Wished I had me one of then new fangledy diesel pick ups

[jbighump]

i absolutley love my dodge with the commonrail cummins, it hauls :censored: and gets 21-22 mpg doing it. towing a 18ft trailer full of beech rounds i got 16-17mpg. however if i had to do over i would have bought a 12valve and stayed out of debt. i agree that the 7.3 is a good motor and they last forever, but they are slugs,as far as the 6.0 the early ones had all the problems but they got them lined out about the time they went with the current motor

 

[reccutter]

Yep, been weighing the cost diffference in a new truck and a new engine for quiet some time. $50,000 for a truck is just stupid, $6000 for a drop in 502 crate engine....hurts, but doable.



Empty, 10-11 mpg....loaded like in the picture, 8-10 mpg. I've seen it as low as 7 mpg with a scaled gross of 15,780#. It's a throttle bodied engine with a 5 speed and 4.10 gears.

Why would you do that? That's a sweet looking truck. How bout a junkyard 6.6 Duramax w/6speed allison? twice the torque and around 17-18mpg and 12-13mpg loaded.

 

[komatsuvarna]

As a former 6.0L owner, stand by for failure of, but not limited to, egr cooler, head gaskets, glow plugs, glow plug wiring harness, glow plug controller, oil pump-high pressure, oil pump-low pressure, etc. Other than that they are a really nice truck.

I agree 100% guns! I have 04, 05, and 07 with the 6.0. You left out injectors and the electric clutch fan harness. Ill NEVER EVER have another one. I also have a 01 with the 7.3. While it dont have the power of the 6.0, (when they actually run) Its never had a bolt turned on it.

 

[Junkfxr]

Why would you do that? That's a sweet looking truck. How bout a junkyard 6.6 Duramax w/6speed allison? twice the torque and around 17-18mpg and 12-13mpg loaded.

Let's see. Where to start?
1-Duramax's aren't real plentiful in junkyards around here.
2-You never know what you're getting in a junkyard engine and Duramax's
aren't cheap to work on.
3-I don't like automatics, especially computer controlled ones.
4-Duramax's with straight drives are even more hard to find.
5-I have a hard enough time trying to find time just to keep the grass cut,
let alone doing a conversion with all of the wiring and computers.
6-If worse comes to worse, I can always slap an intake, carburetor, electric
fuel pump and a distrubitor on the gasser and continue on without the
computer.
The list just continues on.

 

[bullittman281]

You can't fail with a 7.3

 

[redprospector]

You can't fail with a 7.3

Sure you can. I've had to pull mine in with the Cummins several times.
I won't knock the 7.3, they are ok. But as was stated earlier, there's a reason most of the semi's run inline 6's.
Ever since Ford started using the Powerstroke there's been an ongoing battle between the Cummins & Powerstroke owners. I've got both, and personally I don't think the Powerstroke would make a pimple on the old 5.9 Cummins :censored:, 12 or 24 valve.

Andy

 

[STLfirewood]

Sure you can. I've had to pull mine in with the Cummins several times.
I won't knock the 7.3, they are ok. But as was stated earlier, there's a reason most of the semi's run inline 6's.
Ever since Ford started using the Powerstroke there's been an ongoing battle between the Cummins & Powerstroke owners. I've got both, and personally I don't think the Powerstroke would make a pimple on the old 5.9 Cummins :censored:, 12 or 24 valve.

Andy

:agree2:

I have had both also. The cummins is hands down better.

Scott

 

[reccutter]

Let's see. Where to start?
1-Duramax's aren't real plentiful in junkyards around here.
2-You never know what you're getting in a junkyard engine and Duramax's
aren't cheap to work on.
3-I don't like automatics, especially computer controlled ones.
4-Duramax's with straight drives are even more hard to find.
5-I have a hard enough time trying to find time just to keep the grass cut,
let alone doing a conversion with all of the wiring and computers.
6-If worse comes to worse, I can always slap an intake, carburetor, electric
fuel pump and a distrubitor on the gasser and continue on without the
computer.
The list just continues on.

Yeah, I see your point on all those and then some too. I still like my Duramax despite all that. More of just a dream of mine(probably never get to either). But if I did, a mint looking truck like yours in the picture would be a great project to do it to.

