I have 88 250 deisel, 3.55 gears in the rear 2 wd, extended cab. 16" tires running stock size BFG KO's. Question.....

I have 207,000 miles on it and would like to do some tweaking

1. Install a gear vendor
2. Install a turbo ATS
3. Put on a 7-9 inch suspension lift on 35" BFG KO's
4. New bucket seats?

O.k. what i had allready replaced
1. New radiator
2. 2 new batteries
3. New alt.
4. new gear box
5. new brakes Front
6. new starter
7. Rebuilt a/c inc 2 new elec fans (very Cold)

What I know..

The truck is strong, very strong, no ratteling or knocking or pinging that I'm aware shifts o.k it is a C-6 so with a gear vendor i would get a total of 6 foward gears at about 3000.00.

had it repainted last year and regeared last year the gears were a 4.10 toped out at 55 3000 rpm. Know 75 at 3000 rpm.

I use it mostly for work I tow a 3000lb trailer no sweat and on the weeken I will load up my quad and drive to glamis no sweat.

How much life should I expect? I understand that the engine is built pretty good. Forged steel, 4 bolt mainsgear driven drive train and oil pump. Valve rotors on all valves, exhaust valve inserts, oiled cooled pistons.

The big question is it worth it to install gear vendors, a turbo and than a lift kit?

Thats my delema......Buy a new truck do not want to spend 40,000.00
any help you guys can give me that would be great!!!!

Tony

 

Well Tony, Don't know much about Ford, I'm a new owner, but my gramps had the exact same truck you have except his was all stock. He put 400,000 miles on her before he sold it and got 1500 bucks for it, it still ran good. If you take care of it they will last for ever.

Also if you were going to put anything into it put the lift in, bad *** lookin, but you will need much bigger tires if you plan on puttin a 7-9 in. lift on it. thats huge. you need at least 40" tires. Some Mickey Thompson would be sweet.

 

In my view lifting a 2wd more than 4 or so inches seems kind of gay but its your truck. If the engine gets tired then replace it.

 

i have to agrea with dieseldan there really aint no point in bigger tires on a 2wd. its yar truck tho. as far as turbo id go for it if you need more power a 3000lb load is nothen for these trucks i routinely pull 20,000lbs plus with mine. i use it on the farm hauling chuck wagons full of wet silage and hay wagons etc. mine has roughly 300,000 on it and runs strong. id say just keep it lot cheaper then an new truck least thats how i look at it. just my 2 bits

 

That 7.3 will go 100 years and 40 million miles...just change the oil & filters every now and then.

Seriously, it's a good engine. I bought my 88 250 new in Nov 87 and sold it to one of my workers when I bought my 01 F-150 in June 01...it had about 330,000 miles on it and it's still running fine to this day...he's put on another 80,000.

About every 100,000 miles I had to repalace the injector pump; replaced the starter about every 140,000; the clutch at about 180,000. That's it except for changing the oil and filters religiously.

In answering your questions:
1. I like GearVendors OD units. I have one on my 56 street rod; it takes a beating and keeps on ticking. You'll like it; especially for pulling...not cheap, though, but worth it if you use it.
2. Forget the turbo unless you overhaul the engine...an engine with a few 100 thou will get old fast with one.
3. Forget the suspension on a 2 wheel drive but if you really must, it won't wear the engine out any quicker.
4. Bucket seats are going to ruin that engine you know!

Norb

 

I got 450KM on my 1990 F250 Diesel, standard 4x4. Engine is very tired. low compression. forget about trying to start it now in the winter. I hate to tell you, but I'm thinking about switching the truck to a gas engine. Would a 351 or a 460 bolt up to the tranny? How would I go about confirming the bolting? Anything else like motor mounts I can do myself. I might only keep this truck another 5 years before it needs a new trany and diffs so not much point in putting in a relatively expensive Diesel engine.... your thoughts please and thanks.

 

I put 475.000 on my first,it still had a ton of power,but it didn't start fur ****,and blew a ton of oil out the pipe,don't buy a crate motor,I made that mistake,it lasted 23.000 miles before the piston came apart,I found a good diesel guy and started with new sleeves,they cost 5000 bucks,its good to know what your buying.

 

Reply,

If the truck is over 120,000 miles, the oil pump has lost
some pressure. I changed the oil pump on a E-350 7.3 diesel,
and the difference was several PSI.

All the important constraints, depend on good oil pressure.
That is, as when newly built.

The oil pump itself is 375 $. However I'm told that the two gears
with-in the pump can be bought seperately.

It is a big job according to the Chilton's, however wiith an engine
hoist, the engine can be lifted enough to remove the oil pan.

Once that is done, the job is not far from finished.

 

Thanks for the info it really helped!!!!!!!

As for the gear Vendor what sould I expect for MPG? C-6 about 10-12 MPG now, with the addition of 3 more gears what should I expect?

Also the rear end is 3.55 F-350 rear end!!!! on a 250.

Thanks Guys

 

So with the c-6 And the addition of a gear vendor what kind of mileage would I expect?

 

Last2Know1...mileage will depend on how you drive it, of course, but you should expect some increase. I'd check with Gear Vendors themselves ( www.gearvendors.com ) and see what they can tell you.
Mine increased 30% which sounds like a lot...went from 4 mpg to 6...! But I'm running a 3.91 gear in back with 450HP.......
Norb

 

I drive normal I guess I have 3.55 in the rear. so 20 + MPG is pretty much out of the question?

 

you could get close if you stay under 55-60mph,my ATS 7.3 gets near 20 when I drive Slow& easy its just hard to drive slow and easy when you gotta be somewere.

 

IN California we drive pretty much 70-80 all the time on the freeway. It seems unless I do some very heavy towing the gear vendor won't help that much? What about a nother Tranny? Get rid of the C-6 and get something with a OD? What do you guys think?

 

If your looking for better rpm you better figure what size of tires you want to run then chose a gear ratio. A old IDI pulls the best anywhere 2000-2500 it will go all the way to 3000. The best fuel economy is around 2000 at your desired cruising speed.

As for putting big tires on a 2wd may I ask why ?

I would personally look for a lower mileage truck to play with preferably a 4x4 if you plan on lifting it and adding bigger skins under it.

The old IDIs are good but slapping a turbo on a old engine is never a good idea.