Good luck on that one. I wanted the ZF6 but could only find them on SuperCab or XL models . I ended up with almost everything I wanted in my current truck but had to go the 4R100 route (not a lot of ZF6's in SoCal, let alone in a crew cab) and I gave up having a backup sensor, but I was able to find one with dual alternators!

 

Did you get your words mixed up, or is math not your strong subject?

 

No the point was that even though there were more 7.3s produced, I would guess that the number of problems with them would be greater than what some may think. If you compare the number of problems versus the number of engines produced in both the 6.0 and the 7.3, I think the ratio may be closer than some think or are willing to admit.

Point is, we all love our trucks. To constantly berate the 6.0 and essentially call it nothing short of a dog just isn't fair. There are a lot of satisfied 6.0 owners out here and some of the recent posts asking about the 6.0 satisfaction show that. The 7.3 is a great engine and I'm not trying to start a pi**ing contest here. But that doesn't mean my 6.0 is doomed to failure. It doesn't mean that the 7.3 is better than the 6.0 either. The 7.3 does stand up to mods better than the 6.0 but that's irrelevant to those of us that like our trucks stock.

Years ago, we ran 7.3s in ambulances. They were pre-powerstrokes and were complete dogs. Ford stopped using the 460 in the ambulance package and only offered the 7.3. You couldn't hold any speed on hills on the interstate and that was bad if you were on a bad call and needed to get to the hospital. Hit a hill at 80 MPH and top out at 50 MPH or less. The 460s never had that problem. We had a lot of issues with them too with oil leaks, electrical problems, fuel leaks, just to name a few.

The 6.4 seems to be doing well and I hope that the 6.7 does as well when it's released. Truth be known though, they are mechanical, man-made machines and will have their problems. The post I responded to said that statistically, there were more 7.3s on the road than 6.0s and I would certainly hope so with 9 more years of production than the 6.0. I know better than to think that they were all trouble free though.

 

I think Redford summed it pretty well. These trucks will do what you want and you can depend on them. The 7.3 is by far the best diesel Ford has ever put in a truck.

 

On a 7.3 L

But after riding in a friends Crewcab, shortbed, 6.0L and hauling a 19 foot boat with a V-8 over Echo Summit at 8000 feet I am now torn.

That truck seemed like it could burn rubber with the torque it had. I was very impressed. It was an automatic with 100K miles and it just hauled *** like there was nothing behind it.

He has put 50K miles on it with no repairs other than the (costly) dealer PM.

My priorities are besides price are reliability and towing power. Our 2 horse trailer may gross out at 7000 pounds and that will be the max towing we do.

I prefer an automatic just because I do.

Guys this is a big deal to me and I could use just a little more feedback on my purchase.

Thanks,

Jim

 

Jim, I recently bought an '06 F250, 6.0, crew cab, 4XL, automatic, short bed, and I love it. I haul an aluminum three horse slant, usually with only one or two horses, and I could not be happier with it! Love the tow package, the bigger mirrors, the integrated brake controller - and the FWD!

But, I'm a first time diesel engine owner and have not had a single issue with mine - yet. So while I don't have a lot of experience with the different engines, I knew that my 5.4L V8 gas engine on my F150 was overworked and ready to concede to the bigger truck. I did my research and chose the one I thought best for me, I can only advise you to do the same.

Just make sure you take advantage of the OASIS reports on any used truck you're thinking of buying, I can't tell you how many I considered and subsequently rejected because of a bad OASIS. It's a wonderful tool the great folks on this forum offer, and I'd never buy used without one.

Good luck!

 

Waiting for more "banter" on the subject.

 

Yeah, when I first started looking, I had the same impression that the 7.3 on the pre-2003 was the only way to go. But the more I looked and talked and read, the more it seemed that by the time the '06 models were out, most of the bugs had been worked out of the 6.0. I thought about a couple of '05's, but they weren't as nice or clean as the one I bought. I also looked at some '07's, but they were higher priced than I wanted to pay. They did have low miles, though, which I really thought long and hard about because of the warranty. But my '06 had less than 70k miles on it , was the price I wanted to pay, and so I got it. Check out the thread I just posted about how the 4WD saved me this past weekend!

 

I don't have anything against the 7.3's, but I certainly wouldn't be afraid of an '05-'07 6.0, or even an older one with a clean Oasis. The torqueshift automatic is definitely a big plus in the later model (6.0) trucks - I've pulled trailers with lots of different trucks with different engines/transmission combos, and the 6.0 with the torqueshift auto with tow/haul and the factory brake controller is hard to beat. I'm sure happy with mine.

Again, nothing against 7.3's, but I don't think counting the 6.0's vs the 7.3's in a dealership repair shop proves much except that there aren't many 7.3's left with factory warranty...

 

gotta love the 7.3

 

Whenever a new truck comes out, the guys with the old truck think up reasons to say it sucks.

7.3 is still a reliable performer, but it doesn't have the pulling power of the new diesels.

 

did you go down to the oil burners fourm ask your questions and do a search on the motors and even search the tsb s then you will be a smart guy

 

I am looking at a 2004 with 93K on it in an hour. How do I tell what gear ratio is in the rear end?

Vin ?
1FTNW21P14EC82606

 

Not sure if you can tell the axle ratio directly from the vin#, but on the door jamb sticker where you find the vin#, there's some more information, including an axle code. In the sticky thread at the top of this forum, there's a post that tells you what all those codes mean - I think that info can also be found in the owners manual. I know it's not true 100% of the time, but when I was looking almost all of the 3/4 tons I found had 3.73's and almost all of the 1 tons had 4.10's.

 

for your help
BigJim