2007 F250 Kings Ranch Deisel 4x4

a local dealer is selling one with only 23,000 miles on it
and claims that it has never towed anything
he wants $38900 for it

I could trade in my 2003 paid for Dodge Hemi 4x4

what do yall think
would it be worth it?

the truck looks and drives brand new

and oh so much interior room

all leather

this isn't necessarily a positive to me

we are always getting in my truck now...with wet bathing suits on

anyone have issues with lake and leather?

i had a f 350 with leather and as far as the normal leather goes its great for gettin in it wet, but those king ranch have that special leather so i don't if that would effect that or not... seems like a good deal though

my bad
it's a 2006

The normal leather is thin and slick, my 06 has been pretty good with the bathing suit thing. Leather beats the Ford cloth by a mile as far as staining.

That being said, Chad is correct, the KR edition leather is different, like a distressed saddle leather. It's very nice though.

Not all that bad a price, get an Oasis report to make sure it did not have any big problems, which it should not, and make sure they give you the warranty, there should be plenty left.

You will like towing with it though, no knock on Dodge and gas engines, but the diesels are really awesome for towing and the 07's have all the bugs worked out.

I would jump on it

Flux
my bad on the model
it's an 06
what sort of bugs were there?

and thanks for the comments

KBB.com to high! Use private party sale. You always have to negotiate with car dealers. You will also lose about $5k by not selling your truck yourself, and you will have less negotiation power.

Cliff,

I had the opportunity to drive a 06' King Ranch F250 4x4 through the Yukon last August. I put about 1,000 miles on it, mostly in dirt. It was a fishing trip and while we didn't get the leather soaked we didn't treat it like a Bentley either.

The leather held up fine. We did put a few scratches in it but with some leather conditioner they came out fine.. The thing about that leather is it high-grade leather that is not dyed the way the leather in our Dodge Ram's are. It's like comparing a cheap leather sofa to a quality leather sofa. The cheap leather shows less scratches because the dye is meant to cover up the character of the leather where in a quality leather sofa, or the King Ranch is this instance, it's meant to let the quality of the leather shine through. It's looks better with age. It does need conditioner though or it can look dryed out.

I have the Larmie trim in my 05' Dodge which in that year is a leather with a suede inset on the seat back. I haven't had any issues with it at the lake; still looks brand new.

I know some high-end leather sofas say to not get water on them but it's never stained mine. I would think that as long as you condition the leather properly you wouldn't have any issues with the King Ranch. You could do what I do when I don't want to drive home wet, change into shorts in the parking lot before climbing in the truck.

I have a 07' escalade and an 06' F-250 King ranch. I would much rather pull with the 250. I just made a 350 mile trip w/an 07' X-Star behind it and I never knew it was there. I have had no problems w/the special leather and I sit in them soaking wet on a regular basis. Have not had any mechanical problems out of the truck and it gets about 13 mpg. pulling the XStar at 80 mph w/o any modifications. I'm hearing that w/a chip I could up that to 15 or 16

The 05-07 they had all the kinks worked out from a bad start with the 03-04 6.0l engines. They had various problems with tuning and injectors and turbo stuff. By 06 they were as good as they were gonna get. The tranny is awesome in those things and the motor is very powerful, takes off like a muscle car when it's empty and the turbo spools up. Nice braking and the tow/haul is awesome for long grades.

It's a big, safe vehicle that can haul a wakeboard boat like it's not even there. I love it because I have my family and friends in there and the boat on the back and it simply handles the load very well.

Damn good truck and you will like how comfy it is and all the nice features. Take it for a spin and open it up on the highway. I bought my Lariat after some suggestions on this site and researching it a bit, very glad I did, I will always have a diesel truck from here forward.

Just make sure your local dealer has good diesel mechanics, that can really make the difference if anything goes funny, but lot's of people have zero issues with these trucks. When you drive it, get it hot and drive it hard, helps to keep the turbo and EGR clean. I run Diesel Kleen additive too, which helps prevent buildup and boosts power a bit.

I could go on and on. If that truck never towed anything, then it needs to!! Just find out if it's got a clean bill of health.

Wow, how much is a KR new?

I paid less than that for a new '07 1 ton diesel Dodge quad cab Laramie package 2 weeks ago....

Agree 100% with Flux, after picking up a diesel, will NEVER have a gas truck again.

Not a bad deal, I would prefer the one ton. I am looking at an 06-07 F-350 Next spring. I duckhunt and wakeboard, about 70 days a year on the leather, wet, it does just fine.

