So I have a 2000 F250 7.3l diesel short box quad cab and single axel with some age showing (dents straches ripped seats) with 400000km. It is usally pulls a 20ft gooseneck two horse trailer. With no diffculties but there is a new horse trailer on its way that is 30 feet long has living quaters and has room for three horses. My question is will my tuck be ablt to handle it for long distance hauls down to virgina from ontario? Or should i look into investing into a 2005 f350 king ranch 6.0L diesel dually with long box with 157000km crew cab loaded because i want to be pulling with confindence and style. My current trunk is no where as near as fantsy as the 05 but do i rally neeed a truck of that size?

 

how much does the new trailer weigh? whats the tow rating on your 2000 f250?

 

The F250 has a 20,000 CGVWR. I suspect that the 30' trailer loaded with 3 horses and all the personal belongings will easily exceed that. You will also probably be heavy on the drive axle since most horse trailers place the axles to the rear of the trailer. This creates a heavy tongue. Get a dually. I would not get a 6.0 powered dually. Look for a 99-03 7.3 powered truck instead. My 2 cents. Good luck.

 

also, as I understand it, fuel mileage is down from the 7.3 to the 6.0, and even more to the 6.4..

I also agree that I think you will need a dually with the extra weight

Sam

 

That horse trailer will easily exceed the OPs 7.3. I haul a horse trailer that tips the scales around 16k and it's just a two horse trailer with living quarters. The fact that it's all steel instead of the lighter aluminum makes a difference.

I disagree with the assessment of not getting a 6.0 powered DRW.

1. Mine outpulls when it was in stock form the 02 7.3 I had.

2. Better towing features between the T/H on the tranny and the intergrated brake system, something you cannot get on the 7.3 and after market doesn't even come close.

3. Those 7.3s are going to start getting old. Age is just about as bad as high miles. Engine and tranny(I doubt this unless it's been rebuilt correctly) may be sound, but it's the rest of the stuff you have to worry about.

4. Due to the almost radical religious belief that people have for the 7.3, you are going to be paying a primium for it, despite the mileage that it has and/or years that might be on the truck.

5. There is a misperception that the 6.0 is a bad truck, that creates a lower price for these trucks. A lower mile, younger 6.0 will more then likely command a lower price then a high mile, "ancient" 7.3. Even if you buy into the supposedly design issues(I'm trying not to get into that, but I can) of the 6.0, the money that you save just in the difference in sale price, could easily put anyone's mind at ease about the 6.0 and you'll have a better truck, lower mileage, and it will be newer.

 

I never go by mileage personally. Way to many variables. On my 7.3, 6.0, 5.9, and on my 5.4 I have always been lower then the "average" mpg claims that those respective groups have on those engines. On my 6.9, I never bothered with mileage.

I actually get the same mileage on my 6.0 as I do on my 5.4. I do drive with a mind toward economy about 95% of the time. I really doubt that the other 5% would have been that much of a mileage killer.

 

thanks.. Some get really upset at the difference.. I just wanted to make sure that topic was discussed for the OP.

he is looking at the better 6.0 (05-07), so I don't think there is a maint issue specifically.

My neighbor just bought a spotless 2002 7.3 SRW Crew with 68k miles (guy hardly drove it) for like $19k, and feels he got a deal.

so your price discussion certainly holds true.

sam

 

That's true and I would say that it's actually most or at least if it is just some, it is a more vocal "some".

 

So we both agree that a dually is required. Where we disagree is here. The 6.0 is quite a bit more powerful that the 7.3 but as far as reliability goes I will take the 7.3 with 100k more miles than a equally equipped 6.0. The reason? The 7.3 does not have EGR, a vain turbo, and littly bitty headbolts that often stretch when pushed hard even when running a stock program.

Granted the 7.3 powered trucks have issues especially related to the transmission but they are WAAAAAAAAAAY more reliable than a 6.0. The 4R100 is easily upgraded to become nearly bulletproof.

I sell OEM Power Stroke parts for a living. The 6.0 and 6.4 has been very profitable for me. On its best day the 6.0 is not even close to a 7.3.

 

Contrary to popular opinion, the EGR system can be quite reliable in stock form. I say can be, because it is highly dependant on how the truck is used.

