Help me change my mind on a 7.tree diesel

JNO

JNO

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Location
Shelby NC
I bought the cleanest F-350 7.3 4x4 I could find last April, it’s a 2000 model. I have always been a ford fan but I have always had various Dodges with a cummins in it. It pulls great no complaints but everything else I absolutely hate. It takes a football field to turn around in, the ride sucks, and to me it’s a dog unloaded going stoplight to stoplight. It’s a beautiful 100% stock truck with the exception of a straight pipe exhaust and 6637 filter. Is there something I’m missing or need to do or am I just missing my cummins under the hood. It has around 250,000 miles on it and maintenance has been done flawless on the vehicle since day the day was bought, I knew previous owner
 
I have an 03 7.3, a tuner helps a lot but it’s still never going to have the power the newer diesels have. A 7.3 just works like it should and keeps going. If you want to go fast then looks elsewhere but if you just need a truck that’s ready to work anytime you need it to then hold onto it. Mine has pulled many of Cummins home on a trailer behind it and has made a cross country trip non-stop with no issues and I would do it again right now with a new set of tires haha. I love it and wouldn’t get rid of it at all unless I could get a new 7.3 gas Ford for the same price as I sold it for.
 
7.3 is cool but honestly it’s ancient in todays trucks. I think a modern gasser like a Chevy 6.0 and certainly an 8.1 pulls better.

I’d absolutely sell while the market is up and get into a newer truck.

@rcalexander105 drank the cool-aid. He found a mint, low mile 7.3 and then towed to Harlan with it only to be left wondering what all the hype was about. He sold it for profit and got into a newer truck that rode better, turned better, pulled better, and again sold for a profit later and repeated the former once again lol.
 
I’m not knocking it as a bad truck I guess your right @77GreenMachine, I have always wanted one and now I got it thinking finally have a 7.3, it was a hype thing, it’s reliable as the day is long, I have had several diesels, but always a 5.9 and I guess I’m just partial to them I guess. I’m not trying to offend anybody who loves these trucks I have tried just not my cup of tea
 
JNO said:
I’m not knocking it as a bad truck I guess your right @77GreenMachine, I have always wanted one and now I got it thinking finally have a 7.3, it was a hype thing, it’s reliable as the day is long, I have had several diesels, but always a 5.9 and I guess I’m just partial to them I guess. I’m not trying to offend anybody who loves these trucks I have tried just not my cup of tea
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Yeah I also didn’t mean anything bad by it. My good friend Joe has a mint 7.3 and it’s a great truck. It just ain’t my cup of tea for the price tag and all the hype. But they are certainly reliable, simple, and will get the job done all day long.
 
My old 7.3 did everything asked of it. Just not fast or flashy when doing so. My 5.9 does the same. Pulls off the bottom better but can't say it's light years different.

Now that new ride I took in Ford that cost more then my living space...... everything was better.





Alas I'll stick within my means.
 
trevoringle said:
A 7.3 just works like it should and keeps going.
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As a ford guy…this nails it for me. Good A to B, you know exactly what you’re getting. It’s the 300i6 equivalent in the ford diesel world. Not enough power to hurt itself, and just enough power to get things moving. As for how it rides, I’d assume that to be par for the course given the era. By 2000 the 7.3 only had 20-30hp more than gassers of 5 years earlier and was still under 300hp. Torque numbers were only 75ish higher than 7.3’s of 5 years earlier, and just north of 500. I have no idea how that compares to cummins numbers of the era, but if you’re comparing that to today’s diesels, of course you’re disappointed. Hell, my 3.5ecoboost is making the same torque (ignoring plot points on the curve) as your 7.3 with 125 more horsepower. IMO, the 7.3 trucks are good for a toy or for guys that want to circle jerk about having a diesel.
 
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But fo real. I don't think I'll ever get rid of my 7.3
It does everything I need it to do and then some. Bought it a couple of years ago for 15k and other than maintenance and a couple of updates I thought it needed, it hasn't given me any trouble. Maybe I'm biased but other than my old 6.0 Chevy I had I have nothing else to compare it to as far as towing. 7.3 pulls like a train with the low end grunt and with the tuner and trans cooler will keep up with the new trucks, not drag racing but up to 75-80 mph towing it'll do it. Unless someone wants to give me double what I paid for it I just can't justify selling it for something I would have to spend at least 30k on to replace it with. Not worth it imo.
 
