Howdy Boys and Girls... Way back in 1994 i was the first person in Houston to buy a F250 powerstroke 5 speed truck! It was a great old truck and lasted me a solid 458,000 miles before I bought a newer Ford, Well memories came back when I had the chance to buy a 1993 this week. Yesterday I purchased a 1993 (built 19922) F350 dually with 5 spd standard shift. It has a 7.3 IDI NA. Old truck only has 79000 miles was used by a AG school to move animals around. I am going to rebuild/restore the entire truck and repower it to pull a 42' Fifth wheel toy hauler that weighs 16,000# empty with a King Pin weight of 3300#. I'm thinking about buying a 2003 F 550 Van than has the 7.3L Turbo (Powerstoke) and putting that engine and automatic trans in this old truck. Any thoughts? I have a very low mileage Cummins ISB with a auto trans that I thought about putting in this 1993 but it looks like there's a lot more work than I really want to do so the 2003 F550 with the 7.3 Powerstroke seems to be the easier swap. Now for the real tough question. I want to be able to tow the fifth wheel at posted road speeds so I'm thinking the 2003 powerstroke with auto will need some performance parts put on it. I'm thinking the engine will need to be around 400-450 horsepower but I want it to be a reliable engine and need to know how y'all would suggest I get to the horsepower and torque I need. I'm not sure if the 2003 Ford transmission will hold up to the higher horsepower and will research that also. Any help will be appreciated. FYI we tow this trailer now with a 2019 Chevroler 2500HD with a Duramax and it hauls it good but the weight is a bit more than the single wheel 2500 should carry... Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forum. I am not the right person to give advice about vehicles, but I would consider adding a turbo and a Gear Vendors overdrive to your existing rig. For some reason, I think the truck engines and van engines are not exactly the same. It maybe external things and the swap might work with no problems.

 

The block/internals should be the same between trucks and vans. Some of the external accessories may be different, or in a different location to fit under the hood in a van. The oil cooler is different so the filter clears the mounts/frame and that will need to be changed. I haven't worked on a van so can't say what else specifically is different.
If the van was a 550, I would think the transmission was heavier duty than one in a 250 or 350, so may already be sturdy enough for more power, but don't quote me on that.

 

Well, umm, I would start by tracking down the GCWR for the F350. It seems to me that your weight might be more in the F450/550 range.

A 1993 F350 with a lot of HP and a HD transmission is still a 1993 F350.

Roy

 

x2

There's no reason your IDI shouldn't be able to tow that trailer. I'd think a DRW axle would be preferable over upgrading to a PSD.

 

i agree. with a 5 speed and dual rear wheels, that truck is already set up pretty good for towing your toy hauler.
i would add a turbo and turn the fuel up 2 flats and it should be good.
i pulled a mini excavator all over the NJ/NY/PA area for 5 years with my 88 between escort runs at 20,000 pounds trailer weight and only had issues on very steep long grades. nut i was still able to top the grades at 45-50 mph.
the only difference from factory stock was my 88 had a 195 HP international engine in it with a non wastegated banks turbo installed.
4.10 gears, with a ZF 5 speed trans.