Well I have been having a debate with myself the last couple weeks wondering what to do and am looking for some input from fellow enthusiasts.

I am a born and raised Ford guy, lets get that out of the way. Im not picky on the power plant but I wont buy a truck that's not a Ford.

I have owned 3 OBS 7.3s and would consider myself extremely passionate about the OBS chassis and the 7.3 in general, I am mechanically inclined and do all of my own work no matter what it is and because of the last few years know my way around a 7.3 well.

Over the past 4 years I have loved my OBS, I had a MINT 95 CCLB (in sig) but wrote it off, I bought another 94.5 CCLB(other in sig) and that is my current rig. I love the truck to death but its getting old as far as interior and body(rusty) and missing the things the new trucks have(see below)

I hunt daily for clean OBS truck in the combination I want but I am very very picky in what i want and its getting next to impossible to find what i want. especially here in Alberta Canada where all the diesels get *****d out on the oilfield and beat to ****.

Recently I have strongly considered moving to a newer generation since clean OBS are so hard to find here and I really want to get into a newer creature comforts

I am currently considering all sorts of setups but mainly.

05-07 F350 Chassis with

99-03 7.3 Swap
12V Cummins Swap
24V Cummins Swap


Reasons or Goals.
-More power than my OBS
-Nicer Interior
-Better Turning Radius
-Improved Fuel Mileage
-Quieter interior
-More creature comforts(Sunroof/heated seats etc)
-Smoother Ride
-Keep a 5 or 6 Speed Manual(Cant get in a newer truck as easy)

Budget would be around 12-15k.

I can find broken 6.0s or Gas jobs 05-07s for around $3-$5000 locally to me. in CCLB leather trim. and then im factoring about $7000 for motor and swap parts or donor truck to do the cummins swap, less if i am buying a 99-03 7.3


This truck is a highway pounder, runs sleds in the winter on a deck for mountain trips or maybe tows a car on a trailer at around 7000lbs in the summer. very minor towing so fuel consumption is a bigger concern than power. can i go lower than 3:55 gears to save RPMS on the highway? will having 400HP help more for lower gears?

I am sick of having a truck revving at 2700rpm to do 70mph and feeling like its going to fly apart.

I would like to see Sub 2000rpm 60mph cruise speeds and 18mpg or higher with a HP rating around the 375 to 450 range and daily driveable.

Am i dreaming in what i want? or should i seriously start looking for a chassis and a donor truck?

INPUT please!

Thanks
Dustin

 

53 views i take it no one wants me to put a Cummins in a Ford on this forum....haha

 

you put a comapart in a ford, and you end up with an abortion you will have a hard time finding parts for, and never get your money back out of it if you decide to sell it. put a 7.3 in it and you can get parts anywhere, plus it will sell instantly

 

YOUR truck. YOUR money do what YOU want. i have no issues with Cummins in a Ford or not in a Ford. would it be easier to buy a truck and add the creature comforts? or buy a truck and swap motors? I love my old OBS, sure it's loud, the turning radius sucks, and rides like a tank, but I get over 20 MPG empty, the interior works for me, it should put 425-450 to the ground, and I can work on it. Plus it's paid for. With your budget I think it would be hard to get a truck and get a motor swapped, and get everything you want working in a reasonable amount of time. But I would love for you to do it.

 

I am kinda curious, I have a 94 F350 and also a 99 F150. I found the redesigned cab is much quitter and widows do not fall out of doors and seats hold up better and overall the cab is a step forward. Are the redesigned cabs on the 99 and newer F 250 n 350 a good step forward over the pre 98's? Just curious, here in north FL you can find clean old PU's for a good price because this is horse country in my area.

 

Do you have a IDI or PS ?

 

Powerstroke

 

Well, here's the answer to one of your questions:

Freightliner makes a diff with a 2.88:1 ratio, great for highway cruising but horrible at everything else. Can make a tractor sail down the road at 65 turning 1375~ RPMs on a DD15.

But since you have hauling to do, rather than tinker with the diff I'd go the Brownie route. Put in a second transmission with an Under-Direct-Over. This will drop your RPMs running in Overdrive-Overdrive (depending on how crazy you want to go, that is) while giving you a better towing capacity with eighteen speeds versus six.

As for the powerplant: Meh. If you stay with the 'Stroke get one of the newer ones with piezio-electric injectors that fire multiple times to quiet the usual diesel roar. Uses a touch less fuel since the injector style gets a much better burn.

