[Joint Venture II]

The 09 V10 is a 3 valve engine and makes 362 hp @ 4,750 rpm & 457 ft lb torque @ 3,000 rpm. The Ford V10 has a stellar reputation for reliability. Assuming the engine has been well cared for throughout its life, you can expect it to last at least 200,000 miles before needing to perform any major repairs. That means the big V10 shouldn't scare you away, unless 7-8 mpg on a good day frightens you towing your FW.

Is the 6.8 Triton V10 reliable? Overall, this engine is well built and is highly reliable. Outside of the common spark plug blowout issue on the pre 2002 engines, there aren’t really any costly problems that the 6.8 Triton is known for. The spark plug issue can be fixed preventatively with a repair kit that costs a few hundred bucks. The only other known common problems are super simple and inexpensive fixes.

I have owned 4 V10 powered trucks, 2 with the 4R100 auto trans and 2 with 5 or 6 speed manual trans. My present truck was a 5 speed manual but I swapped to a 6 speed manual for better towing use. I have owned a new 2004 F250 4WD V10 6 speed manual, 2001 Excursion 4WD V10 auto, 2002 F350 4WD CCLB V10 auto, and my present truck. All (present truck has 103k miles) went over 200k with no spark plug issues or any problems whatsoever. I tow a Monty in my signature and am very happy with my towing power, get between 7.33 and 8.57 mpg regularly towing. Running w/o FW gets me 13.5 - 14 mpg. The 3 valve engine will get less but you have more power too.