Howder Fellers, my name is Justin I come from the Superduty forums. I lost my 01 Superduty to a wreck last month and I just bought a 97 F-250 SC LB XLT 5-speed, 165K in perfect condition. First off can a Intercooler be added, is there parts I can still off of the Superduties and add to this OBS and make it a meaner beast? What do I need to look for in this truck that is different from my 01? I am not going extreme on my mods gauges, exhaust, DP-Tuner, 6637 maybe a new clutch. I'd love to be fulled taught on the differences on this truck. Also great does this truck sound with the kitties in the pound and no muffler?

Thanks guys!!

 

well, first and foremost, sorry about the loss of ur truck. on the flip side, congratulations on the new (to you) OBS! I'm sure youll find things not all that different with the engine. there were a number of changes from OBS to your year NBS. first question to address, the intercooler. you can salvage the core from the 01, but the pipes would have to be modified to work on an obs. the intake spider off of the 01, if i recall correctly, will not work with the obs. you would need to find an intake spider off of an early 99 nbs to fit your new truck. although you may say youll only do minor modifications to this new truck, the PMS bug will get ya sooner than later! great choice getting the 5spd. much better than the stock e4od in my opinion, but im much more partial to grabbing my own gears anyway. as far as differences in the obs vs nbs, ill try to be systematic, and im sure someone will either correct a few things i will say, or add more valuable knowledge than i can instill in you right now. differences as i recall are as follows:
1. obs= single shot injectors were as nbs= split shot injectors. a bit louder in the obs
2. obs= a bit more of a work truck styling. many less creature comforts than the nbs, but youll soon get used to them. in fact, i dont miss creature comforts at all
3. non waste gated turbocharger on the obs.
4. a bit less horsepower on the obs. your 97 is 225hp and i believe 480 lb/ft. this is at the flywheel, not the rear wheels.
5. your f250 obs has the ttb front end (dana 50??) as opposed to the monobeam front axle of the nbs. some say the ttb is less sturdy. i say it depends on what you use the truck for. many have swapped the ttb for a solid axle front end.
6. 2 fuel tanks! (whoopppeee at 3.15/gal!!)
7. im out of differences at the moment, as i said, someone else will chime in

a few more thoughts...... ditch the kitty and the muffler, get a new downpipe. the stock dp is very restrictive. with a free flowing exhaust, the turbo will really whistle and is relatively mild mannored unless youre hammering down on it. 6637 mod is a great idea. as for the chip (personal preference), i run tony wildman tunes. great guy, love the tunes. guages are a must before the chip! (although im sure you know that already). other than that, welcome to the world of obs. hope ive been a help. the guys here are really great, and really knowledgeable. best of luck.

-Brandon

 

Congrats! I echo the sentiments of the above post regarding the loss of your nbs truck, but I will add that I wouldn't trade my 97 for anything currently available.
OBS is what a true Ford truck should look like, IMO.

 

Welcome to the world of vent windows. Lots of cheap mods available for your truck. ICP mod, FPR shim, EOT mod, CCV mod, all cheap. Downpipe is among the first things though. Keep reading and asking and you will find lots of ways to wake up your truck. Sorry you had to lose one to get here but welcome.

 

lots of pictures on how-to's in my signature link. easy and cheap and fast to do, intercooler will take a saturday to accomplish but it fits relativly painless. a 6.0 coller fits nicely in there. vent windows rule, and i have plenty of "creature comforts" in my truck, just not leather seats and they are too cold at 10 degreees in the winter anyway

 

Thanks guys glad to be here, I loved my Superduty its a hard pick for me between a OBS truck and a 99-01 Superduty but this one just struck my heart just wish it had Captain Chairs in it. Is it cheaper to modify these trucks and maintain these trucks compared to the superduties? Can I get a link to where the common cheap DIY mods are? What is the ICP mod and EOT mods, I remember the rest from my NBS truck. IT really doesn't look like there is much room in there for a intercooler is there alot of modifications to make it fit into the truck? (not to good at fabing, limited tools) I was amazed at how restricted that stock DP was it is nearly flat, does look like much room for a big pipe heh. Can I get a Mako exhaust for this truck like the superduties? A cheap E-bay exhaust for the truck also what are some good gauges for a low end price since I only need two, what about those from RPM outlet?

