Hello all, I am a new member on here but I have been lurking for a while and I have a few questions on what type of truck I should look for.

First I will give a little background on how I got into Powerstrokes. My dad has a 2002 F350 with a 7.3 and about 215k on it. I'm 17 and have a Jeep of my own but everytime i drive his i his i want a diesel even more. He has all the basic mods (chip, intake, exhaust) and it is still pretty fast for a 10k pound truck and i have to pretty much steal it from him to drive it, which is why i want one of my own. The day i get one might be a little while in the future, but why not get ahead of myself and begin looking right? Alright so onto the questions.

1. What year?
My dads is a 2002 and i love it but im concerned with the PMRs it's running. I do plan eventually to get over 500 horses out of it and would like the rods to be able to support it. I know they used forged rods in early 99's to late 00's? but i am not sure.

2. What model?
F250 or F350, i dont plan on towing alot, but there will be times where i will and i just like the fact that the 350 is heavier duty, although i want single rear wheels. The F250 is a little higher up though which is why i am a little more pulled towards that.

3. What trans?
Auto or stick? I love driving stick shifts but then again they are a little more inconvienent than the auto at times. I do plan on racing and sled pulling and i have heard the zf6 is stronger than the 4r100 from factory, and the less money i have to spend on the trans the better.

4. What body style?
I have no idea where to start here, my dads is a crew cab long bed and is just to big for me to daily drive and manuver around. I was either looking at the crew cab short bed, or the supercab long bed, but again, i dont know what is better for towing and driveability.

Thanks for reading and i hope this site is as helpful as it seems and i hope to be a Powerstroker soon.

Thanks-Charlie

 

Welcome to FTE. Good luck with looking for a truck.

 

Nice job or your research BTW, seems you know quite a bit and asked all the right questions. Hopefully you find what you're looking for.

 

Welcome Charlie
Sounds like you have been learning.Be patient when looking and find a good truck.One thing,do not get yourself in a financial bind.If you can just afford the truck that might be tight with all you are wanting to do.Keep looking and saving so you can afford to mod the truck after you buy.Good luck and hang around

 

One thing to watch for on the auto trannies is that starting '01 model year to mid '01 (not 100% sure on the dates) they used a mechanical diode in the tranny which is a weak point. But, it may have already been fixed/replaced so make sure to look.

For body style, I would reccomend the supercab shortbed 4x4. It won't be as good for racing/pulling as reg cab but on a daily driving basis you will like the extra room. Especially when it is raining.


Miller,
Why would you want a auto tranny for racing and high horsepower? I thought it would be the opposite.

 

The common thinking is, you need about 100 more hp with a standard to keep up with an auto. Ask the guys that have standards in their trucks. If he is going to go to 500 hp, he will have to have a built trans anyway.

 

comming from a guy with a supercab long bed, I love that body style. I dont tow much, so I really wish I could have found the short bed, but the price was right and it was exactly what I was looking for. One thing, the zf6 is a great tranny and I wouldnt trade anything for it for what I use it for...however, if you are planning on racing it I would definitely go for an auto. here are the reasons why..

If you are racing you want quick shifts, and you want to keep it as consistant as possible so you dont loose any boost...at least in my experience it is hard to shift a zf6 as fast as an auto can shift

auto will give way more consistancy...if you're looking to put down consistant numbers you want the auto because its going to shift the same every time.

Autos can be built up to be strong

for me i picked a stick because i wanted the bit extra mpg that you can get with a stick, and i just flat out like driving sticks. Also i'm planning on having this truck for the rest of my life (i'm 21) and its much cheaper to replace a clutch (already have a southbend in it) than replacing or rebuilding the tranny. All in all I love my truck, see sig for mods. As far as model year, I love my 2000, its got forged bottom end and personally i feel that the older stuff is made a bit more soldily...just an opinion though

 

Good post. Did you mean forged rods?

 

haha yea i did, whoops! long week of mid terms

 

Forgot to mention one thing, when i will tow, it will be heavy (picture a jeep or two on a car trailer), if that would change what body style and model to look for.
The auto in my dads is great i just like having the extra control although it is less convienient.

 

The control difference between a auto and a manual just depends on the driver. If a person driving an auto wants to feel the road under him/her when in icy conditions then just drop it into neutral when coming to a drop (for an auto).

But I agree, I prefer the manual myself as well for all the reasons 2000ca250 mentioned above, plus they are just more reliable and the ZF's are German trannies that are built to about take bullets! My trannie has 200K on it, all it currently needs are syncros, the gears are fine!

If you get a auto expect to drop 3K into another trannie to make it stout enough to handle any abuse you throw at it, that is if someone hadn't dropped the 3K for you.

 

Believe me, i have all the mods planned out so i can afford them when i buy the truck.

 

Smart, very smart. Tis what I have been doing too. Buy a part here, buy a part there then WAM! Put them all in about the same time so I don't have to keep taking things out.