 

[jbrady]

One more vote for the 7.3L Powerstroke, if you keep the oil and filters changed they will go forever. Everbody in this neck of the woods has at least one or two of them. The only problem is that the ball joints on the four wheel drive go out at 170,000 miles. I drive a 99 f350 with the 6speed and 255,000 miles.

 

[1harlowr]

Love the cummins in my 03 6 speed Dodge 2500. 20+mpg empty and 17mpg no matter what's being towed. The entire front end under these heavy engines are a POS though. The entire front end has basically been rebuilt twice at 160,000 miles

 

[RVALUE]

One more vote for the 7.3L Powerstroke, if you keep the oil and filters changed they will go forever. Everbody in this neck of the woods has at least one or two of them. The only problem is that the ball joints on the four wheel drive go out at 170,000 miles. I drive a 99 f350 with the 6speed and 255,000 miles.

0r on supercab's road, a little sooner.

 

[Oldtimer]

Didn't read the whole thread...but...

If you go find a nice lower mile 7.3 F350, or a nice Cummins, or even a (gulp) Duramax....you'll never think about owning a gas job again.
A diesel is that sweet....if you are going to use the truck.
If you're plowing snow, fugedahboutit. The diesel will push more and use less fuel doing it.

 

[Hugenpoet]

If you got one of them "new fandangledy diesel pickups", the next thing we'd know you'd be wantin' a bigger trailer.

Andy

Nah, he ditch the trailer entirely and wouldn't let no one inside the truck unless they were wearin' party shoes.

 

[Oldtimer]

And just an FYI.....the new 6.7 Ford built powerstroke is a MONSTER. It's sick, and it's so quiet that you can't hear the thing when you stand back by the exhaust outlet. The older couple I talked with said theirs was returning 21MPG with only 800 miles on the clock...2011 F350 Ex-cab LONG BED lariat 4x4 6 speed auto. The woman was driving, and she was in love with it.
They paid $47K OTD. Not bad for an ex cab 4x4 F350 Lariat. I know of people who have dropped over 60K on king ranch equipped trucks.

 

[Oldtimer]

One more vote for the 7.3L Powerstroke, if you keep the oil and filters changed they will go forever. Everbody in this neck of the woods has at least one or two of them. The only problem is that the ball joints on the four wheel drive go out at 170,000 miles. I drive a 99 f350 with the 6speed and 255,000 miles.

Doing a complete front end (except the diff) on my 2000 F550. It has 103,000miles.
Bearings, U-joints, seals, ball joints, maybe even an upgrade to warn hubs.
$800+ in parts without the hubs. But it's been WORKED every mile of that 103K. It doesn't owe me a dime.

 

[komatsuvarna]

And just an FYI.....the new 6.7 Ford built powerstroke is a MONSTER. It's sick, and it's so quiet that you can't hear the thing when you stand back by the exhaust outlet.

I hope its better than the 6.0 and 6.4. Maybe ford will pull through!!!

 

[Circle B MN]

I hope its better than the 6.0 and 6.4. Maybe ford will pull through!!!

They better. The only thing I own these days made by Ford is stock, and I bought it at the bottom of the hill.....

 

[Wood Doctor]

Ranger is hard to beat.

Just talked to a 2005 Ford F-250 Diesel owner. He used to own a half-ton Ford Ranger like mine.

He said, "Well, I used to get 20 mpg with the Ranger and now I get 12 at most with the diesel--empty, loaded, or pulling a trailer. Yes, it's powerful. However, I loved that 4L V6 that pulled the Ranger. Great pickup engine."

 

[catbuster]

I hope its better than the 6.0 and 6.4. Maybe ford will pull through!!!

I've driven one in a 550/dump-Demo. Everything's true. It towed a T250, loaded with 8000 lbs of gravel. They're awesome. (And I don't own it.. I have a 7.3 right now.)

 

[STLfirewood]

Doing a complete front end (except the diff) on my 2000 F550. It has 103,000miles.
Bearings, U-joints, seals, ball joints, maybe even an upgrade to warn hubs.
$800+ in parts without the hubs. But it's been WORKED every mile of that 103K. It doesn't owe me a dime.

I have a 1999 F-550 with a 6-speed and 4.88 gears. I average 10mpg. I went to NH and got a 20ft kiln. The damn truck average 7.8 on the way back. That isn't very good for a diesel. Like I said before he truck really handles the weight but lacks in power and mpg.

Scott