EJ
do you like the Dodge deisel?
I have been a Dodge guy forever...but the Fords have so much more room in the back seat
.....unless you get the megacab...but they just came out with those
thanks everyone!
I haven't decided to pull the trigger yet

it's not like I "need" it
but I bet it would be nice to pull with!

Seems way to expensive. Paid 2k less for brand new 06 Dodge Laramie pkg last Sept.

King Ranches topped out at about $50k+ . They are very plush. Hit up KBB and see, there might be some wiggle room or ask them for an extended warranty to basically reclaim the 23k miles, that would be worth it to me.

Diesel 3/4 ton is overkill for pulling wakeboats, but it is oh so nice.

For that amount cash, I'm looking at a MegaCab, brand new. T&L, with the Ford, and your mid 40's without batting an eye. Nothing wrong with Ford, but if your on the team already, then stay with the Team. JMHO. Good luck either way, and as long as your thinking about burning oil, it's all good.

(Message edited by committed on July 09, 2007)

No comparison between a King Ranch and Dodge anything. I just looked at the Mega Cab and other dodges and severely disappointed at the quality of the interior. The other drawback of the Mega is the lack of long bed.

Love the Dodge. I was a Dodge guy before though. One of my best friends is the Parts and Service manager at a local dealer, so I get VERY well taken care of on that end.

As far as room in the back.... I am never in the back and neither is any adult. I bet in the 5 years that I had my previous truck, an adult rode in the back seat maybe 20 times total????

I didn't go with the Mega Cab because I plan on putting a camper on.....and it takes a half a foot out or something, limiting your choices a little more. That extra room is kind of cool though, but again....nobody rides back there....well, my son and daughter, but they have plenty of room.

Maybe it is towing in Utah, but I don't think towing with a diesel is overkill at all. The '02 Dodge 1/2 ton with the 5.9 306 I had before did the job.....but..... Towing with the air conditioning blasting, even up high mountain passes is worth every dime. Let alone never heating up, watching that temp with a eye, road with another.

In closing, the jump from the old truck to the new is NIGHT AND DAY as far as towing goes. Again, I will never buy gas again. Plus, I am already getting 6-7 MPG better off the top, let alone diesel costs less.

I meant overkill in the sense that a 1/2 ton truck with a V-8 gas engine will get it done. I tow in Southern California an enjoy being able to pull a wakeboat 70mph up a 6% grade and then keep it under control at 55mph down the back side in tow haul. Big difference in getting it done and towing with ease. I look forward to the haul, the diesel just hums along while the kids sleep and I listen to tunes. Never once felt like the boat was controlling the truck.

Another great thing about the 06 is it's smog exempt in Cali, and that is pretty nice, the 08's have to get tested i believe.

I see what you are saying, and again agree 100% Flux....

Oh, and I typed 306 above, meant 360....

gunna go let the wife drive it now
and talk them down some in price....or the add the extended warranty....or maybe just adding a good dvd system


a new boat and a new tow vehicle in the same year

I picked the wrong decade to stop drinkin

(Message edited by ord27 on July 09, 2007)

King Ranch is sick.

Wow, that leather is impressive looking. Like it on the steering wheel as well.

Tyler
looks like the same interior
...except for the 4 switches in the center...
nice truck!
great looking boat!

Not mine but thanks

Couple more of the interiors and a side by side

What kind of gas mileage does a diesel like that get?

I drove it about 300 miles over Santiam Pass in Oregon this last weekend and averaged about 15-16. Towing it gets about 12-14. Not bad considering how big it is...

And those 4 switches cliff mentioned... well right below them where the ash tray is, is now the onboard compressor for the air bags in back. Makes it amazing for towing or any time you're throwing anything heavy back there.
PS it's an F350 not 250

(Message edited by tyboarder03 on July 09, 2007)

Tyler that KR looks amazing

tyler, your parents have TOO much cash for sure! $ick trucks for sure but i would lean towards a Dmax if i were you, and this is coming from an owner of 6 Dodge diesels. Out of the big 3 it is Dmax, Cummins,and then Stroke for motor. But for creature comfort i would have it as Dmax, Stroke, Cummins.

GREAT truck...you won't be disappointed at all.

I consider myself very fortunate to have parents like mine who enjoy the same things I do... I'll say it's nice to come home every once in a while to play hard.
Vegas-thanks for the concern but unless your cummins or dmax has about 500 horse and about 900 ft/lbs this stroke will take em apart. Then again I dunno if I've ever seen a Dmax that I like as much as this King Ranch, and they take too much lift to get a decent size tire underneath em. But heres a couple more pics since everyone seems to be enjoying em.













