Its a long story but in August I'm going to have to dump the 6.0 because the warranty is up and I cannot afford the almost monthly trips to the dealer.

I'm looking at picking up either an older 7.3, a 12 valve 93-98 Dodge with a Cummins or scrapping the diesel all together and going with a V10. All with a manual trans.

I do alot of hunting, my truck sees alot of offroad use and I tow in the neighborhood of 7500lbs.

MPG's aren't an issue for me right now as the 6.0 only gets about 10 in town and 14.5 unloaded on the highway. Add my trailer and I'm only getting 8.3 mpg. I figure no matter what I buy it can't get any worse.

I know the older trucks have about a 100 fewer horsepower but, again, not an issue since my truck lost a major amount of power after the first egr/turbo replacement and it has never gotten it back.

What advice can you guys give me on these older 7.3's?

 

they are very very reliable, my truck has only had to go to the shop twice in the last 1 1/2 years and it has 223k miles, tranny (auto) and steering column bearings. I highly recommend these trucks. i have NEVER ran into anything i couldn't pull and believe me when i say i've towed more than 7500 lbs. IMO don't get a G.D. cummins POS. just trust me on this one.

 

well, when it comes to diesels, you cant go wrong with either the 7.3 or a cummins. the 7.3 just comes wrapped in a lot better truck than the cummins. there are advantages to each engine though. you can buy a complete set of performance injectors for the cummins in jegs for about 600 dollars. one stock injector for the 7.3 is 400 dollars at advance. but the cummins also has an injector pump, and thats a pretty penny to replace. the cummins, being an inline 6, is always 100% balanced, so it almost never gets uneven wear in the main bearings. it also has 7 main caps for 6 cylinders where as the 7.3 has 5 main caps for 8 cylinders. so the cummins will run forever, but good luck keeping the truck in as good a shape as the engine. as far as the power difference goes, thats a total non-issue. just because it comes from the factory with more power doesnt mean its capable of making more power once you start tuning them. the newer ones are basically just already tuned a little more from the factory.

 

well, its not the cummins thats the POS, its the truck around it. i know this is a ford site, and im a die hard ford man. and ive never owned anything but one. but id buy any year model cummins before id even think about a 6.0 or 6.4.

 

The 7.3's have a good track record but it's still going to be an old truck with all it's problems. The e4od's are weak, but after market will make it bullet proof.
The Dodge is good choice but the body/suspension may fall apart b4 you get 200K out of it.
The V10 is a terrible choice, terrible MPG's and will not pull as good as the either the ford diesels and the dodge.
With a few mods and $$ a 7.3 will be almost a good as a 6.0 for drag racing. 7.3 is the best puller out of the bunch. Mileage can be 10-12 on the low end to 20-24 on the high end. Depends on the gear ratio & right foot.

If I were in the market for another PSD it would be and 99-03 even though I don't care for the body style. Flame on

 

You can't go wrong with a 7.3 as long as it's one that's been taken care of! The 7.3 is a very reliable motor and can give many years of good service. With a little coaxing, they can make some decent power also. Don't discount the 99-03 7.3's in your search, with the economy the way it is right now there are tons of good deals out there. Oh, and if something does break on the 7.3, you'll actually be able to get to the motor to work on it!

 

Quick Fact- 90% of all 7.3L powerstrokes with over 210k miles have never had to have the heads off to work on.
My 7.3 has 203k miles and has been to the mechanic twice, once for transmission and another issue that really didnt need a mechanic. I've towed 48,000 lbs worth of grain wagons out of the field without a problem on the stock motor. As for a cummins, my cousin bought one a couple months ago is now in need of a transmission. Another friend bought a newer cummins and at 80k miles just put his second transmission in. Moral of the story- the OBS powerstroke is bullet proof. Get one and you wont regret it

 

I have owned both. I have now a 96 f350. I love this truck. I had a 2001 Dodge 2500. I made a lot more power with the cummins, but the truck was a POS. The OBS is a better made truck. And the VP-44 injection pump is very pricey, when I had the truck the lift pump was replaced 7-8 times, and I replaced the VP pump with a hot rod pump that cost me like 2200. You can't go wrong with either engine, but Ford makes a better truck. If I were to ever get another cummins it would be the Common Rail or a P-Pump motor.

 

I sent you a PM!
Bart

 

My 97 powerstroke has 293000 miles on it and runs perfect. In fact I've just started doing engine mods to it the last 30000 miles The only thing done to it is regular maintenance and a idler pulley. The problem with the dodges with the Cummings is the front end has a lot of problems

 

Some people are paying big bucks now for 7.3's.

Here is a rare and last made.
eBay Motors: Ford : E-Series Van (item 170302005054 end time Feb-22-09 18:00:00 PST)

Bill

 

Advantages of the cummins-
inline 6 gives you more room to work on the engine. no cutting firewalls just to put a downpipe on it. no struggling to remove a valve cover. twin turbo fits in there really nicely. etc.

easier and cheaper to modify and do general upkeep on.

cough cough....many would say more durable than the psd....know several guys first hand that have over 600k miles on theirs.... one of those guys only turns his off to change the oil in it. but i know a few guys with 7.3's in the same mileage range too.

with nothing more than a chip you can get an extra 350lbs of torque. cant do that with a 7.3.

disadvantages of the cummins(dodge)-
manuals usually end up having to be fixed at around 75k miles. but its a simple. something causes 5th to quit working, but the dealer fixes it with different parts that dont break. one of my friends had to do that to his 99 dodge and it was a very cheap fix. basically, its a recall that you have to pay for yourself.

ball joints generally need replacing at about 100k miles if you drive it on rough roads. but i had to do the same on my bronco and f-250. how fast they wear out depends on what kind of terrain you do your driving on. not whether its a ford or a dodge.

the bearings in the rear end start vibrating about 100k miles. but the fix is pretty simple. just put in a new set of bearings.

in 94 and 95 the 7.3 had 425ft/lbs of torque and the cummins had 420. in 96 and 97 the cummins had 440ft/lbs of torque and the 7.3 had 425. so as far as power straight from the factory, they were pretty evenly matched. when it comes to durability, how long either of the trucks last will just depend on how good you take care of it. ive seen 95 model fords with half the bed rusted off of them and 75 model dodges that still look brand new. with this being a ford site, obviously all of us are going to tell you to get a ford and that dodges will break down at 10k miles, etc. but go cruise a couple of dodge sites and it will be exactly the opposite. fords have their own share of problems that us ford owners call "routine maintenance" intead of problems. most of the 6.4 people are delusional enough to say that they prefer to take their cab off of their truck to change a 25 cent o-ring. we justify those types of things because they happen to our trucks, not the "other" brands.....

if you go with a diesel, either get a cummins or a 7.3.

 

i beleive torque on a 97 7.3 is 475

 

You can't chip out the older cummins

 

Well i never said anything about a 6oh or a 6.4, personally any ford truck after 03 should be a V10. For me the ownship list from most desired to least goes something like this: OBS psd, 99-03 psd, 05+ 3v V10, 2v V10, 6.9 IDI diesel, 12v cummins, 7.3 IDI, then any newer dodge diesel, and lastly i'd take a VW Jetta TDI before a Tampax (oops i mean duramax).