me and you must race my friend ill beat ya im lighter

 

Lets go for it. You will sure win. My truck takes FOREVER to get going, but it moves once it gets up there.

 

mine cooks em off the line then again my rear tires are like drag slicks

 

My 88 150 has a 5.0. I get 17mpg at 70@ 2100rpm.
I've had it up to 115, at least thats what the Dodge behind me was doing (the speedo stops at 80) It still had more in her, but I didn't want to push it. At that speed the backend starts creating lift, and it begins to develop a fishtail.
I tow a 20ft boat pretty frequently, and it doesn't do bad.

 

" Is the IDI really that bad? I've got nothing to haul other than myself and a few friends. do you see a major difference in acceleration and speed? "

You will not see a big difference between a turbo IDI and a stock powerstroke. The main difference is how the powerstroke responds to mods. It can be as powerful as your budget can afford and will not suffer much in the MPG department if driven responsibly.

120 is no problem with the right gears.

 

When I mentioned I don't have any experience with any of the diesels, it pertained to daily driver types. I have driven my boss's 92 F350 service truck. It had a turbo IDI, ZF5, 2wd, 4.10 gears, and a 8 ft service body, 2 ft storage compartment between the cab and body, and a 30 ft boom on it. It weighed in around 13,000+ lbs when the service body was filled with tools and parts (supplies which were always there), but no supplies in the bed (ie wire, conduit, threaders, etc for specific jobs).

While it wasn't fast, I didn't think it was ever underpowered to get the job done. I wouldn't be afraid to use an IDI (but a PSD would obviously be preferable for you coal guys).

 

What he said - there is only so much power you can squeeze out of an IDI. That said for a daily driver that rarely sees a trailer even a non-turbo IDI will do alright - get one with a 5-speed and swap in some numerically-small gears (3.08 is the limit IIRC) and you will be able to go fast and get decent fuel economy. The only reason my own truck is limited to under 60 mph is the 4.10 gears in the axle, it can certainly go much faster than that (such as the speedometer needle pointing straight down at the gear selection indicator) but it revvs up so high that my fuel economy tanks big time.

 

not to cause any comotion but it is a I6 not a V6 otherwise I agree with muddigger... V6's are in the rangers...

If you are going for a trip truck that isn't hauling anything i would just go for a F-150 or F-250 with a 300 I6. They are super dependable for a long **** time! I still have 150 psi in the cylinders of Thumper! 300's also get decent gas milage and have great low end torque if you do need to tow or haul something occasionally... 351w's have the guts to pull just about anything with a few mods, 460's are definatly not for you... the 6.9's and 7.3's are nice diesels but the PSD's are the way to go with a Ford Diesel.

300 I6: 165HP and 275TQ (EFI)
351w : 210HP and 320TQ (EFI)
6.9 IDI: 170HP and 310TQ
7.3 IDI: 180HP and 345TQ
7.3 IDI: 190HP and 390TQ (turbo)
7.3 PSD: 235HP and 525TQ

The only way you can match the diesel for MPG is the 300 I6... and the only way you get better than 19-20MPG is with slow **** driving or a Ranger.

 

I would think you could get similar mpg out of a 5.0 with a full exhaust with either high flow/gutted cats, and a 3.55 rearend. I would go that route for mpg, just because it sounds better than a I-6

 

i got 24mpg average out of my ranger.... and it was the 3.0 and i pushed that truck to its limits every day

 

How did you get 117mph out of your truck? speed limiter shuts down at 95

 

I honestly don't know. We were heading down the highway and we decided to race while we had a chance, and I just had a new instrument cluster installed so my speedometer hits 120, and I even had my GPS running. It said 117MPH.

 

as much as some like the 5.0L... i'm not a fan unless it's in a mustang. The 5.0's were made for higher rpm HP... IE made for cars not trucks. The 5.8L is a much better truck motor since it produces more low end torque and horse power.

 

tru but it sounds like the guy is more into acceleration, top speed, and fuel economy. So I figured a 5.0 would be a good compromise. They do have descent low end. I've pulled trailers and still accelerated in 4th from 1200 rpm. It wasn't real fast, but I wasn't in a race either

 

You had a lightning cluster?