Bolts aren't little bitty, it's because the reduced the number of bolts that people think is the problem. Also not really quite accurate as there are plenty of people that don't have problems with the stock bolts and have been running even race tunes on their trucks. All depends on how the driver handles that new found power. The 7.3 was more forgiving in that matter then the 6.0, however, people didn't realize that, or didn't want to realize that.

I can't tell you how many times when someone has said that they have had problems with the EGR and/or head bolts, I've been able to narrow it down to how the drive(grocery getter, lots of idle time) or they drove like a bat out of hell as soon as they got in the truck(if they had a tuner on it, depending on the type of tuner, that could make matters even worse). Some people didn't even realized that they were doing bad things, some did and lied about it and got away with that. How do you seperate those from the legit claims? You won't find that in warranty numbers alone and I have seen it happen too many times to take warranty numbers at face value. Did the 6.0 have tighter tolerances then the 7.3? It sure did, does that mean it's a design flaw? No it doesn't. It just means that people need to be better informed of what to do(in all honesty, if they used it as a work truck, just let it warm up, more then likely they wouldn't have issues period) and if they are going to mod it, know what all that entails. A lot of people came into the 6.0 thinking about how diesels of old were like and you can't really do that anymore. They were able to do a lot of stuff that didn't sit to well with the 6.0. Is that the engines fault? I don't think so, why, because of those that aware of not idling for extended period of time without a high idle circuit don't have that problem. Those that let their trucks warm up before they drive it to clean out the carbon(hell even cleaning out the carbon is needed to be done from time to time, especially if they were getting LSD fuel, which was still prevelant in those early years) deposits.

VGT turbo, EGR system, and headbolts are not an issue if you properly inform yourself about the engine. I have had zero issues when my truck was stock. Zero and that was for 80k, that time I wanted to have some fun so I modded it. Not because I needed to, but because I wanted to.

I would take a 6.0 over a 7.3 in a heartbeat, but then again I know what to do.

 

I would take the 6.0 to. If you actually know a bit or two about the motor and know how to treat it, we all know that itll be reliable. Maintenance is key on a 6L. Also, to the OP, the 06 and 07 years are the best/most updated 6.0s. Hence the reason why people say 06 and 07 6.0s have less "warrenty claims" then any model year 7.3 thats on the road and thats a proven fact. People just assume, that since 03,04 and SOME 05s are problematic, that the 6.0 is a *****ty motor and that 06 and 07s are just as bad.. Which isnt the truth.. To the OP, get a Oasis report period. If it checks out, then buy the 05. If it doesnt check out, id start lookin at 06's. The price difference between 05 and 06 shouldnt be that much of a price jump. Just my 2 cents...

 

Most people do not follow the book on 6.0 maintenance. That is a major cause for failure.

You are one of the few that are lucky and are smart enough to follow the book.

I have seen hundreds of trucks in the shop with EGR failures and blown head gaskets. The cooling system is also a problem on 6.0 powered trucks. (add a coolant filter to protect your egr cooler) All of these problems can be fixed or avoided. Some are maintenance related and others require adding aftermarket parts.

The 7.3 has none of these issues. I have seen poorly maintained 7.3s go hundreds of thousands of miles.

 

I disagree. There is nothing that requires aftermarket parts to truly fix it. The majority of issues I can point out to can be traced to owner neglect or tech shortcomings.

The issues with headbolts from the factory was due to robots not properly torquing the bolts. That's not a design issue, that's a quality control issue. Once that was realized, didn't have those issues.

Once again, how are you going to weed out the legit claims from the non-legit? If we were able to do that and see the "true" numbers of those that had issues, I bet we would be singing a different tune then we are now.

There are copious amounts of things that owners and/or techs can due to these trucks that would cause those issues that you mentioned. How are you going to weed out the ones that did those things and that either lied about it or didn't realize that they did them? Until you can say that, you can't say if a/m parts are necessary or not. All ARPs due is show that some things can withstand stupidity. Although, ARPs are not even totally fullproof. It all depends on how well they were installed and if everything was done during the installation process that that specific truck needed. I can trash the TS with stupidity if I wanted to and that's damn near the best auto tranny in stock form. No matter what, it's hard to handle stupidity.

 

7.3 do not do large amounts of EGR ... nor is it a modern engine that meets EPA specs....

So it is not a fair compare.

 

7.3 doesn't do any EGR, since it doesn't have an EGR system.