I have a real nice 2003 7.3, just broke 140k miles. Have a lot of reasonable mods (see sig).

The truck runs great and I run it pretty hard but it almost never skips a beat.

Regularly tow 10 to 13k on 1000+ mile round trips once a month. It gets pretty cold up here in AK and sometimes I sleep in the truck, which means I will leave it running for 36-48 hours, depending on what I am doing, where I am driving, etc. Have high idle tunes and aux idle controller. I try to maintain an engine oil temp of at least 160-165* while idling with outside temps around 0*.

My biggest complaints about the truck:

It has 3.73 gears. They are too high and I always find myself in the wrong RPM range for long steep grades, often causing me to drop it in second and crawl at 30 mph. Or I will have to be going 65-70mph for it to drop into OD, which can at times can be unsafe when towing such a heavy load, leaving me running at 50-55mph at 2200-2500rpms. I get about 8 mpg towing in these conditions.

The truck is a short bed. Really wish it was a long bed (need more bed space + better for a gooseneck when I upgrade trailers).

Also wish the truck had more power. Its like a turtle loaded down (I tow in DP 80T, my last trip I grossed over 22k).

I can make due with a short bed and a slow truck, but the gearing in it really makes things miserable. Although the transmission has not given me any problems at all, I still fear that one day it will fail while I'm 100s of miles from home.


So I'm looking into getting a 6.7 or having my 7.3 re-geared. I would still keep my 7.3 if I got a new truck though.

How much should I expect to pay to have my truck re-geared with 4.10s?

If I go with a new truck, can the 6.7 handle extended idling in extreme cold weather?

 

I just re-geared my truck recently with 4.30's and absolutely LOVE IT! I am running 37" tires though, so I wouldn't recommend that ratio. It definitely made my truck feel like it was new to me while towing, I was always lugging, and rarely EVER able to use overdrive before. I spent just over $2 grand using OEM gears through a great shop in Phoenix.

I don't think the 6.7 would ever make you happy, if you are idling for that long. I also would never want to "upgrade" to all that garbage emissions unless I really was forced to!

 

If I were you I would look for a 7.3 dually, most of which have 4.10 gearing. You are in a pretty good spot to find a good priced truck, I bought mine in Anchorage and drove it down.

 

80E is not going to have good trans tuning for towing. Get a real tow tune on there before spending money on anything else. It will make a difference. For those weights I'd say 40hp tow, but get on the phone with DP and see what they suggest for your situation.

 

I would definitely try Jody and get a decent tune.

The good thing about the 6.7 is, they've moved just about everything so when it breaks its easier to change than the 6,4. AND, it will break.

**** I'd get the Factory extended warranty*****

I have a buddy up the street. I thought he sold his truck because I hadn't seen it in weeks. I pulled over and was talking Friday evening when he was cutting grass, its been in the Dealership now for the sixth time since new in January. They said it "might" be ready the second week in November.

1. Injector stuck open and Hydrolocked a cylinder (4 weeks waiting on Ford to approve it and another 2 to do the work).
2. He's on his second EGR
3. He had a clunking they couldn't find.... Until something in the drive line fell out (forget what that was)
4. A new Radiator - It's a service truck and when he drove down to service a Machine on a Construction Site it flex's so much it cracks the radiator plastic.
5. Now its surging when cold. He said the truck will literally take off, both feet on the brake and it still doesn't stop when it does it, has to shift to neutral, and the idle goes right back down. It may, or may not do it again on the same day.


On the bright side, he has gotten 50k miles so far out of it.
Yes everything is covered and he has no out of pocket expenses. But, he does hit his head every time he gets in and out of the 2012 Focus they gave him. And, he says it runs like a Bat outa Hell when you get on it.

No thanks. 6.9, 7.3, and 6.0 is all I work on.

I would say, if your looking for a newer unit, the 04 and later 6.0's aren't bad if you tear all the crap off them and put some decent studs and heads on them.

