GREED!

[Super Dave]

Dave, I am not sure if you are directing some of the above to me, but here are my 2 cents...........


Industrial.......not sure what the standard is (), but I am just pointing out a diesel say for a semi is built to last longer than a PSD in a Ford truck (design criteria/requirement)...........

Ok, you're on...

Right, what's the standard.

7.3 PSD's are International engines...T444E.  You can see them in International 4700 trucks.  It's a medium duty truck.

It's not a semi engine.  Exactly.

But is designed for long duty.  Cast Iron Block and heads.

Dodge has (had) two V10's.  The one they used to have in their trucks was the cast iron model.  That was for long duty.  Now they have the SRT10 truck with an aluminum V10...wouldn't last for severe long duty.

Anyway, the PSD is a medium duty block used in a "light duty" application...

I said the basic maintenance (oil/filters) may cost more for a diesel, but that's just part of the price to pay for better mileage.  If you want a truck and need to pull something, there is no doubt that a diesel is a better if not best engine/powertrain choice.

Have we looked at the price for a somewhat similar power train package?

I know that the retail price of an air cleaner for a 5.4L at a local Ford store is $40.  Certainly isn't going to pull a bigger trailer like the diesel.

How much does it cost to replace a Coil Over Plug?  They get hot in towing applications.  I think they are about $130 each (times eight...or ten...).  No ignition on the diesel.

I didn't say nor think diesel is bad at all.  I am just saying that a diesel engine/powertran will cost a lot to rebuild (and cost more to begin with; initial investment).

A diesel converts about 40% of it's fuel to power.  Gas motors do about 33%.  Rebuild?  Again, I don't expect to ever rebuild my old bus.  Might require an injector pump at like 300k...Do we think that a gas motor in the same application would need to be rebuilt at 200k?  I think so.

Greed..........is the name of the game for those in business.  No one makes anything for free, especially not the big corporation (the rich).

Profit is the name of the game for everyone.  You don't make up for loss by selling a lot of it.

That's everyone, not just big corporations.  Corporations might be able to spread out some losses over the life of a product or part that a smaller corp could not do.  

Ferrari is a small corportation.  I'm sure their margine in each car is much higher than the ones in each VW...

But because of volume, they don't make as much money overall.  Right?

Rich does get richer.  It's a fact, not a myth.  No, parts guy isn't the rich I am talking about here (not even close to being called rich at all).  I am talking about the manufacturers (big scale)/dealership owners (smaller scale) in this case.

Well, rich get richer...

If you've got a lot of money, you can risk opportunities that those that don't have a lot of money can't risk.

I'm a good example.  I put on schools, I teach, I can help.  But I'll never be able to make an impact like some because I don't have the resources that someone else might.

Being well off isn't a crime...is it?

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

     To answer Sunny, the reason I bought the '03 F350 Dually with the 6.0 Diesel was because I am looking to possibly go to a gooseneck trailer instead of a tag like I have now. My '02 F250 with the 7.3 Diesel doesn't legally have enough weight carrying capacity. A gooseneck will exert about twice the amount of load on the tow vehicle as a tag trailer of the same weight. Since I want to stay legal I looked for a Dually, the '03 truck was what I found that I liked. The 6.0 Diesel it came with was my only concern but I thought I would go ahead and take the chance.

     As I stated before I could buy all the same Motorcraft filters for my 7.3 Diesel that the Dealership sells, but at a parts store, for about $40. Even with the costs at the dealership being somewhat higher I still had them do filter changes on my 7.3 during bad weather since I don't have an indoor place to work on my vehicle. The price was an acceptable fee for the work done so I had it done by the dealership. Well looking at the cost of having the same thing done on my 6.0 Diesel, I won't ever have the dealership do it, my butt will be out in the driveway in the middle of winter doing it. Making the new filters outrageously expensive in my opinion will definately help in steering business away from the dealership (filter & oil changes are easy money).

     SuperDave, I realize you work at a Ford dealership, I would encourage you to go to the parts department and have them show you the fuel/water filter kit and the oil filter for an '03 F350 6.0 Diesel. Once you see how simple these filters are it will probably help to show my dissatisfaction with paying apx. $140 for them (after tax). :-/

[Sunny]

Gooseneck...........you are definitely better off with the 350 than the 250.   ;)

It's too bad that the filter designs had take a different route than most and hence caused an increase in the price for owners as a result.  I am not sure if ease of changing was the major factor when cartridge type was chosen, but it definitely cost most due to new tooling instead of utilize commonly designed and already available filters.  Plus, volume is also important as Dave pointed out as manufacturer needs to recover their tooling/investment cost on top of the set profit.

Anyway, shop around as most suggested.  Buying filters direct (eliminating another middleman who does nothing but ordering and handling for profit) or on eBay should save you some $$$.