Just a question for people who remember the old days better than I do ( I was 8 years old when the turbo 7.3 came out), what was the "advantage" for getting the diesel over the 460?

460 has slightly more peak torque and a lot more HP, but I assume the diesel cost more.

Was it fuel economy? Longevity? RPM at peak torque?

These days Diesels are a clear choice for torque, but before DIT was standard, it seems a little less clear?

Please note, I'm not trying to start a debate on which is better, or anything, I'm just curious why someone in 1990 would have ordered a diesel instead of a 460.

I just got a 1990 Diesel 5 speed. Wasn't particularly looking for a diesel (would love to have a 97 PSD, but way out of my budget), but found one in decent shape in my budget.

 

Diesel have better torque at lower rpm,are usually better on fuel,and maintnence is usually less frequent.

 

Probably gas milage is the best answer. Even with diesel a bit higher the 7.3IDI gets 17-20mpgs (when properly cared for) compaired to the 460 which gets 4-8mpgs. Plus the longevity of the engine is surpurb! I have seen plenty of the old IDI's still running around here with 300,000+ miles on them. And plenty of guys will agree with me when I say the 460 just doesn't last as long as the old IDI's.

Also if you imagine that your a farmer in Iowa... Your out in the fields and your truck is running on "E"... Back then (late 80's early 90's) farmers would put a 200gal gravity fed barrel at each of their farm sections/fields so they could fill up the combine, tractors, etc... It was just easier to dump the same "farm diesel" into the truck as well...

PS: if you need more power, go get a Banks bold on turbo kit and you'll have PSD power! Besides that the IDI parts are tons cheaper than PSD's. Common example, look at injectors... PSD=$150each IDI=$40 each

 

I think the primary reason people selected a diesel in the early days was for fuel economy and engine life, these early oil burners got relatively good milage compared to the larger gas engines and typically went double to tripple the total miles before an overhaul. They would lose a drag race badly to just about every other engine in the stable however, the non turbo diesels only made around 150 hp but that is a large part of the reasn why they got great gas milage too.

 

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what was the "advantage" for getting the diesel over the 460?


I owned diesel pickup's 83-08, avoiding State mandate emission testing was high on my plus reasons for going diesel. Although in 83 diesel fuel was half the price of gas and was the reason behind my first diesel.

 

Thanks for the responses!

That's really what I was thinking. It's just interesting how the tables have turned. Now you can get better "performance" from a diesel, and thanks to the multi-stage turbos and emmissions junk the gasser is probably less complicated and maybe more reliable. But you're not gonna get ~800lb-ft from a stock gasser!

I'm quite happy with my IDI, and don't want to invest $$ in a turbo kit for what I'm doing. Mostly just want a truck for junkyard trips, craigslist pickups, and home landscaping stuff. An F150 probably would have been more than adequate, but in the used market price range I was looking in there didn't seem to be much price advantage to a 150, and I figure since I'm not using it as a daily driver or long distance towing comfort doesn't much matter.. but I like full floating axles, and HD transmissions. Plus diesels sound cooler! Seems like a 444 ci engine making <200HP should pretty near last forever also.

 

after buying a F250 I'll never go back to a 1/2 ton unless it's a DD.

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Nusteve x2 a lot of farmers loved it they would just run farm diesel in them until the dot started check-in tanks.. for those of you that don't know what farm or commercial off road diesel is its died red no road tax forty to sixty cense cheaper and a little higher in sulfer

 

LOL... when was the last time you've seen the DOT actually check a truck!?!?!?!?

We still use the Farm diesel in the trucks around here!

 

Up here at the sale yards every once in blue moon there's that one blue bear with nothin better to do than sit at the gate :/

 

DOT doesn't have enought money to inspect bridges and gas tanks in these parts... Last time I heard someone got caught was 5 years ago when he was driving irradically, with a inproperly secured load... He was asking to get caught!

 

Guy down here was pulling in with a legal load of hay

 

unless your asking for it you won't get caught around here... One of my buddy's actually had a 91 IDI with dual fuel tanks and when he fixed the rust he got a "single fuel door" patch pannel from LMC... I think we can all see where this is going... The rear fuel filler neck got routed to a hidden location... Thus the DOT can test his single tank that has road leagal diesel in it, and the hidden rear tank was filled with farm diesel.

 

I love my idi. 338,000 miles and counting. It's my daily driver. Right now since school is out i do 90% city mileage. I get about 15-16city calculated. I'm trying to drive in the city different (real slow, keep under 1500rpms to pick up a few extra mpg, seems to be working so far) I get 20something on the highway. I drive the speedlimit (65) in the far right lane. It's great i have the heaviest vehicle that is driven in the family and get the best fuel mileage. My 351w truck eats gas a heck of alot quicker than this one, then again the o2 sensor is just hanging under the truck and we ran it to 5k a few times plowing. I doesn't get driven on the road so thats a bit unrealistic. I don't mind paying the cost of diesel and its not as volatile. diesel price hasn't changed in a month where i live.

 

What he said^^^ diesel USED TO BE HALF THE COST OF GAS and get better milage. Then it made sence to spend MORE for a diesel engine. At least then it would pay for itself. Now diesel is .30-.50 more expensive and the gas engines are getting BETTER milage than diesels. So it does NOT make sence to buy a diesel. On top of the MORE expensive maintainance of a diesel. YES, i said MORE EXPENSIVE. Gas engines you can change the oil for 19 bucks. A diesel costs about 80 bucks. newer gas engines go 100k before needing a tune-up for about 100-150 in parts. Diesel generally need some sort of injector work by 150k and that can be into the THOUSANDS. And now the new diesel need DEF(diesel Exhaust fluid) @ about $12 a gallon and it uses aprox 30 gallons between oil changes so add another $360 between oil changes