Joe J. said:
I feel attacked. :flipoff2:
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I should also note I’m the same guy that wouldn’t hesitate to bumper towing a 10,000lb loaded trailer with a Dodge Dakota (and have). But why use the crescent wrench to knock something loose if a hammer is an option.
 
UTfball68 said:
But why use the crescent wrench to knock something loose if a hammer is an option.
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I thought we had something special. But I just can’t be with someone who thinks with that logic. A several millimeter wrench is always an adjustable hammer. I will reach for that with a perfectly good hammer next to it. We are not the same.
 
@JNO DP Tuner and a KC Turbo billet wheel will wake the motor up quite a bit. EPBV delete will help knock the egt's down a bit as well (still need to do this on @Joe J. Truck). Another thing to look at is the exhaust back pressure sensor and tube, if it's clogged a new tube and sensor will make a small difference. If you do all of that and still aint happy with the power then it'll be time for a turbo, injectors and an hpop.

UTfball68 said:
I should also note I’m the same guy that wouldn’t hesitate to bumper towing a 10,000lb loaded trailer with a Dodge Dakota (and have). But why use the crescent wrench to knock something loose if a hammer is an option.
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If an adjustable is in my hand and the 80 hammers I have are no where in reach, I'm using the adjustable. They wouldn't be weighted like a hammer if they weren't meant for it 😎

77GreenMachine said:
7.3 is cool but honestly it’s ancient in todays trucks. I think a modern gasser like a Chevy 6.0 and certainly an 8.1 pulls better.

I’d absolutely sell while the market is up and get into a newer truck.

@rcalexander105 drank the cool-aid. He found a mint, low mile 7.3 and then towed to Harlan with it only to be left wondering what all the hype was about. He sold it for profit and got into a newer truck that rode better, turned better, pulled better, and again sold for a profit later and repeated the former once again lol.
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Rod also bought (unknowingly) an early 99 truck which is no better than an OBS Powerstroke as far as power goes. Plus you can never use that kg as an example for buying and selling, he's a professional wheeler and dealer.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
Now that new ride I took in Ford that cost more then my living space...... everything was better.
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The fact that the 0-60 while pulling a 30ft enclosed with a buggy in it, is better than most sports cars helps
 
Some single shot injectors, Terminator HPOP, turbo or new compressor wheel, a few transmission mods, and tuning will make it a completely different truck.

I'd definitely do the 05+ front axle. It all bolts in aside from the steering box, but that's easy enough to remedy. Then you get the larger brakes, much better hub bearings, and WAY sharper turning radius of the 05+ without having to own a 6.0 or 6.4 engine.

All that said, I definitely will never go back to anything with a 4 speed automatic. The gearing spread sucks. It's a hair better in 7.3 truck if it's a dually with 4.10s. Don't be scared of RPM...let it eat!
 
Sell while the market is good. Put that into something newer. My 02 with the 6spd was a great truck for its time but I would put more modern gas trucks ahead of if any day in terms of comfort and power. Mine was a turd in stock form. Then a couple thousand later it was tolerable. BHAF, Wicked Wheel, TS5 chip with PHP tunes, 4” straight pipe, South Bend to hold it all together and maybe some other things I’m forgetting. It regularly hauled my shitmissiles between Boone and Harlan while being driven like a pissed off teenager on bath salts and took every bit of it. That’s a 7.3.
 
I loved my 7.3, just needed something larger than an extended cab. The only two 7.3's I have owned were both manual trans and I feel that helped them greatly. The auto 7.3's I have driven always felt like turds.

I have a TS-5 tuner I would sell off the most current 7.3 I had (I bought the truck JUST for the transmission to put in my f350).

As for ride/turning radous, swapping in a 05+ suspension/axles isn't too awful hard and is much better. I did it on my 2003 Excursion.
 
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