 

Opps, I meant to say 80 tow

 

I'd like a dually but have heard they don't do well in snow and ice, which we have a lot of. Plus if I stick with a 7.3, I will just keep mine since I have already done so much to it... that is unless I could find a nice f450 or f550.

 

I've seen some nice 7.3L F450s on CL for the right price, but the time they're online can be counted in hours - not days.

OPINION ALERT!

A few here know where I stand with the 6.7L - I wouldn't own one. I'd sell it if I won it in a raffle. The "horror stories" are building, and I saw one of these rigs up close at a local Ford dealership maintenance seminar. I wouldn't want one of these things out of warranty - I'd drive in constant fear (for my wallet). I know a number of die-hard Ford fleets are jumping over to Dodge - but I haven't seen under the hood of one of those to know if they will fare any better. One of my (many) jobs at work is to evaluate new technology and to find their weaknesses quickly. The 6.7 is reaching too far into the future, without anchoring to proven technology. It's a wizbang... a prototype duplicated many times over without having enough time to flesh out the new developments.


Remember... Ford, Chevy, and Dodge didn't all come up with cleaner diesels because of market demand. It was by CARB and EPA fiat - with a time limit. The big 3 have not yet had a chance to catch their breath and really work the bugs out - but they have to sell something that doesn't raise the ire of a government agency. Meanwhile, Europe is developing diesels without all the Borg implants - and meeting our stricter emission standards.


I'm not saying all new US diesels are bad... but I'm waiting for them to lock things down better than they have. Who want's to buy a $75,000 time bomb, when you can pour a few thousand into a 7.3L or a 5.9L and have the same power without the liability? If I were to have a second truck for your situation right now, it would be a low-mileage 4X4 F450 with the 7.3L. No matter how silly the price might seem ($32K for one in Washington right now), it's not $75K for a shiny prototype.

 

There are really two questions you need to ask yourself when it comes to making your decision:

1. Do I want a truck payment?
1A. Do I want an $800-$1000 truck payment?
2. Can I afford downtime if my truck breaks and I can't work on it due to complexity?

I was in this very same position 4.5 years ago....

My 7.3 Excursion had seen better days and it needed some love bad. I was on the fence about selling it and upgrading to a 6.0 Excursion (knock it all you want, mine runs awesome), but then I thought to myself: "Do I really need a truck payment now?" The answer at the time was no, so I took the money I would've used as a down payment and put it back into my 7.3 Excursion upgrading it and rebuilding the top end of the engine. A HUGE "Thank You" to Clay, owner of Riffraff Diesel for making my 7.3 Excursion what it is today: A well built Monster!

That aside....

As nice as those 6.7 trucks are, I'd save my money. I'm the type of person who prefers to work on my own truck if it decides to break. As powerful as they are, bad fuel (water) and/or air in the fuel system can spell disaster on those trucks. It's a rare occurance, but when it happens it's not a cheap repair.

If you don't want to deal with a payment, I'd look into upgrading your 7.3 to do a better job of pulling the loads you need it to.

You already have the basic mods you need like the intake, exhaust, Frx etc.

Here's how I would do things in no particular order (have your Buck$zooka ready)

Tuning- I was a flag waving member of the DP-Tuner camp and it never really hit me to try anything else. With PHP releasing the Hydra and making it available to other tuners, it's opened the door for people to try someone else's tunes on their truck without having to wipe their existing chip. It also allows for tunes to be emailed as opposed to you having to ship your chip off. While DP-Tuner has developed it's own version of the Hydra, I can say that Tony Wildman and Gearhead support the Hydra and can email you tunes.

Injectors- I'd recommend Hybrids. From what I remember and have been told, Hybrids are the most scalable kind of injectors. For example, if you have Hybrids that can flow up to 238cc's of fuel, but don't have the supporting mods for 238cc's of fuel, through tuning, they can be scaled back to Stage I injectors and as you mod, you can tune to suit your mods.

