It all comes down to the previous owners care and maintenance of their truck. Most guys who own a 7.3 excursion know what they have and IMO keep up with regular maintenance on them because THEY NEVER INTEND TO SELL THEM!! But life takes unexpected turns sometimes and so maybe they need the money so they are forced to sell etc etc etc....Anyway, I also live in NJ and my search for a 7.3 EX took me up to Connecticut, is it a rusted out POS? absolutely not. Yes it has some surface rust on the frame but thats all, absolutely no body rot and the inside is so clean my buddies don't believe me when I tell them its a 2000 model year.

Clean 7.3's are out there and if you want a diesel then go buy a diesel, just do your research and know what your getting into and you'll be fine.

 

Just make sure the diesel has a block heater, or put one in if it doesn't. Then plug the block heater into a timer that will start an hour of two before you have to get up and go to work. That way your engine will be nice and warm for start up.

I will normally start plugging in when the temps are reaching below freezing.

 

Here is a nice v10 in Cali. A bit more than you may want to spend.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/5515014567.html

Tim M

 

thats a nice , thanks for the find , im going to test drive a 7.3 on monday , like i said i never actually drove a diesel but im a big believer of the bigger the better lol

 

Unless the rig you're gonna test drive is tuned, you'll probably be disappointed.

A bone stock 7.3L is very boring and plain jane.

Stewart

 

damn thank for the advise , im not really interested on that particular truck but its really close to my house and i want to get the feelimg for a diesel

 

Honestly, even stock 6.0's are boring to me because all the 7.3's that have been in my family have always been modded and tuned.

Stewart

 

I don't find mine to be that way.

 

Yeah, my bad, I should have qualified my statement and included "in my opinion..." to my post.

Stewart

 

This guy is a former Ford technician of 10+ years

I have seen it a handful of times in the V10 section. Their is also a thread on here testing the strength of a factory head.

Breaking point thread:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ead-heads.html

Recommended Torque:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ed-torque.html

 

A lot of guys hear Hot Rod there 8000 # trucks So the stock 7.3 is really a dog when stock. (it also has GREAT upward potential)
Mine never bothered me, TILL running 35s & needing to tow. A tuner allowed for trans correction, speed-o correction & gave me the ability to pull a 18' TT downhill to the coast W/O having to push the petal through the floorboard the entire 1hr drive.

 

News flash guys , i just test drove the 7.3 , also first time ever driving a diesel and wow , not what i was expecting at all , im looking forward to test a v10 most likely thats the truck ama end up buying , this particualr 7.3 had some good power but up on the higher rpms, when the turbo kicked in i guess. i like to travel a lot and im the kind of person that preffers a 70mph under 1500 rpm type of ride

 

Like mentioned above, as far as mustering some kind of performance from the 7.3 a good tune can/will do wonders. I bought mine allready tuned and its pretty damn quick (considering its an 8K lb wagon) and I truthfully have never driven one in stock form. Having said this, I do know that the V10 gets a lot of it pulling power high in the RPM curve so thats something to consider. Also, mine w/ 35in tires on the freeway it cruises at 71mph at 1900 rpm. I think if you rode in a reaaaly hot tuned 7.3 like Crazy Matt ownes, it would surprise the hell out of you!!!

 

70 MPH @ 1500 RPM isn't going to happen with a V-10, unless you mount some very tall tires on it which would decrease the performance accordingly.
Comparing RPM operating ranges between the PSD and modular motors is far from apples to apples. The V-10 has about twice the RPM operating range as a 7.3 (or 6.0), the two families of motors make their power very differently also. The PSDs make plenty of power down low with good turbo boost helping out in their upper range, the V-10 does OK at the lower range but when needed it will drop down a gear (or 2) and really get spun up where it makes it's peak power. The 6.8 is designed to operate at these higher revs and doing so isn't going to hurt them.
I run 4.88 gears with 35.28" tall tires for an effective ratio of 4.39 on my V-10 EX, it turns 2400 RPMs at 70 MPH in OD. That EX serves as our dedicated tow rig so it does that 500 to 600 miles a day when we travel with our 41' 11,000lb travel trailer hanging off the back. It does not complain at all and only drops down a gear to spool up a bit higher on the steeper hills, it does get thirsty but otherwise no issues at that RPM for prolonged runs under load.

 

So kind of like i should give the 7.3 another try?