain, Winter diesel vs Summer diesel. the duallys have higher gears,  ( 4:10 to 4:88) vs the the SRW that all have 3:73.  It's pretty common to see folks talking about 12-13 around town empty for a 2008 SRW trucks. But you need to keep the RPMs below 2000.  If you drive fast at higher RPMs, your mileage will suck.

Folks that drive so that they get lots of Regens, see worse mileage than those that have fewer regens.  The 6.4L engine was the first generation of particulate Filters and some folks complain of the regens being more often and very noticable. The 6.7L  is a second generation particulate filter and a lot of the regens are passive and hardly noticeable.