Man, Sure do like those F-250 super dutys with the Diesel motor

[Loanranger]

If you go for a 7.3 (which I would personally) get one between late 99 and early 01. These had forged rods, anything later than late 01 or early 02 had PMR's (pot metal rods) and are only good for 450 horse before you risk shattering the rods. And the early 99s had the earlier turbo on them, which aren't worth a shit if you're looking to tune it.

 

[84projectFORD]

Try more like 60-70k miles of hard work, and that is going off of the onboard calculator thingie.

The reason the 7.3 is no more is it wouldn't have a hope of passing the new emission regs.

well that onboard calculator is off. if you hand calculate it it will show you how much it is.

but why would i want to buy a diesel and wait 60-70k before i start to see somewhat good fuel milage? i could see after 10k but not that long and believe me these guys drive the piss out of the trucks.

 

[lantz84]

well i will tell you we do metal roofing and we run the crap out of superdutys. so far we have had 4. a 92 non turbo 7.3 5speed. it would pull pretty good until about 55-60 , dont remeber what kinda of mpg it got. we had a 99 350 7.3 auto 4x4 it got around 14-16 loaded on the highway. loaded being a fully closed in utility bed with about 2-4thousand pounds of tools/rolls of metal and pulling a trailer. never had any motor problems but we had to do a tranny at about 140k. my dad has a 01 350 7.3 auto 4x4 with a reg bed on it, has a programer and full exghaust on it and he can pull about 20mpg on the highway. very nice power but the tranny doesnt do a good job holding the power range. he hasnt done any thing major at all. lastly i drive a 03 550 auto 4x4 6.0 with a full sized 9ft bed closed in. it has 4.88 gears so it only gets about 9-10mpg fully loaded but it pulls like a beast. the tranny does a great job holding it in the power range. we had to put an injector in it and all new a/c at 100k i love the tranny but not crazy bout the 6.0 yes they are quieter but noise does not bother me. i wish i could have the 7.3 with that tranny. and you couldnt give me a 6.4...while pretty nice power and all that it gets horrible mpg

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

well that onboard calculator is off. if you hand calculate it it will show you how much it is.

but why would i want to buy a diesel and wait 60-70k before i start to see somewhat good fuel milage? i could see after 10k but not that long and believe me these guys drive the piss out of the trucks.

That is what my brother has been noticing on them as he services them coming into the shop and talking to the drivers, they go up the more miles are on them.

 

[skyhigh91]

Yah stay away from the pre 99 SD, personnaly own a 97 and hate the ttb dana 50 nothing but toubles, and have had issues with the 5 speed tranny, it is also hard to get a good tune for this series of SD had to get a programmer to pass vehicles on the highway. Not meant for racing so who cares. But i do get descent mileage driving down the highway, 22 mpg @ 60mph. Motor fairly tough no big power. All & all decent truck.

 

[95XL]

I just bought an '02 F-350 with the 7.3L (The last FULL year of the 7.3, there was a 1/2 year in '03, when they switched to the 6.0L). It had 88k miles on it when I picked it up. It's a Crew Cab with the 8ft bed, the beast is long. It's also a 4x4, with the automatic lockouts (They automatically lock in, but you can also get out and lock them in manually, which I like). Around town I'm getting about 16mpg, (BTW, it's an automatic tranny) which is the same as what I was getting with my 4 cyl. Ranger (Which was a 5spd).

After all is said and done, I'm never going back to a Ranger as a daily driver, I kept mine as more of a novelty (See Dual Wheel Conversion, in my sig.) I love my super duty!

 

[Jspafford]

Yah stay away from the pre 99 SD, personnaly own a 97 and hate the ttb dana 50 nothing but toubles, and have had issues with the 5 speed tranny, it is also hard to get a good tune for this series of SD had to get a programmer to pass vehicles on the highway. Not meant for racing so who cares. But i do get descent mileage driving down the highway, 22 mpg @ 60mph. Motor fairly tough no big power. All & all decent truck.

That sort of mileage is GREAT on a fullsize!

I just bought an '02 F-350 with the 7.3L (The last FULL year of the 7.3, there was a 1/2 year in '03, when they switched to the 6.0L). It had 88k miles on it when I picked it up. It's a Crew Cab with the 8ft bed, the beast is long. It's also a 4x4, with the automatic lockouts (They automatically lock in, but you can also get out and lock them in manually, which I like). Around town I'm getting about 16mpg, (BTW, it's an automatic tranny) which is the same as what I was getting with my 4 cyl. Ranger (Which was a 5spd).