Turbo- The 38R is a great drop in upgrade that with some slight modification can be even better (billet compressor wheel), however, many go the T4 route with an S366 or S400 setup. Either way you can't go wrong, it's just that the T4 setup requires a little more effort and costs a little more.

What I did with my 7.3 Excursion:

-Full Force Stage I injectors
-Gearhead tunes
-Garrett 38R Turbo
-Riffraff Plenum inserts
-Riffraff Intercooler Boots and Clamps
-Riffraff Frx (gold spring)
-6637 filter
-DI Performance soft Hpx
-Terminator T500 HPOP
-Melling LPOP
-4 inch MBRP exhaust with Aeroturbine muffler
-6.0 intercooler
-6.0 trans cooler

I'm sure there's more I forgot, but the point is that my truck runs, drives, and pulls THAT much better. Not that it didn't do everything it did before well, it just does it WAY better now. With the heaviest of loads behind it and Gearhead's tow tune, it yawns at hills and the only reason I know I have a trailer behind me is becuase I looked in the rear view mirror.

The bottom line: You shoud upgrade your 7.3 and not end up with a truck payment. You'll come out better in the long run and your truck will do everything you need it to better and it won't cost you $60-75K.

If after you perform said upgrades and find that your truck needs just a little more Oomph to pull better, by all means regear to 4.10 gears as 4.30 would be overkill for what you're trying to accomplish. The beauty of 4.10 gears is that should your truck's towing days come to an end, you can always slap some 35s on and end up with an effective ratio of 3.73.

So pick your poison, but I'd spend the money upgrading the 7.3.

 

my neighbor has a 6.7 and absolutely loves it. tows amazing, and runs like a sportscar. but the biggest reason I'd say you oughta avoid one is the idle time. DPF's and DEF's weren't designed for so much idling. even a high idle. and as was mentioned before, you can dump a fraction of the price into a 7.3 to reach the same power levels without any of the electronics to deal with. plus you're in a truck you're already comfortable with and trust.

 

I'll keep it short & sweet. I wouldn't buy any new diesel unless it was in a VW.
For half the cost of a new 6.7 truck I could literally have a frame off restoration on my '99 including a fresh engine.
Don't let that fancy dash suck you in. We all like to upgrade and enjoy new tech, but I'll stick with reliability over creature comforts.

If I was forced to buy a new truck today it would be a Dodge with a Cummins.
It makes me cringe to say "Dodge" but the 6.7 Ford scares me...

 

I have a lot of gee-wiz in the dash... and I didn't buy a new truck to get it. Stinky's not as quiet, but hey - he sounds like a diesel. Suspension? OK... you got me there, but my wife and I are fine with it the leaf-spring ride.

 

If/when I do replace my 7.3 power stroke it will be with a 6.2l gas superduty. HP and TQ numbers are very close to the 7.3 and with 4:30 gears I wouldn't hesitate to haul anything I would with my stroke.

I know unladen fuel mileage will not be as good but I believe towing mileage would be very close.

 

They are just fine when loaded, when empty they do skate a bit more. I had a dually when I lived there and did drive it a fair amount empty, was a 4x4 so click it in 4 and it's the front wheels pulling the most on ice whether you have singles our duals. It's a long truck so it doesn't come around on you very fast.

I figured if you could afford to buy a new 6.7 and keep your 7.3, that you could keep your current daily driver and devote a dually to being a tow pig.

 

I am liking this topic . For some strange reason I like seeing post like these on this subject. I am sure there are many who are in the same boat about getting rid of the 7.3 and going with a brand new shiny 2014 or 2015. I am not only affraid of the high price but all the smog and epa stuff scares me a lot. I still miss the days of working on my old 68 Chevelle with a 396 L4, remember the good old tach dwell meter and a vacum gage?
Bill