I am from NM and am new to the boards, although I have been lurking since March it is not until recently that I have started posting so I figure I ought to tell a little about my self.

I have been a Ford guy since high school, partly because my dad was one and the other part is because I have blown up everything else. Only thing that has successfully stayed together for me is my ford beaters, and I have owned a couple.

Really am a fan of the 460 and 300 six, but due to fuel prices and the need to haul my family around I bought a diesel, 97 f250 4x4 PSD crew cab. I had a 83 supercab with 4.10's a four speed 33in tires, and a 460 built by me and I hauled everything with that truck would beat just about everything from 0-20 then would beat every other truck from 20-65, and would loose to everything else after that as I was out of RPM!

The truck still runs but won't hold everyone I have four boys and a wife, used to with the two oldest and the second to youngest I would just put the two oldest in forward facing car seats in the back of the cab rachet straped to anchors on the floor, with the little one in his car seat between me and moma, not sure if it was illegal but I felt they were safe.

Then my wife was pregnant with our 4th son and i realized we weren't all gonna fit, so time for a new truck.

So far with this truck I have done the 6637 mod and tried the 10k mod but without dino numbers I can't really tell if I did better or worse so for now that is off. It came with a straight pipe exhaust already, but still has the stock downpipe. It has 3.55 gears and 285 75 tires on it originally had 305 85's but they were worn out and I felt like the lugged the truck when towing.

I would like to fix the downpipe first, put on some gauges, and swap the ttb for a solid eventually.

My questions are, does anyone have an old downpipe they would get rid of cheap on a non runner, I don't car about looks just function, also where can I get a set of easy to install, quality guages, and by quality meaning they give good acurate readings but don't cost me my first born, and lastly what are some other cheap and easy tricks to getting more power from these beasts?

I am fairly competent mechanic, but this is my first desiel so its all pretty much new to me.

Thanks for the help and look forward to the responses.

P.S. I am thinking of putting 4.10 gears on, you guys that have them do you like them, and for those that swapped from the 3.55's do they make that much of a difference pulling and hauling, how much economy did you use. Right now where I live the 3.55's i feel have a hard time pulling the long hills around here. And just for reference I usually have on 3-5 cords of wood on, that is an average load.

 

welcome to FTE !

 

I got my exhaust and down pipe off of ebay for around $350, i think. I also ordered ISSPRO guages, that what most guys recommend.

 

$350 are you serious?(insert smiley throwing up here)

There has got to be a better price to be found, I mean cmon its 3" pipe that's been bent and had a flange welded to it for the Turbo right?

I remember when these trucks came out and a couple of buddies did the down pipe I don't think it was that expensive then.

Heck at that price I would try to build my own. Has anyone ever done that?

 

Well mine was 4" and had a muffler, but here is a 5"

eBay Motors: 7.3 Ford Powerstroke; 5 inch Exhaust: Straight Pipe Kit (item 220318371767 end time Dec-24-08 17:20:17 PST)

And I take it back I found mine for $290, I think that is wahat I paid for it

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MBRP-...Q5fAccessories

 

Sorry you are talking about the whole exhaust, mine already has the straight pipe I just need a downpipe, and I just got to looking and found a couple for under $70, but thanks anyhow.

BTW how do you like the difference between the 3.55's and 4.10's?

 

I couldn't really tell much difference, power or mileage wise. But I think that is due to my injectors going bad. I have 35" tires so it's putting less stress on the tranny and since it is working less to turn the big tires, it's the same mileage even though I have higher rpms. Since I have the bigger tires I can cruise at 70 MPH @ around 2200 rpm

I would recommend you stay with the 3.54's unless you aren't concerned about milage or speed.

 

Hey! Welcome to FTE ! You'll find all kinda interesting stuff on here ! There are some really knowledgable guys on here who are willing to share some if not all their secrets about keeping our trucks running. I personally was pretty much a cummins / dodge guy for years, turning wrenches for a Case IH Ag dealer ( mostly all Cummins power in late model stuff, Binder motors in the old stuff ) Anyhow, I quit the dealer after 13 years and went to work for a ranch in the boonies ! Quite a feather in the ranchers hat ( or so he thinks ) to get a dealer / factory trained gearhead, to work on their stuff. The dealer hates it cause we seldom send shop work there anymore...65 miles to the closest dealer of any kind... in fact... 65 miles to town PERIOD !
Without these guys here, the learning curve working on the ranch's 11 IDI and PSD Ford Pickups would be extremely long !!!! They do break em a lot around here ! 90,000 acres of coolies, rivers, rocks, canyons, mud & snow ! Not a paved road in 30 miles either ! I dont often post but I sure read a lot on here
Your pick of a 97 F350, was a good one... heck of a tough truck, personally the best year of the old body style IMO.

 

You are on the right track with the DP. Do you have 4" exhaust or stock size?

As far as gauges I would get them from hewittindustriesinc.com I think that is the site. You will have to contact them via phone and tell them you want some gauges. I bought my full pyro kit wires and thermocouple for $125. That is a good deal. You may find a cheapo brand but if you do your homework you will find they make quality gauges and if you ever have a problem you can ask andd they will work with you and your problems. I used to work with Bruce but he is not there now. I think it is Van. Tell him Neal sent you. It will not help you much and he may or may not remember me since I haven't dealt with him much since Bruce left but it lets them know the word of mouth is working for them and he may bend a little on prices. Not sure what he will charge now but when I bought last year a single boost or pressure gauge was $30 and a dual guage was $45. I bought all duals. Got pre and post cooler on my boost gauge. Used to have back pressure but it clogged up the gauge. Fuel and oil on another. Then Air and ??? on the next. As you can see I have 6 physical gauges but 9 readings. They are economical but high quality. Like I said you need to talk with them though but they will send you full drawings if you want. Nothing fancy like neon or cobalt blue gauges but VERY functional for those that don't need all the bling. BTW they are in Cali.