6.0 Diesel Mechanic in Phoenix?

ndubes · 02-09-2018, 05:41 PM

new 6.0 SMB owner looking for a diesel mechanic recommendation in the Phoenix, AZ area. Anybody local have someone they trust? Our E350 has 185k miles, wanting to get everything others have suggested on this forum taken care of so we can trust the reliability moving forward. Thanks!

JoeH · 02-09-2018, 06:54 PM

Recommendations from a couple of diesel forums I frequent:
- Strictly Diesel in Scottsdale. https://www.strictlydiesel.com/
-One Stop Truck Shop. University drive in Pnx. https://ostsaz.com/
-Monster Diesel Repair in Gilbert. https://monsterdieselrepair.com/

My guess is all of these places have made a small fortune off repairing the 6.0 powerstroke. Good luck!

ndubes · 02-12-2018, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeH

Recommendations from a couple of diesel forums I frequent:
- Strictly Diesel in Scottsdale. https://www.strictlydiesel.com/
-One Stop Truck Shop. University drive in Pnx. https://ostsaz.com/
-Monster Diesel Repair in Gilbert. https://monsterdieselrepair.com/

My guess is all of these places have made a small fortune off repairing the 6.0 powerstroke. Good luck!

Thanks I'm going to give all these guys a call today. I'll post back in this thread with what I hear back for future sake if anyone else in the PHX area needs a mechanic in the future.

ndubes · 02-15-2018, 08:08 PM

FYI the guys from Strictly Diesel seemed the most confident in handling the 6.0 in the van.

One stop truck shop said they work on the E-series vans and that they charge $100/hr. Didn't say they wouldn't work on it but they didn't sound as anxious to do so.

I'm still waiting on a reply from Charlie over at Pro Diesel. They seem to have good reviews from customers but I want to make sure they're confident working on the van.

ShuttlePilot · 02-15-2018, 08:53 PM

Progress! ndubes, thanks for the update and please post who you go with and how it goes. I appreciate having a list of trustworthy shops available in different places if necessary when traveling. It's that basic pilot practice of, "if I had a problem here, where is my landing zone." With the van it's not based on glide slope as it is a 200mi free tow with AAA.

- Eric

REF · 02-17-2018, 07:11 AM

Keep in mind, while I know nothing about their shop or mechanical skills, Strictly Diesel is a large presence on the interweb selling Diesel engine parts and upgrades. They probably know their stuff, but might also try to up-sell.
Has your 6.0 been “bulletproofed”? If not check for locations, strictly diesel is on the list.
http://www.bulletproofdiesel.com/Default.asp

Isn’t there a thread on recommended mechanics and where they are? I thought there was, but can’t find it. And if not, maybe there should be, and make it sticky. I’ve got one to add, and then remove[emoji36]

'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
SMB RB50 w/CCV top
Quigley 4X4 w/Deavers & Agile RIP kit

JoeH · 02-17-2018, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REF

Keep in mind, while I know nothing about their shop or mechanical skills, Strictly Diesel is a large presence on the interweb selling Diesel engine parts and upgrades. They probably know their stuff, but might also try to up-sell.
Has your 6.0 been “bulletproofed”? If not check for locations, strictly diesel is on the list.
BulletProofDiesel - Darn-Near Bullet Proof Diesel Products for your 6.0 and 6.4

Isn’t there a thread on recommended mechanics and where they are? I thought there was, but can’t find it. And if not, maybe there should be, and make it sticky. I’ve got one to add, and then remove[emoji36]

'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
SMB RB50 w/CCV top
Quigley 4X4 w/Deavers & Agile RIP kit

Here: http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...ith-12887.html

I guess I wouldn't let it scare me off that they're an authorized BPD vendor. I'm not really a fan of that outfit or their propensity to sue anybody that dares to use the word bulletproof in advertising but they do make nice components. The only thing I would consider would be their EGR cooler. Their FICM upgrade is pretty sweet but ungodly expensive. Oh yeah, the water pump is nice. Otherwise, maybe just get the work done to make it hurricane proof.

ndubes · 02-19-2018, 02:49 PM

I'm going to go with Strictly Diesel to start. I wanted a place that wouldn't have to take the cab-off to service, since I felt like that sorta indicated that they're accustomed to working on the vans if they've invested the money in the tool to do it that way. Also an added bonus of probably being less expensive, but I'm less concerned about cost than I am about their general comfort level with the vans.

STRICTLY DIESEL: Cab stays on, they were really accommodating with my questions and said they have worked on countless vans and 6.0s. Good online presence it seems with lots of reviews, and in the negative posts the manager seems to do a good job of telling the shop's side of the story. Bonus that they're a BPD dealer, I do think I'll probably invest in the EGR cooler upgrade if it hasn't been done already.

PRO DIESEL: I thought these guys came across as the most honest outfit, smaller shop in central phoenix but they said van repairs are expensive and they do take the cab off.

MONSTER DIESEL: They don't take the cab off for the repairs, so it sounds like they're pretty comfortable with the vans. If I was east valley I probably would have gone with these guys first, but they're a little further away and I felt like Strictly Diesel could do just as good a job.

ONE STOP TRUCK SHOP: They didn't really seem to have a lot of time to talk to me, just said it was $100/hr to work on the vans and didn't seem to have any idea if they removed the cab or not. Didn't get a great feeling about their comfort level.

BULLETPROOF: Obviously know the 6.0s as well as anybody and Wyatt down there was really accommodating with my questions. However he said they usually can't do a lot of their upgrades on the SMB 4x4's anymore because it requires a lot of custom work that they'd rather not do anymore. I get it, they're busy and want to just keep their shop "lean". If you can do good business that way I can't blame them. I want a shop that I can take the van to for anything engine related for routine or non-routine maintenance though, and BPD seems to deal more with one-time upgrades now vs general service.

I'll post again in a few weeks after my first experience with Strictly Diesel and let you all know how it went.

ndubes · 04-06-2018, 01:55 PM

Hello all just wanted to update that this Phoenix thread has kind of spilled over into a different thread specifically about bulletproofing. So I'm linking that one here as well, for more information about my experience with Strictly Diesel:

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...tml#post225044