Diesel know how?

Hey Folks,

i need a quick edgemacation on diesels....I was looking at picking up a 05 or newer f150 and then got told that trucks in my price range are going to have high 200km's and tired motors if its gas...not quite sure if thats true or not..so figured I'd start looking diesel. Long story short I got my eye on a 99 ford f250 7.3 powerstroke and a 2004 ford f350 dually with a 6L...both turbo diesel motors.

What on earth do you look for when you go to check out a diesel?

thanks in advance!

N

the diesels engines are going to outlast everything else on the truck, I'd look over which one has the least amount of abuse, rust, and/or other faults, and lower km. Also for diesel I'd look at the dodge trucks, they have the smaller 6 cylinder diesels, those are really nice.

I've done my motor research and I know what the pros and cons are just dint know how to tell them apart. Gmc gives you the best package with duramax motor Allison tranny and okay interior...ford 7.3 is a good motor makes lots of grunt but tranny is weak. Ford 6L was supposed to be made by international but they couldn't make the power figures ford wanted so ford built it themselves and therefore it's a ticking time bomb. Cummins in the dodge makes the most power but nothing on the truck is strong enough to take it. Now extreme cases for all but it's the good and bad in a nutshell. Programmer gives more power more torque and better gas mileage...not even an electric can do that! Do trucks rattle or sway when there dying? Do they creak? Do check engine lights mean anything? How long for a normal set of glow plugs to heat up?