 

I'd say my wants are similar to yours.
I'm plannin on putting a dt360 engine in a 2004 - 2010 f350. Along with a 7 speed medium duty transmission.
I'm from MB, worked in AB, and I'll be out there probably buy one of those nice new rigs with a blown engine, that someones parents are selling cause junior can't make payments anymore for around 4-5k$ lol.

Most of the features you want, will be had with a 2003 or newer truck.
Side note; are you sure you want a diesel? fuel isn't getting cheaper
The cummins 12v engine is an old school tractor sounding beast... not sure if you want that?

Really you can swap whatever you want in there.
The only issue is cost.
The cummins is probably the only option that has ready to order harnesses and swap parts available.

Lets see;

perkins, detroit diesel 2 strokes;
Barely any online documentation, low power, not many power adder accessories. Low MPG noisy *******s that race to hit 30 km/h, and burn a gallon of engine oil doing so.....

Caterpillar;
Over rated expensive piles. Sure thay have a great track record, but thats because the have such a low HP/liter rating on them. A few have been swapped, but rarely, and with no plans to follow.

Navistar;
Dt360 - minimal online documentation. Can be done, but it would be a good project, and require some modifications, possibly very extreme; depending on the swap. Power potential, extreme. DT466, MAJOR project, major modifications to truck regardless of what you want, it's just huge. Major power potential though.


Cummins;
5.9 mechanical, 5.9 common rail, and 6.7 common rail, all have extensive resources and documentation, along with many proven power combinations. Not absolute top performers, but can be very reliable, and probably a good project to take on.

Ford;
7.3 HEUI engine, ironically a non common swap. Even on fords. Although the 7.3 was a great engine, if the engine bay is empty, and you're looking to fill it with horsepower, there are probably better, cheaper choices.


I think I covered the most common swaps?!
Heres something to think about; what resources, time, and money do you have?
Have you considered that 6.0 trucks can be built pretty reliable now, and purchased at a bargain?
You never mentioned 6.4's or 6.7's, so I'll take a stab in the dark, and think maybe you have 10-20k$ to play with.

Heres something else to consider, as partially talked about above.. gear ratio, you want a transmission and gear ratio that will allow cruising to put you around 1500- 1700 RPM type thing. And if mileage is important, you really want to lower the truck. Lower the truck, better the mileage.
The HP rating of the engine has no effect on the fuel economy, except if you take advantage of the HP with your right foot. Guys that get better economy with big HP tunes, are doing it because of advanced timing, and no emission testing.

If cost is a major issue here, I would buy a 6.0 engine, build it up in my garage in spare time, you can but them for 1000$ - 3000$ running. Build it up, all with performance parts, and then when it's done, find a blown 6.0 truck for cheap, and swap it in, buy a tuner, and done.

I know people have issues and whine about the 6.0 engine, but the truth is that they can be built pretty tough, and they perform really well. I believe it was 2008, cummins had more head gasket repairs on the dodge trucks, than ford was having the same year, but it doesn't count because cummins engines last 1,000,000 miles without repairs, right

There are 2 websites that sell parts for cummins conversions, and no other websites that sell anything for any other swaps, so...... decide between simplicity and ease, vs extreme power and frustrating lengthly project.

 

Thanks nnn

 

I don't get it, so you're "extremely passionate about the OBS chassis and the 7.3 in general" And have a 94.5 CCLB that you "love to death" but is "getting old as far as interior and body(rusty) and missing the things the new trucks have" Like ,More power than my OBS, Nicer Interior, Better Turning Radius, Improved Fuel Mileage, Quieter interior, More creature comforts(Sunroof/heated seats etc), Smoother Ride. And are willing to "find broken 6.0s or Gas jobs 05-07s for around $3-$5000 locally to me. in CCLB leather trim. and then im factoring about $7000 for motor and swap parts or donor truck to do the cummins swap"

Then why not fix up the OBS you have to get you all that? This seams like a no brainer to me, you can get all that with an OBS and still have the OBS that you claim to "love to death".

 

Or a fummapart, I cannot stand cummins swaps, just go get a dodge and be happy, it really ticks me off when people throw out an IDI for a comapart

 

Except dodge didn't make a 12 or 24v crew cab. And even there new crew cabs suck compared to Ford.

 

True they didn't, I'm surprised no one has ever tried to make a custom crew cab dodge I mean you see all these other crazy cars And trucks n what not I guess maybe the idea never ran through any ones head, I'd do it If I had the money then again there's lots of thing we'd do if we had the money right?

 

@duggyb
And I don't mean to be rude or offend you, I'm just speaking my own mind, it just seems wasteful to trade an IDI for a cummins in my book but then again that's me and some others, I.e. TJC