7.3 idi

[Thillmaine]

Looking at an older ford chip truck with the 7.3 idi motor. Non-turbo. From what I hear they are bulletproof but gutless. Truck has 53k original miles. Anybody have comments or concerns. Would be towing a 7k pound chipper, a skisteer maybe from time to time.

 

[Gorman]

There are aftermarket turbos you can put on it if its a problem.

 

[bushwackertree]

We had one and had very little issue with it. I dont think you will have problems towing with it as we pulled a Morbark 290 with ours. Got not bad fuel mileage as long as we stayed in the city but as soon as we got on the highway fuel mileage went way down, but that will depend also on the gearing of the truck(ours was geared very low). Good all round truck for what I was using it for, never left me stranded. Ive attached a pic of ours.

Ben
Bushwacker Tree

 

[frashdog]

Def want turbo'd gens! Especially for towing!
94 to 99 is obs (older body style)
99 to 03 7.3's are the best bang for yer buck!

Go with standard for towing, unless you get the 450 or 550 with the lower gear ratios. I ate 3 auto trans in my 01 7.3 before I bought a lifetime unlimited hp BTS trans for it.

My 01 puts down about 450rwhp now and hauls a 12k trailer up anything at 55-65! The amoun of after market stuff for these gen trucks is awesome.

 

[Gorman]

[ QUOTE ]
Def want turbo'd gens! Especially for towing!
94 to 99 is obs (older body style)
99 to 03 7.3's are the best bang for yer buck!

Go with standard for towing, unless you get the 450 or 550 with the lower gear ratios. I ate 3 auto trans in my 01 7.3 before I bought a lifetime unlimited hp BTS trans for it.

My 01 puts down about 450rwhp now and hauls a 12k trailer up anything at 55-65! The amoun of after market stuff for these gen trucks is awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have an 01 myself. Whats this bts trans you talked about? I had the transmission replaced about 50K ago and had the shop use aftermarket parts for it since the oem from ford was junk. It's been great so far.

 

[frashdog]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Def want turbo'd gens! Especially for towing!
94 to 99 is obs (older body style)
99 to 03 7.3's are the best bang for yer buck!

Go with standard for towing, unless you get the 450 or 550 with the lower gear ratios. I ate 3 auto trans in my 01 7.3 before I bought a lifetime unlimited hp BTS trans for it.

My 01 puts down about 450rwhp now and hauls a 12k trailer up anything at 55-65! The amoun of after market stuff for these gen trucks is awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have an 01 myself. Whats this bts trans you talked about? I had the transmission replaced about 50K ago and had the shop use aftermarket parts for it since the oem from ford was junk. It's been great so far.

[/ QUOTE ]Brian's truck stop( BTS)
They cost near $5k all said and done. His warranty is gold. Look him up on any diesel forum. He specialized in the 4r100 trans and has a bunch running near 1000hp. I ate the stock trans first, then two more $2500 "high performance" builds before I sucked it up and got the "last trans you buy". I ate all the other trans at about 300wrhp. People sell his trans used with 100k miles on them for $3k. He usually has a waiting list near a month! He builds one a day.

 

[Gorman]

This is very interesting. I'm not sure if I want to sink that much into it but if I did, I would deck the halls in that truck. It would make much more sense if I had this done at 50k rather than 100.