What parts can I take from the NBS trucks to add on mine and make it better, I believe I heard you can take the HPOP from them. I know this is very doubtful but can could I rig up my old grill to this OBS?

Like you guys said it might not have the creature comforts but hey its a real tuck! Yes I am a vent window man I have a 92 F-150 that is my beat around farm truck. *ponders on stealing the captains out of it* Thats for the welcome guys I believe I am really gonna like it here!

P.S. The truck was a one owner, he had the truck 10 years and traded it in tue night for an 08 PSD SC SB auto and he regrets giving up his OBS, he offered to buy it back but this is my cherry now

 

plenty of room, all you need is sockets and wrenches and a sawsall linked to a saturday link here for full details http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560147650DbXypg


you can get captains chairs in it or the superduty seats will fit with a few washers up front to get them level, there are pics in here of a recent swap, will find them later
the icp mod fools the pcm into thinking it has lower pressures and raises it to compensate, this is all it is, a 10k or any of your choice, higher resistance = more power, a 14.7 or 15.6 is the avg peak performance

the hpop from a sd is a direct fit and gives more oil, the eot mod is the same as a icp mod except it advances injector timing by making the pcm think the oil is colder. a switch ahould be added to the glow plug signal wire to prevent overactivation of them with this mod, sorry no pics, havent had time, a 4.7-6k is a good choice for that mod
modifing, and maintaining is about the same since its the same motor, the front wheels bearing are servicable so that saves you money over the 400 dollar hubs that fall off th sd's

 

I know well about the Front wheel bearings.... been there done that. I love the inter cooler idea, so I just need a 6.0 cooler and the plumbing from a early 99? Are those engines basicly the same thing as ours? So basicly all these resistors are a poor mans DP-Tuner? That is what I want to go with in this truck. I know this might be a little dumb but will my truck throw any emissions codes due to the cat being off or cause any trouble? I know on my gas ranger it causes it to throw some codes being kitty free. I kinda like the idea of getting some Captains in this truck just like my isolated seat, and one more thing where can you mount a CB in this thing my SD had a great spot in it tihs one not so much without getting in the way of the stick or ash tray.

 

i'm not a smoker so this is what i did,

the 7.3 or 6.0 intercooler works, i beleive the 7.3 is easier since its smaller but i wanted the biggest one i could cram in there, you also need a banks pipe or the x-pipe off an early 99, the turbo tubes from the trucks work with some cutting and splicing, not too bad, i have pics of it all in my webshots under "redesigned intercooler pics"
the 94-97, early 99, and 99.5-03 7.3's are all basicly the same with minor differences, mainly turbos, injectors, hpop's, fuel pumps, intake manifolds.
i wouldnt call the resistors a poor mans anything but yes they do boost power and most of us on here use them ontop of other chips, in my case a 1705 superchip
no codes from the kitty delete, just a happier truck and driver, delete that horrible pancake downpipe while your at it

 

oh by the way the OBS turbos are bigger and can survive more boost (my 37 lbs in the 2nd highest tune is pretty sweet) but our injectors are little stock... soon you'll want some stage 1s or 2s... they all do... haha

 

Well I did not know they had a bigger turbo I always thought that they was a smaller turbo then the NBS PSD, I knew the Squirters and the Oil was smaller. Is the DP still the best thing for these trucks like it is the SD trucks? I'll try to have some pics up later tonight. Those resistor mods won't work well with the DP, atleast thats what I heard in the SD trucks does that not apply to these OBS trucks? I love that CB mount I do believe I might do that since I don't smoke either.

 

the restistor mods are pointless if you have a custom chip like the dptuner or tony wildman chip... i absolutely love my tony wildman chip and wouldn't trade it for anything!!

 

the sd turbos run a smaller housing, hence the need for the wastegate. the turbo wheel upgrade for the sd's is to install the obs wheel. yes the resistors are pointless on a dp or tw chip
yes get a downpipe for the truck, you will feel the difference, remove the cat at the same time.
the injectors on the obs trucks are 90 cc's and the sd's are 120.
the idm from the sd's is higher voltage too, 120 or 130, cant remeber but worth the upgrade.
lookin foreward to seeing the new rig

 

injectors are actually 98cc i believe! and what is the OBS IDM voltage?? 100?

 

i am pretty confident on my 90 cc quote, not 100 but maybe 80 percent.
the idm i think is 100 on ours