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New(er) truck

BigBlueChevy

BigBlueChevy

Compression Ignition Addict
Messages
1,331
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Location
Pennsylvania
Sorry I haven't been around to help out much folks. I've been hammered with work the past few months (no complaints here) and getting back into the swing of things. Two months ago I traded the little green truck I had (95' GMC K/1500 6.5L) for a 2001 F250 Super Duty. The little green truck was getting tired and I have had zero time to start another project so I bit the bullet and sold the old girl. I'm not going to lie, I miss the old girl a little bit, but the Ford isn't to bad. Bought it with 57K on the clock. Already past 60K as of this past weekend. It runs good, pulls hard, and seems to be pretty reliable. Its a bare bones basic truck, no power anything.

I'll be getting a DP Infinity tuner and an aftermarket exhaust installed eventually. Probably this summer time I hope. I won't go crazy with power on it. Trans is going to be the limiting factor here as the ZF-6 is really only good for about 650 ft/lbs. I'll probably fab up a similar fuel system to what I had on the little green truck to filter down to 2 microns absolute with a regulated return. I've got to do injector o-rings next weekend as well.

IMG_20130131_172619.jpgIMG_20130131_172532.jpg
 
Those 7.3 p-strokes were one of Fords better powerplants, if not the best.

Looks to be in real solid shape. Happy trails with it.

Probably feels like a sports car compared to a Land Yacht!
 
Yeah she's real clean on the outside. Undercarriage leaves something to be desired as it has suffered a bit of rust damage. The cab will be able to be saved but the bed is more than likely going to need to be replaced in a few years. Interior is just as clean minus a good sized rip in the seat, but its nothing really to complain about. I've got my eyes peeled for a set of air ride seats to ditch the bench and just run them instead. I'll run a small onboard air system for it eventually anyway. And I'd also like to get a shift knob off one of the Eaton Fuller Lightning Series transmissions, which has an electric switch on the side of the shifter for the range selector as compared to the traditional air valve. I can use that switch for an exhaust brake when I get to that point.

I changed all the fluids within 1000 miles of buying it. Trans and T-case is running Allison Transynd with a 20% blend of Lucas oil stabilizer. Rears are running Mobil 1 75W-90 with about 25% Lucas oil stabilizer. Engine is running the Ford Powerstroke Motorcraft 15W-40 oil. It's actually about... $4ish cheaper buying 3 jugs of that than 4 jugs of Rotella (Motorcraft comes as 5 quarts).

So far I'm pretty happy with it. It drives and handles very well. Pulls pretty hard, even down in the 1200rpm range. Only thing I'm disappointed with is fuel economy. If I do nothing but highway it will get 15mpg. A big drop from the 21, 22, 23 I was able to achieve with the little green truck. There are certainly fuel economy improvements in its near future.
 
manual transmission= I am proud of you and wont judge the ford decision. :)

my thoughts are there are two ways to buy a ford, navistar diesel or 300 I6,both with a manual trans. otherwise, fords arent allowed on the farm. :)

what gears does it have? I wonder if axle ratio is the reason for poor MPG.
 
I was hunting hard for a DMAX / ZF-6, but not only are they as rare as hens teeth, but either they have low miles on them and the owner or dealership wanted an amount that was way out of my budget, or you find one that has lots of miles on it... but the owner still wants a huge sum of cash for it. Kind of like buying a 12 valve B series Cummins. A first or second gen Dodge with the mechanical B in it has the Big C somewhere on that truck and automatically its worth more than your life savings. This Ford fit the bill almost to a T. Fords a decent trucks, and the T444E coupled with a handshaker is a pretty stout combo. I believe gears are 3.73's. I'm spinning 1900ish rpm at 65mph. That's compared to the 2300rpm the little green truck spun at 65. I think this girl just needs some better breathing and just a tad bit more fuel. If I can get a consistent 20mpg highway with this thing I'll be satisfied. I'm seeing water mist in my near future...
 
get rid of the sucky ford airbox! know of a few motors ruined by that aweful airbox. there is an outfit that advertises in the back of diesel mags, I think out of TX, and they have a white excursion on most of the ads (Jobe diesel???) they sell a donaldson air intake and filter system for the super duty 7.3L that looks like it would filter quite well.
 
Like GM Guy said, there is an OEM donaldson severe duty intake similar idea to the K47, there are pretty good tuning options out there for 7.3's too.
 
Maintain the cooling system. X100 The airbox should be the #1 thing you change! Halliburton changed a bunch of engines over the airbox in the oil fields.

Nothing wrong with "parking" a 6.5 project truck for when you get time.

But every time you stomp it I bet the MPG issue gets forgotten. The exhaust may be good for some MPG improvement.
 
I know there is an aftermarket coolant filter kit for the 6.0L and all its water to____ coolers, but IIRC there is one for the 7.3L as well, same goes with the bypass oil filter.

PSDs love cavitating, and the HEUI loves clean oil, so IMO filtering of all sorts is a neglected area on these. oil bypass, coolant, and a better air filters all need added.

I think the fuel filter system isnt too awesome either, so maybe do that as well.

I think filters on everything, plus a big mandrel bent exhaust, guages, maybe ditch the warmup valve (I think this requires the pedestal upgrade) and add a regulated return, and you got a truck!

I am starting to sound like a closet ford guy here, so let it be known it is my appreciation for manual transmissions is what drives my interest! :) like I said above, navistar power 6.9L and greater and manually shifted through a ZF gearbox are the only ways I would consider a ford diesel! :D
 
GM Guy said:
I am starting to sound like a closet ford guy here, so let it be known it is my appreciation for manual transmissions is what drives my interest! :) like I said above, navistar power 6.9L and greater and manually shifted through a ZF gearbox are the only ways I would consider a ford diesel! :D
Click to expand...

:rolleyes5: So maybe you get paid to work on others trucks including Fords...
 
well, there was this one time we got paid in booze to doll up a truck to get it traded off so he could get out from the loan, damn cowboy buddies with no money... :)
otherwise i just ride in the PSDs at various places of employment.
 
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