Exactely.........

 

Hello everyone, newbie here. I value everyones opinion on this as I too am in the process of making the decision of purchasing a new to me truck 7.3L or 6.0L. I would be using the truck to pull lighter duty trailers such as quads and a boat mainly, but also run a small landscape company that would require the services of the truck. I have a few prospects in mind right now, one is a 2002 F-350 XLT Lariat CC 4x4 with about 80K Kms and one 2004 F-350 King Ranch edition CC 4x4 with 160K kms. The latter seems to have few hours and must have had many highway miles on it (1740 hrs). Both of these appear very clean, and are priced similarly. Any insight or questions to ask the dealers would be appreciated. Any specific questions to either engine types or what to look for in a used diesel would be also appreciated as this will be my first. I have requested an Oasis on the 2004, but I believe this can only be done on 2003 models and up? Any comments welcome and thanks to any replies.
Cheers!

 

Which truck is Black? and Welcome to FTE HighOctane

 

For what its worth I have an 03 6.0l F350 with 225,000 miles. It just came out of the shop with it's first major problem. HPOP replacement, as far as I'm concerned I got my monies worth if it dies tomorrow. I love my truck and the 6.0l engine. This is my first diesel so I'm still very much a noob.

Follow the advise of the members here and get an OASIS report. That will give you a snapshot of what the truck is like.

I drive my truck every day of the week to work in 110 plus degree weather. 50 miles one way to work. Maybe thats why I havent had too much trouble with her.

Either way 7.3 or 6.0 you wont be disappointed with the ford diesel truck.

 

I have had a 7.3 the truck was a 95 215 hp and now have a 03 6.0 the difference in power is so great its not explainable

The 7.3 PSD has the low end torque but no where near the top end power the 6.0 has. Once you got the truck rolling the 6.0 can lug down to 1000 rpm which I do time to time in my F-450. When I had near bald drive tires on the 450 the 6.0 could bark the 19.5 duallys the tires won't bark now I have heavy luged recaps the grab too much the truck launches. On a wet road is another story the tires won't stop spinning the 7.3 couldn't spin the duallys.

I took a chance on a 03 its been good so far except for the turbo is sticking but otherwise no other problems. Yes the 6.0 is a little more tempermental and sometimes I wish I had a 7.3 but when I romp on the throttle and the truck moves it makes me think I should keep the 6.0. When you can take a 9300lb truck and push sports cars off the road it makes you

I'am happy so far I know I'am going to need to replace the turbo soon I got a price from the dealer its 1300 dollars exchange.

I put it this way we are not going to get away from this emmisions crap so its time to get used to it. Older trucks that are in good shape are hard to find I searched for a 7.3 powered F-450 but they were all worn out junk.

I don't even think I would go back to a OBS Ford I'am used to the larger cab on the "Superduty". It took me awhile to get used to the bigger cab but now I like it. I get in a OBS Ford and its wow the cab is small.

 

The way it was explained to me by a ford tech who owns a 7.3 02 model, is empty the 6.0 will beat the 7.3 in any competition (mileage, power, speed, anything else). But, with 10,000 lbs. plus the 6.0 will walk away from the 7.3 to around 60 mph, if both trucks are running side by side at 60 and both drivers romp on the pedal, the 7.3 will pull away from the 6.0. I haven't lined the two up to see the difference, so this is one guys opinion. There is something to be said for more cubic inches. I have a friend with a 95 PSD and I have an 05, both trucks are stock. He can't believe the power difference (in my favor) while I am giving up the cubic inches. If you aren't planning anything radical as far as mods go, and are willing to stay up on the maintenance then there shouldn't be too many issues with the 6.0 IMHO

 

Well it sounded good, I had a 7.3L so I would question this one persons opinion.

 

All you have to do is look at the Hp numbers between the two and you know which one will pull away from the other if they are already moving with any real speed.

 

I have read that HP doesn't mean squat concerning diesels.

 

You are not reading in the right places. End of the day it is the HP number at the rpm that your engine is currently reving at that counts.
Sorry that was not meant to be condacending.

 

Above post illustrated:
Hp is always calculated and torque is measure.

Rule: HP=(TQxRPM)/5252 (with TQ measured in lb-ft)

So take 2 trucks running at the same speed and say that the engine produce exactly 200 HP flat lined across 2000rpm to 3000 rpm.

Truck A is turning 2000 rpm has the pedal floored generating max HP but is running it high gear but not OD. So tranny output is 2000RPM.
200x5252/2000=525.2 lb ft of TQ is being generated at the tranny tailshaft.

Truck B is running one gear lower and say it has a 1.4:1 ratio. So truck B is turning 2800RPM. 200 engine HP at 2800RPM is 200x5252/2800= 375.1 lb-ft at the crank.
Now multiply 375.1x1.4 (gear ratio)= 525.2 lb-ft at the end of the tranny output.

Notice that the HP the engine produces at the RPM it is turning at being the same at 2000 and 2800rpm and both truck running at the same speed put the same amount of TQ to the ground. It the HP number at the engine PRM you are running at that matters. The 6.0 makes more HP at a higher RPM so it can downshift to a lower gear to take advantage of that high RPM HP. It is HP, not TQ that rules in racing.

 

I don't want to race - I want to tow!

 

My initial post was in response to the 2 romping on it at 60. Two posts above mine.

 

OASIS reports only go back to about 2000ish-2002ish. I can't remember. Somewhere around there. They shouldn't be hard to get a hold of.

And as far as the 6.0 versus the 7.3. Based on my experience with them, which is strictly just working on them, not driving...yes the 6.0 is more powerful, but I hate working on those engines. They're terrible to work on. Their overall design is just more annoying in my opinion. And I pull apart a lot more 6.0's than 7.3's. If a 7.3 comes in and needs major work, it's usually due in part to high mileage and lack of maintainence. But those 6.0's seem dang unreliable to me.

I'm sure that if a person takes care of a 6.0 and maintains it well, it probably won't have too many problems. But I know that I personally like to own trucks I can abuse when necessary and still drive home at the end of the day. Both of my trucks get worked hard every spring it seems. So, if I could choose a diesel that is a little more open to the tough rigors of Montana life than the fragile 6.0 (don't take that the wrong way), I choose the 7.3 liter Powerstroke.

Just my thoughts.


Also, it's always been to my experience that diesels were built for torque, pulling heavy stuff, and workin' hard. Not that horsepower is unworthy of measurement, just don't forget what a diesel's made for.

 

I wish I could agree.

I bought my 6.0 because the 7.3s we'd had at work were virtually bullet-proof. That's what I wanted: dead nuts reliability. Didn't get it.

I wish I had a 7.3. A less powerful engine that runs > one that breaks.