(Message edited by tyboarder03 on July 09, 2007)

not sure why this one didn't post but I like it particularly

that's a good looking truck man. what kind of tunes are you running if any?

I love my PSD. We just got back from Bullards Bar. I hauled A X-star with a full gas tank, 12 5 gallon gas jugs and a weeks worth of food and booze up some gnarly hills. The truck didn't love me for it, but it never complained either. I figure it was close to 8k worth of boat, gear and gas. I never struggled to maintain 55mph on grades where my old Tahoe couldn't manage 35 with 1/2 that weight.

Funny thing is.... I got back, disconnected the boat and the drive home didn't feel any different than with the boat hooked up. They're powerhouses for sure and the ride just gets better with more weight.

Incidently, I picked the ford because the interior is huge and so is the bed. It's about 8" wider than the Chevy. I judge it by how many gas cans I can line up in the bed. The Ford gets 6, where the chevy can only fit 5 (for what that's worth...)

Oh....Cliff, I paid $45k for mine. Sticker was 52. I paid a bit much, but it was at the end of the year and was the exact color combo I wanted (took 2 weeks to find and have transferred). It was totally worth it to get the 0% financing, too (which they're doing around here again right now).

Edge Juice Platinum Tuner

Tyler getting that much out of the Dmax or the Cummins is not a problem.

Im aware of that trust me, but how many actually have it? The Ford pictured does... most Dmax or Cummins owners can't compete with that so to bag on the powerstrokes power in this case is pointless.

(Message edited by tyboarder03 on July 10, 2007)

My soon to be brother in law has an 06 Dodge 3500 CTD dually with intake, turbo back exhaust, chip, methane or ethanol water injection (whatever that is???) and its supposed to be putting out 500HP. He owns a cattle business and tows 40ft goose neck trailers all day long that sometimes weight in over 25k

He has owned everything under the sun, 98 CTD, 02 CTD, 01 Dmax, 06 Stroke, and now 06 CTD. The 06 Ford he only kept for a few months because it went into the shop 4 times and he couldn't afford not to have a working truck. He really liked the Chevy engine and Allison tranny, but didn't like how low it sat compared to the other trucks. He has had great success with all 3 of his CTD's.

I'm always jealous of the lifted superduties, I did put some nice 33" BFG's on mine and it rides great so for now, no lift. I would like to put some Bilstein shocks on it. I simply can't afford big upgrades or risking warranty with a tuner.

I only looked at one KR and I did not like the color scheme. Seeing Tyler's makes me rethink that. I am pretty darn happy with my Stock Lariat FX4 though. Mileage and power are improving at 7k miles and I hear 15k is when it really breaks in so sometime next year for me.

And let's not let this thread turn into a fanboy argument. This was originally an info thread for a guy who is considering a KR Superduty. I would gladly have bought any of the big 3's diesel trucks, but it happens that the Ford service and dealers in my area are very very good. I just put a fresh coat of wax on the Lariat this weekend, and I love it as much as the day I bought it, I should have that truck for 15-20 yrs or longer if it holds up well.

The dodge has the preferred engine/tranny in my book, I own a 2000 F-250. The problem is on the inside it is still a dodge and it sucks. I live in my truck for pleasure, not work, the dodge flat out is uncomfortable and ugly.

thanks everybody
just drove a 2004 f350 kings ranch long bed

that truck drives nice, but not as nice as the 2006

the 2004 has 100,000 miles on it
.....but!
it is only $25,500
but is a one ton
what's the downside compared to the f250?

with my trade in....I am only outta pocket $14,000

should I worry about 100,000 miles?...on a powerstroke?

there is no warranty
it has the 6.0

really didn't wanna spend as much as they want for the '06....but with only 23,000 miles on it, it still "feels" new


what do yall think?



or I could just keep the Hemi...it's pd for
thanks

If you are towing no the flats for the most part and under an hour, then keep your dodge. It's hill climbing and curvey roads where you really feel the difference.

I personally would not buy an 04 with no warranty, or any diesel with no warranty really, they are expensive to fix, turbos, injectors, egr, etc. You could get lucky and have no problems. It just depends what you are willing to risk down the road.

The 06 is superior to the 04 in alot of ways, upgraded injectors, better turbos, better handling, bigger brakes, etc. If you like the 04 and wanna get it because it's inexpensive, then get an Oasis report done to see if it had any trouble, some of them were absolutely fine. Remember though at 100k, things like ball joints start to go.

