11/28 Christmas Tree Run
Truck run leaving Dayton fairgrounds at 10 am Tucannon/Camp Wootton
Tree hunting, camp fire and snacks

2006 F-250

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tobyw
Posts: 1983
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am
Location: Under the hood...

2006 F-250

Postby tobyw » Mon Feb 24, 2025 1:27 pm

It's been a while since I've done any sort of tow rig updates, and as a matter of fact since about 2020 I've actually been on a mission to try and carve a tow rig out of the fleet :shock: Having gone through a bevvy of vehicular combinations in the years both prior and since, we have once again come full circle. Although this time, the term full circle has a bit more gravity to it... For the vast majority of my adult life, I've had a full-size truck as a daily driver, and of course it doubled as the tow rig. As such, the aforementioned truck had to meet certain standards as my vehicular needs adapted to my use case in terms of comfort, tech, and shear utility. As time has marched on, my need for a full-size truck has waned, and perhaps even more so my desire to deal with one on a daily basis. The Donkey, as it turns out, is a wonderful all-around platform for daily driving, road trips, camping, wheeling, and towing the little camp trailer around. But... when it comes to towing anything much more, a guy just needs a truck :oops:

The full circle part of this story goes back to 1999, when I purchased my very first full size truck: a 1999 Ford F-250. That truck was amazing to me, and served me well over the course of 5+ years hauling my junk all over the Western United States:

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You'll note the flatty in that last pic... That was only a couple weeks out of the paint booth when I color matched it to the Super Duty :thu: Of course there have been a few roll-overs, fires, and grinding discs thrown at her since then, but the overall sentiment is still there. But I digress...

After being truck-less for the better part of a year, and several times therein having to get way to creative to make due without, I resolved to finding an inexpensive full size truck that I just didn't care all that much about, but could do what I needed it to when I needed it done. After a lot of debate and reviewing the footage from my personal experiences over the years, I focused on finding an early Super Duty like I had fallen in love with back in 1999. It took longer than I thought it would, but I finally found just what I was looking for on a used car lot over in Portland. I used the wife's car to haul the empty trailer to Portland, made the deal on the new truck, and proceeded to load her car onto the trailer and tow it all home in my new 2006 F-250:

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:thu:
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...
Image

User avatar
tobyw
Posts: 1983
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am
Location: Under the hood...

Re: 2006 F-250

Postby tobyw » Mon Feb 24, 2025 1:33 pm

She's a creampuff, and didn't even have 96,000 miles on her when I took the keys:

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The low mileage and overall immaculate condition were key elements to getting into such a relatively old truck. I mean, I like to keep my junk tidy but this thing was pristine:

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I did sort of feel bad knowing what it's next chapter in life would be like :|
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...

Image

User avatar
tobyw
Posts: 1983
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am
Location: Under the hood...

Re: 2006 F-250

Postby tobyw » Mon Feb 24, 2025 1:51 pm

Keene eyed viewers will note, and immediately understand, what makes this particular truck a budget buy: the 6.0L Powerstroke diesel. That's right, the king of turds right there in the flesh. Few things spark more debate in an automotive brand than the 6.0L PS. Knowing this going in, and having spent the time to research the root of the problems that seem to plague these things, I immediately dove into it starting with a complete flush of the cooling system and a transition to Caterpillar EC-1 rated coolant:

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As you can see, my truck was in dire need of this service as the oil cooler was clearly plugged up with debris. Plugging of the oil cooler is the first domino in the overall scheme that kills these trucks... With a little more piece of mind having a fresh starting point, I added a coolant filter to the system in hopes of keeping further clogging at bay while I save some more sheckles for a Bulletproof Diesel kit:

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While I had things somewhat torn down, I did what's known as the "blue spring" upgrade to increase fuel pressure and help prolong injector life:

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The last bit of initial mechanical upgrades came in the way of a new thermostat, as I could see with my Scangage that the factory thermostat was stuck open. I went with a slightly higher temp unit (195* versus the factory 192*) from Mishimoto:

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At this point, with all fresh fluids, filters, and some minor tweaks, a solid baseline has been established over about 2,000 miles of mixed use with a heavy bias toward towing. My engine coolant and oil temperatures are within a reasonable margin, although I'm still keeping a close eye on the oil temps and may go through the flushing process again in the spring to see if I can knock any more debris out of the system :|
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...

Image

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tobyw
Posts: 1983
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am
Location: Under the hood...

Re: 2006 F-250

Postby tobyw » Mon Feb 24, 2025 1:59 pm

As intended, Ol' Blue has been dutifully towing and sitting unused otherwise:

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What I just cannot seem to do, however, is leave well enough alone :lol2 I spent a weekend and whipped up a headache rack:

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With that out of the way, I added some air bags to the rear axle:

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Then, I blew some holes in the otherwise perfectly good roof to add clearance lights:

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:thu:
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...

Image

User avatar
tobyw
Posts: 1983
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am
Location: Under the hood...

Re: 2006 F-250

Postby tobyw » Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:08 pm

While the list of things I hate about this truck is long, right up near the top is the OEM 20" wheels. They are just too much of a billet slab look for my taste... While a guy could simply replace the wheels, that just feels like a missed opportunity to me so I did the right thing and added a 2" lift front and back, Bilstein shocks and steering stabilizer, slotted and cross drilled brakes, 285/65R20 KO2 tires, AND new wheels :lol2

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Now we have a yard ornament that doesn't make my eye twitch quite as badly :thu:
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...

Image

User avatar
tobyw
Posts: 1983
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am
Location: Under the hood...

Re: 2006 F-250

Postby tobyw » Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:12 pm

And here is the full circle moment in all it's glory... 26 years apart, I've got another Ford F-250 towing around a color matched Jeep :roll:

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:lol2 :oops: :?
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...

Image


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