What are the biggest differences between the 7.3 diesels they put in the E series vans and the F series pickups?

Are miles per gallon about the same between the two?

I believe the vans did not have room for intercoolers. How much of a difference does that have on van engine performance?

Can you still do many of the diesel engine mods that they do on the F series 7.3 engines on the vans?

I'm torn between buying a 4x4 E Van as my camping vehicle or an Expedition or even an F series with a camper on top. I just don't want to go too tall and become top heavy or pull a trailer, because hauling trailers sucks if you absolutely don't need to. It's bad enough turning a big truck around on a steep ledge, it's 100 times worse with a trailer in tow. This will not be my daily driver, it will just be a vehicle for family vacations to places like Moab Utah and although I say I hate pulling trailers I may pull a jeep or a boat occasionally. 90% Freeway 10% fire roads and easy offroad trails.

SORRY I PUT THIS IN THE WRONG PART OF THE FORUMS. Looking for answers to 1999 - 2003 7.3

 

First off, what year of trucks/vans are you referring to? Anything 93 and older, which from factory would be an IDI wouldn't have an intercooler. Most of these don't have turbos unless it's been added afterwards. 94 could be IDI, IDI turbo, or a powerstroke, the first two again won't have intercoolers, the stroke likely wouldn't either.

I don't know if the van was available at all in 4x4 unless done as a conversion by someone.

An F250 or F350 IDI in 4wd would be a great choice for something like this, IF you want to do your own wrenching on it. They are a great engine and drivetrain, but since they are older, they do require some tinkering to get the most reliability out of them.

 

Inter coolers did not come standard until the 1999 model year

 

He said he accidentally put this in the wrong place, perhaps a mod could move it to the 1999-2003 forum??