Just some food for thought is all.

thanks Flux
that all makes sense

Cliff, you are being smart as this is all alot of cash and I would hate to see anyone not get the right vehicle. I have to drive a long ways to ride and even further for a really nice lake, so its worth it to me. If it was a shorter trip with no mountains in the way, I would probably have not opted for a diesel. Warranty is important to me too, payments are steep enough, I need beer money you know?? I do intend to keep my truck for a decade at the very least, and will re-up my warranty at 5 yrs so I have some protection.

If you needed a new truck, that might be a different scenario, then upgrading to diesel makes a good bit of sense. 39k is not unreasonable for the 06, but it is still a good chunk of change and I bought my 06 Lariat for 42k and put another 1k into it for better tires.

I agree with everything flux said. The 04 even 05 had their own bag of issues, and many got resolved for 06. That said the grey f350 is an 04 lariat and never even had a hiccup. With the same tuner and banks monster exhaust and muffler and intake.

Cliff,

here's the forums where I did alot of research on the 6.0l before I bought it

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php

It's alot like this place, except for Fords, lot's of good folks on there who are glad to help out and share knowledge/experiences.

Seems there were a bit too many 03-04 6.0l that had troubles non stop. But then many more that did not have any problems whatsoever. I have read that many of the ongoing problems were due to poorly trained techs misdiagnosing problems and throwing parts at em instead of fixing them. There were batches of bad injectors, EGR valve problems, but they resolved these issues.

The King Ranch is nice, but not even close to the plush ride of The VAN!

2001 Ford E350
7.3L Turbo-Diesel, E4OD, Gear Vendros under/overdrive and 4x4!

heres another van haha

Don't get me started on the Diesel 4x4 vans. I often regret not going for it and getting one of these:

http://www.sportsmobile.com/z-PO_calif.html

They have a location in TX too. Ford Diesel with Quigley 4x4, perfect machine for lake camping with the boat. I cry every day because I do not have a sportsmobile.

Tyler I don't think anyone was baggin on the powerstroke, actually I think everyone really liked your dad's trucks. Saying that the Dmax or Cummins can touch it, well that's just foolish and un-educated. There are just as many folks that hop up their chevy's and Dodge's as the Ford guys.

Quit trying to start things... I bever said nobodies chevy or dodge couldnt touch it... I said most unless extremely modded.

Tyler,

The numbers you qouted would mean another Ford couldn't touch it either unless heavily modded. So what's your point?

Come on man, not trying to start anything. I thought you might have been getting bent out of shape for a minute there.

I know this is sort of dorky, but I was actually thinking about how perfect a diesel 15 passenger van could be for boating. Granted you would never drive it the rest of the week, but you could take the entire crew in vehicle, have 4wd, and plenty of pulling power...but then again you are driving a fan.

I like the yellow Chevrolet the best.

You mean the H2??? It's nice but you'd hate the mileage. It gets about 11 hwy.

I have a 2006 POWER STROKE and i love it. It is not the King Ranch edition, but it is black with grey leather interior. I get 17-18 mpg on the hwy and 12-14 with my 2004 launch GG behind it. I cannot feel the boat back there at all.

I looked but could not find the stock hp and torque on Chevy,Dodge and Ford. Does any one else know what they are on the 07 modles?
Gale Banks offers a twin turbo D-max with 950hp and 1200ft lbs of torque. Those #'s might be off just alittle but are real close to actual #'s.

Very reasonable #s IMO, everyone knows diesels CAN produce an unreal amount of torque
Heres a nice Diesel clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qbnozIGfkE

Wow....that trade sucks Cliff?

They gave me 14.5 on my '02 SLT quad cab 4X4 with the 5.9 360. Cloth, power everything. It needed new tires and had a 2" crease ding on the left rear fender from what I assume was a shopping cart. Both of those were mentioned in the trade quote and I think they reduced by 5-6 hundred, leaving me at the 14.5. Bed was TERRIBLE, but assume they will throw in a bed liner....was VERY surprised that was not mentioned.

That said, they had NO used trucks on the lot(friend said it was a VERY good time to trade) and sold my truck 3 days later.

Anyway, I cannot believe they are not more in the 15K trade range for your truck...??? What does it book trade at? Mine was right on, maybe even a little high on the NADA trade value.

well, I pulled the trigger on the 2006

I drove 5 other trucks, but the price and condition of the others just wasn't as good as the 2006 king ranch

I talked the guys down to $37,000 even with a 75,000 mile warranty and 36,000 more miles worth of free maintenance...oil changes and what not...