After all is said and done, I'm never going back to a Ranger as a daily driver, I kept mine as more of a novelty (See Dual Wheel Conversion, in my sig.) I love my super duty!

I always said I would never go back to a Ranger. Until I burned through my first tank of gas in my 2002 F-250 with the 5.4L and got a whopping 12MPG.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

Here's my experience / 0.02 cents about diesel pickups. This is mostly based on the experience of friends who have owned many years, makes and models:

I'll start with Fords. The 90's turbo 7.3s are loud and will run forever. Don't even think about getting one with an automatic, as you will be changing it quite often. Beyond that, every part on those trucks seems to cost about 5-10x as the same part on a ranger. So for a "no big deal" $20 part for your ranger ends up being a $150 part for the super duty. This adds up quick.

The later 7.3's got faster and got better auto's. I'd still stick with the manual at this point though.

The early 6.0's just plain sucked and caused Ford to lose a big share of the market.

The 6.4's suck gas (mostly because of the new emissions crap) and you have to take the cab off the truck to work on them. The new TorqueShift auto transmissions are supposed to be equal to the Allisons for the top spot in diesel truck trannies.

Now for Dodge. The cummins is arguably the best diesel offered in a pickup. I rank the 7.3 and 5.9 cummins at the top of the diesels offered to this day. Now the rest of the dodge trucks suck. The auto trannies have a shorter service life than the engine oil and the rest of the truck isn't much better. Dodge's have always been the cheapest crappiest truck but somehow the best engine got wasted on them. However if you get a cummins with a manual you should have no problem driving it 300000 miles.

Lastly, Chevy. Chevy wasn't even a competitor in the diesel market until they stole Izuzu's box truck motor, rebadged it "duramax", and started putting it in their trucks. It has been a fairly good motor but it isn't any cummins or ford 7.3. Also the Allison transmissions are equaled only by the new Ford TorqueShift autos. I have however seen the Allisons break, they're not indestructable. Don't believe everything you hear about the Duramax's either, Chevy guys will praise everything GM makes regardless of whether or not it's a POS. I've met very few that were capable of getting past the emblem on the grill and objectly evaluating a vehicle.

My personal opinion about diesel pickups is that they're a gigantic waste of money. Even used, they are rediculously expensive to buy. Even minor repairs are big $$$$. And even if you find one that gets 20 mpg (I've yet to meet anyone who could truthfully claim 20, regardless of make, model, and year), the fact that diesel is more expensive than gas makes fueling it expensive as well.

Most people who drive them don't need them. Like everything else, they are just a status symbol.

Another interesting fact is that it takes at least 20 PSI on any of the new diesels (Ford, Chevy, or Dodge) to keep up with my 4-banger ranger at 9 PSI.

 

[bottledgt]

yeah dont forget the fact that it weighs more than twice the ranger,. that wont have anything to do with it at all...and the powerstroke autos aint that bad at all...i wanted a manual but good fucking luck finding one

 

[Dusty_Ranger]

i drive a 05 f-250 SD with the 5.4L and i love it good on gas and can still smoke tires and thats good gas milage with my heavy foot

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

yeah dont forget the fact that it weighs more than twice the ranger,. that wont have anything to do with it at all...

They are heavier because they were not particularly built with racing in mind...

 

[fordktpjoe]

Wonder why none of the big three has approached Caterpillar for an engine.

 

[Loanranger]

yeah dont forget the fact that it weighs more than twice the ranger,. that wont have anything to do with it at all...and the powerstroke autos aint that bad at all...i wanted a manual but good fucking luck finding one

I haven't heard of one auto lasting behind those 7.3s. The best thing to do is get a BTS tranny, they are built up to your specs, depending on what you have done, and plan to do. They have a lifetime warranty, and they pretty much dare you to break it.

 

[bottledgt]

for as much as they want id fucking hope so...no thanks. if and when mine goes, ill build it up my damn self.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I had a trucker tell me that Catapilliar is getting outta the engine business to focus on heavy equipement.

My take on Diesels...

My favorite all time diesel was the 6.9L, not the greatest powerhouse, but they would do anything and everything you could ask, and always took a beatin and came back for more. Actually felt more powerful then early 7.3's and with a turbo would hang right with a powerchoke.

Cummins diesels are awesome, but you have to buy a shitty truck to get a good engine.

Duramaxs just suck period. Isuzu, nuff said.

The only decent diesel GM had was the 6.2L, not as much torque as Int'l 6.9L, but lasted just as well.

For me though, and dollar for dollar, give me a big block anyday.

later,
Dustin