I am hoping to get a list of engines and tranies for f600 700 or 800's that are the best to have in these trucks, reliability power and longevity to start.

I am looking for a truck for my firewood business the one i have is a 1990 non turbo 7.3l diesel and 5 spd. manual tranny with 2 cords of wood in it i am lucky to get up to 40mph going up grade.

I want one of these bigger trucks to haul more wood and that will drive at least the posted freeway speed when hauling the trucks gvwr (up to 26000). So far i have read good things about allison auto trannies and the 8.3l cummins i am just trying to avoid getting a truck that is too slow like the one i have.

 

what years are you looking at F600 had gas engines 330 , 361 , 300i6 were common and were gas hogs and were far from running at highway speeds when loaded !

the F700 wee had with a 429 was also slow and a gas hog , would pull anything but better bring lunch and supper ! the ones that had the 370 engines in my opinion weren't much better !

all of those gas engines were good engines and would last forever with maintenance but are old school when the gas prices were .50 cents - 1.00 a gallon , unless you just drive it on occasion and not to far it will thin out your bank account in gas !

the newer F serious that had the 5.9 cummins were also garbage that engine should never have been put in anything bigger than a 1 ton pick up truck !

the ALLISON trannies are good ( 500 , 600 ) series , older ones that are all mechanical , and the 8.3 cummins is also a good engine , might want to build your self a truck with the engine and tranny in it that ford never built !

DT466 international is a good engine and plenty of them , would be my choice with a 600 series allison tranny behind it for a F600 REPOWER !

 

if those engines you mentioned as being underpowered were on a truck with the split rearend manual tranny would the truck then be able to get up to highway speeds? cus from what i found in my truck is that the tranny is the weak link (being only a 5 speed) a friend of mine had an f700 with a ford straight six gas engine but had the split rear end giving the truck 10 speeds and has no problems getting highway speeds loaded. So is the transmission the part of the truck that is most crucial?

 

Your profile says you have a '95 F250. What is the '90 7.3 motor in? If it otherwise works for what you are doing, you might consider this:

Banks Sidewinder Turbo System for 83-93 6.9/7.3L IDI Ford Diesel

 

the f250 is my daily driver the truck with the 5 speed manual and 7.3l diesel is my work truck the truck is an f450 superduty

 

So will the F450 haul as much as you need, it's just a speed issue? If so, see the link.

Those larger trucks are not speed demons.....

 

all of the old F600s we had had the 2 speed rear end in them and they also had the clark 5 speed trannies ! back then the speed limit was 55 mph , what you need to know is the actual weight of what your loaded rig would be !

your buddies truck with a 6 cyl gas engine , what does it weigh when loaded ? or what is it carrying ? we have had these old F600 loaded and going up hills a turtle could pass us and the engine was close to being red lined !( SCREAMING )

 

If you want unstoppable power, find an older L series 9000 truck with a 350, or 400 cummins, or cat engine, 4.10 rears, and a 10 or 13 speed transmission with od. Put whatever bed on it, license it for 26K. Youll get decent mileage at around 5-8. And you will have no problem getting up to highway speeds.

 

On these bigger Ford trucks in the long run air brakes will save you money. Or they might save you money from day one.

 

what speed would the trucks you have driven get up to empty? and what speed would they get up to with about 8k pounds in em

 

empty they would get to around 65 mph
loaded they would do around 45 mph
then the other problem was the brakes , sometimes they would work good and sometimes you would be pushing on the pedal with both feet and your cheeks would be puckered together !

 

what engines did those trucks run

 

300six
330
361
391
And then after 78
370
429

THere may be more but those are the only gas engines I can think of.

 

You don't remember the 331, 401, 477, or 534 c.i. engines? Early on in my many years of trucking I had a 401 powered, flat nosed, wind pushing, brick called a C-850. The truck had Clark "working fifth" trans with a two speed rear.
I could load thirteen tons of material (yes, thats 26,000 lb. of payload) in the dump bed and run 70 mph on flat pavement and never strain the truck.
Fiftyfive mph speed limit? Not where I grew up.
All automatic transmissions are parisites and will cost you money in the long run. They are heavy and will not get as good gas mileage as a manual gear box, granted driving was my chosen profession and that makes a difference also.Tom

 

No 401/477/534 in F600s.

Of all the engines listed, only a 391 or 429 would be better than what the OP has. The 361 about the same, and the rest less power--maybe not on paper, but in actual use.

We had a '58 with a 292. About 60 was it, as it ran out of power.