E.J., my Dodge had been wrecked big time once...so I got only the fair condition trade value for it...off of kellybluebook anyway......

I am happy with the value they gave me

kept me from explaining its history to someone ...if I sold it myself

anyway

thanks everyone!

now I gotta learn all about deisels so I can squeeze 3 or 4 hundred thousand miles or more outta this thing

just gotta decide if I want a hard bed cover or a soft one

oh!
went out on lake Arlington this morning 11:00 a.m.
only 1 other boat and pure butter!
it's been an awesome day

happy bday to me tomorrow!

gunna "work" for 2 hours and then ride all day!!

Congrats Cliff you're gonna love it

If you're worried about getting the leather wet, do a google search. I looked once because I was in a similar situation and found some pretty nice neoprene seat covers. If I remember right they were kind of pricey and I think there were designed with surfers in mind.

^^^^^^^

http://www.wetokole.com/

I get in my Lincoln every day soaking wet, fresh out of the lake and havent had any problems.

What is the King Ranch package

Nicer leather, different paint, moonroof, etc...

Yeah, congrats Cliff. You won't regret it in the long run, especially if you have a good dealer.

Run Diesel Kleen in every tank, or powerservice, one of the two. it's an additive that helps in a alot of areas. Lot's of people swear by this, otherwise you are at the mercy of the fuel producer.

Get your oil changed regularly, and ahead of schedule.

Make sure you drive it hard here and there to blow out the EGR and Turbo.

is a diesel turbo the same or similar to a gas turbo? Can you do upgrages like piping and BOV

I would not worry so much about over frequent oil changes. Run Syns, use Blackstone for oil analysis, change filters and you can run extended intervals.

thanks everyone
I put a hard cover on the bed today
didn't go with the fiberglass...although they look better
this one is made from the same material that is on bumpers
and only weighs 60 pounds

on the way from Irving tonight, I reset the mpg and set the cruise on 60mph and the a/c running

the computer registered 22.5 mpg as the average from Irving (hwy 183) to Arington at the 303 exit (hwy 360)

thats probably 12 miles or so

I am pretty happy with that kind of performance!

did the same thing in the Dodge (hemi) once
and could get 16 for a mile or so...without a/c..
but the average was around 14

didn't do the "test" without the bed cover

might remove it one day and do it...for a comparison

running your A/C makes no difference whatsoever. But congrats on the rig!

You didn't see that Myth Busters did you? They did a test with two identical Ford Expeditions on a track. They had the same amount of gas, same engine, same speed, same everything. The vehicle with the windows down and no A/C ran something like 30 miles further then the vehicle with windows up and A/C on full blast.

Congrats Cliff.
The key to making any diesel engine in the light truck market last is staying on top of the maint. schedule, and learning what you can about turbos, cool-down time, max EGT., etc.
Oil analysis a couple of times a year through somebody like Blackstone Labs is a good idea. Stick with Delo 400 15-40, use either factory or Fleetguard oil and fuel filters. Buy yourself a gallon of Lucas injector treatment, and run it through every every other tankful or thereabouts.
If you are going to mod the truck, or just work it hard sometimes,get a set of gauges and aquire the knowledge of how to read them.Knowing where the pyrometer probe is on the EGT gauge is critical, temps can vary as much as 200 or more based on probe location.
If you are running an automatic, get a service done on the trans, and think about a pure-base ATF or something like Royal Purple, etc. I've had good luck personally with Hy-Torque hydraulic fluid, a pure base product by Hydrotex. It dropped the operating temp of the trans by 20 degrees with no other mods. Every factory "HD" trans cooler I've ever seen isn't worthy of the name, a real one can save you huge dollars.
Welcome to the world of diesel truck owners. If you tow, and you obviously do, you'll never go back to gas for a work truck again.
Thereis a lot of info out there for you, check out www.thedieselstop.com

thanks Army Dad!
I really appreciate the info!

I noticed your occupation in your proflie

funny thing.......I graduated college with a criminology degree
my brother's major was business

I own and operate a couple of restaurants
and he is currenty studying for a captains spot on a local police force....

guess we should have sat in on each others courses at school

I second the neoprene seat covers. I have another Ford with speciality leather (the very limited '04 Mystichrome Cobra with color-shifting leather seats). I had custom neoprene seat covers made as I'm not about to find out how well the leather stands up to moisture. I'd do the same on King Ranch leather. It actually helps keep the leather looking new as you don't get scratches or creases in the leather either.