There are "Destroke" kits out there for the 6.0 trucks. It's a whole kit to swap in a 5.9 cummins. That should be a clue to the 6.0's legacy.
I live on the main route in/out of Myrtle Beach, SC. I've seen a LOT of older Ford trucks pulling big camper trailers that sounded different, lol.

There's good and bad in every one of the diesels. Some hate the '98.5-'02 Cummins b/c of the VP44 pumps. The early '01-'04 LB7 Duramax trucks are bad for injectors and head gaskets also.

I thought about a Powerstroke when I was looking for an older F-250 with manual trans... ended up buying a 7.3 IDI.
It won't win any drag races, even after I put a factory turbo setup with a non-crush downpipe on it... but it WILL get you there, if slowly.
And a set of injectors is around $300 (for all eight).