Well as the title says I am in the market to buy a truck. (1999-03) I'm probaly going to get a 3/4 ton and would like a dsl or even a turbo dsl. I have heard some pretty good things about the ford 7.3 turbo but honestly you guys would know more.

Basicly I am looking for

3/4 ton
dsl
4x4
leather
auto tranny
short box
45,000 miles or less (give or take a little)
4dr (ext cab ok but I would need a 3dr at least)

I really am a newbe not only to this forum but to Fords as well. So I really dont know what Ford has to offer so thats why I need some answers.

I have always been a GM man but I have just been unhappy with the last few GM trucks/SUV's that I have owned. So I am looking at other options out there and basicly find out if the 7.3 dsl is as good as I've heard and the quality of the Ford trucks of the type I'm looking for.

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
John

 

BTW this is one of the trucks I'm looking at.

1999 Ford F-250 4x4 Crew Cab. Western Hauler Package. 7.3 Powerstroke Diesel. Beautiful Truck, with just 67,000 Miles. Crew cab, new tires, new brakes and rotors, Ehaust brake, remote starter, K&N air filter, superchips power programer. Goose neck and 50 gal aux. tank. Radardetector and Uniden CB. PIAA foglights

 

wow that trucks seems to have it all. Try reading the 7.3 dsl threads in the dsl forum to get a better take on these engines. Imo go for the truck you described. I personally haven't heard any thing bad about these engines .

 

The 7.3 PSD is one of the most bulletproof engines on the market. It's not uncommon for them to have well over 200k miles on them and still run very well. I think you will be impressed with the build quality on the Ford after owning it a few weeks. They ride smoother, are quieter inside, and have more comfortable seats than any chevy we ever owned.

 

Man o man thats a nice truck. Go for it before i find it lol. You have nothing to worry about with that truck have 67,000 on it. It was just broken in for you. I work in the counstruction bussiness were those trucks take abuse. All we have are ford diesels. Many have 300,000 plus. That truck will last you forever if you take care of it right. You can easily get 300,000 out of it.

Josh
1997 F-250 XL HEAVYDUTY PSD 2wd 5 speed manual

 

Some basic reason why to go with ford would be the front solid axle. I would take a solid axle with leaf springs over the chevy ifs anyday. The 7.3 is a very proven engine, it will take whatever you throw at it. As for frame strength, wow. I had my 2k diesel, see sig, stuck in a mud hole, i could not see the tires and the semi wrecker could not budge it. I got her pulled out by a truck with 2 winches, and all it did was bent a steering arm, which i heated and bent back. The guy that pulled me out told me that if it were a chev, it would probably be coming out in peices, and he is a serious mud bogger, been there and done that he said. I will take his word for it. When we load up our 4 horse bumper pull, load it full of 4 throughbred 1500 lb horses, and go up a 5 percent grade doing 70, that shows the PSD power. It has never bogged down, great setup. We only have rear 3.73's also. I would say go for the ford. We own a 97 chevy 2500, i am about ready to drive it off a cliff, nothing but problems, last chevy we will ever buy. The horse trailor empty jerks it around like a play toy. Where real work is to be done, the diesel is there. As for reliability, our truck has left us once, the alternator went out at 125K, otherwise no problems. We got 129K on our original brakes. Also another thing is steering when loaded down, i got a 1/2 ton a gravel from the local concrete plant, and the steering was really messed up on the chev, because the rear springs were bottomed out. We can put a 1 ton round bale in the back of our diesel, and it sags about an inch, and steering and the ride are like riding in a Town Car.

 

A 1/2 ton of gravel,...or a 1/2 yard?

I don't know what a 1/2 yard of gravel weighs but I'm sure it would be alot more than a ton, and it seems logical to me as there is no way 1000lbs is going to bottom out any 3/4 ton truck.

Solid axles and leaf springs only count in 4x4 trucks- no 2wd's(up to one tons) have solid live front axles or leaf spring.

Also the extra weight of the diesel engine on the front end of the 4x4 is going to help the steering stability under full load.

If your Chev has been the chits for you, I'm sorry to hear that, but I just thought I'd clarify a few differences I have with some of your gripes. I remember going to the concrete plant more than once for loads of masonry sand and stonedust, and a yard of either always weighed well over 3,300lbs on the scale - gravel is even heavier.

 

Well I'm going to take the wife for a ride in it tonight and as long as she can handle the ride I'm going to get it. If she hates the ride of the F250 I also have the ability to grab and 01 lariet with 29,000 miles 4x4 ext cab and the 5.4 for 18,000. I should know in the next week what one I'm getting.

EDIT the 01 lariet is a F150 not a F250 just for clarification

 

Go for it, you won't be dissappointed.

 

..............You need to pull the Air Filter and check the Turbo for Dusting\i.e. damage to the turbine blades. Takes about 30 minutes. Call the previous owner and visit with him about the truck and see if he had any problems prior to sale\tradein.....s.kuteman

 

all you gotta do is a little research.... Then you wont buy the ford. I have family that work for ford service, they cant believe all the problems.

 

It was once said, if you want job security and make lots of money sell Dodge parts.

 

I imagine by now it's a done deal, this post is over 5 weeks old. MW95F250, just ignore him. He's just trollin' through. Once he becomes bored, he will move on as all trolls do. Shame to waste the bandwidth though, absolutely nothing constructive to offer.

BTW, the truck sounds like a good deal.

 

And pillbox is constructive, right?
Just because the man takes up for Ford based on his own personal experience doesn't make him a troll.

 

LOL....I THINK you know I WAS referring to pillbox there Lariat, come on now be real.