Moderators Edit: This has been working in the Excursion forum so I'm sure it will work here too, but please be mindful you cannot post your CL ad or a CL ad by proxy for someone else here on the board.

Basically, if you're tempted to post your own CL ad, please don't. It's against forum Guidelines, which are here: Site Guidelines - Ford-Trucks.com

If you post a CL ad (and it isn't yours) and you later see it's missing, it was a discretionary call. Please don't question why in an open thread because that too is against FTE Guidelines. You can PM one of the Forum Mods and ask though.

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Much like the "FREE PARTS" thread, this thread will only show a limited number of posts. Probably one month or so since CL ads go away fast. So as needed, the old posts will be deleted to keep the size of the thread manageable.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Stewart
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Well, someone has to start it. The Excursion folks upstairs have had an ongoing Craigslist Find of the Day thread for several years. But truck owners might not visit an SUV forum, except once in a while through a search.

Every once in a while you too, might find yourself browsing Craigslist for something you need, and your attention gets diverted by something else entirely random that caught your eye. If that something else relates to, or is useful for, or is an unusual aspect of... a 99-03 7.3L truck... feel free to post up on this thread. Who knows, you might make someone's day, by accidently locating something that they have been ardently searching for. The concept seems to work quite well on the Excursion forum, where members end up effortlessly helping other members find Harley Davidson wheels, new style bumpers, and other things Excursion folks covet... simply by posting what they stumble across in the Craigslist find of the day thread.

Old Expired CL-FB FOTD Posts Archive

 

I need to keep this information in mind if we ever decide that we need to sell our 7.3L...

I enjoyed reading his last comments in the listing, which I have pasted below for those that cannot access the ad from their place of work.

 

It's refreshing to run across a real end... especially after Team FTE helped one member out of a dead end.

Too bad it is too tall for real work.

 

Really? 3.73 is fine for a long haul tow pig with a swank 5er, parsimonious fuel consumption as a bonus.

I'm more concerned about the "Choo choo" interior.

But seriously, that's an exceptional rig and they are fewer by the day.

 

What does a swank 5er weigh? 14K lbs?

The 4R100 automatic is hamstrung in hauling real weight, by first and reverse gears being too tall.

Hence, a shorter (deeper) rear axle ratio provides some compensatory relief from premature transmission failure when backing a trailer up a driveway.

Unless the truck has 4WD, along with manually controllable hubs, so as to leave the hubs unlocked while using the double reduction of the transfer case to compensate for the transmission's first and reverse being too tall.

In every automatic transmission since the 4R100, Ford has incrementally found their way back to the basic fundamentals of gearing leverage.

Comparison of Ford Automatic Transmissions for Super Duty Light Trucks, listed in order of introduction to market:
(Ratios rounded to two decimal points)

4R100: 1st = 2.71 / Rev = 2.88
5R110W: 1st = 3.09 / Rev = 2.88
6R140: 1st = 3.97 / Rev = 3.13
6R100: 1st = 4.17 / Rev = 3.40
10R140: 1st = 4.62 / Rev = 4.70

As can clearly be seen, Ford deepened first and reverse gears in every automatic transmission Ford designed for the Super Duty since the 4R100.

So when shopping for a pickup to haul a swank 5'er, and adding the weight of that 5'er to one of the heaviest (in tare weight) pickups Ford has made in this century... an all steel body crew cab dual rear wheel diesel... and then hamstringing it with a 2.71 first gear and a 2.88 reverse gear... and denying it a transfer case with 2wd... and on top of all that, outfitting it with a 3.73 rear axle ratio... will likely mean having to lock out overdrive to do any serious towing on grades.

Once the overdrive is locked out, then any imagined savings in fuel from having a taller rear gear are erased.

With only two forward gears to work with besides 1st, the engine is likely to burn more fuel as it winds up higher rpms while laboring under load, especially up grades.

Now, if this were an Excursion diesel, or a short bed F-250, then 3.73 is the more appropriate choice, as the chassis and form factor of those trucks are GVWR limited and not conducive to hauling a swank 5er.

But naturally, more is expected of a dual rear wheeled one ton long bed pickup. And the combination of the 4R100 and 3.73 axle ratio with 2WD may not deliver the goods as well as the 4.10 axle ratio in that application, in either performance or ultimate fuel economy.

That truck would be a hard pass for me.

Although I'd consider parting it out for some of those choo choo interior pieces. I need a new seat cover.

And just to give the chest beating stick shifting rowers more to crow about...

ZF-6: Granny Low = 5.79 / 1st = 3.30 / Rev = 5.23

 

HEAR! HEAR!

 

After reading that and being a proud owner of a 4r100, I feel like I was just kicked in the BAL.. by a fellow FTE'r.

 

Facts are facts and I'm glad he was honest if brutal . I too have the 4r100 in a crew cab with 3:73 gears. Fortunately I don't tow heavy so no big deal.

The wife has actually given the go ahead for purchasing another truck so this info will help my decision making when looking at them.

 

There was no kicking intended. I have a 4R100 as well.

It isn't like we are given a choice in automatic transmissions. The 4R100 was the only automatic transmission that Ford installed in a 7.3L Super Duty under 19,500 GVWR.

And we wouldn't want the ancient Allison AT-545, with no overdrive, where the top gear is 1.00:1, and no lock up in the torque converter.

Sure, it had a deeper 1st at 3.45, and a real deep reverse at 5.02 that found it's way behind the 7.3L in International built school buses and the extremely rare F-650 optioned with the 7.3L/AT-545.

But the PCM and "bus" architecture, and engine itself, down to the crankshaft counterweights, are all different than what we have in the F-250 through F-550, and likewise the E-350-E-550.

Besides, Allison didn't earn their good name in transmissions from the AT-545. Rather, that is a transmission they would probably prefer to remain forgotten. The Allison 3000 World series transmissions is what puts the halo above Allison's brand name.

So that leaves us stuck with the 4R100.

In late 2002, I had to order a new F-550, and at that time I had a choice between ordering the new 5R110W transmission or the 4R100. Each came with pros and cons.

On the pro side for the 5R110W, I felt positive (but had no evidence yet) that this would be a better transmission than the 4R100, because Ford was developing it while the market was raking Ford over the coals for the abysmal reliability of the E40D and 4R100 transmissions. Simultaneously, cross town rival GM was debuting the vaunted Allison brand name in their light trucks, in the form of the Allison 5 speed 1000 series. There was no doubt that Ford would step up their auto transmission game.

On the con side for the 5R110W... it came packaged with the then yet to be released 6.0L engine, which I was fairly certain would be a disaster, based on some early insights beyond the scope of this response.

So I CHOSE the 4R100. It was the best available option at the time, and it came with the 7.3L. That truck wasn't for me... it was for a crew... who blew through three 4R100 transmissions in that truck before learning how to manage its limitations. It was a 2003, so it already had the OTW cooler upgrade. But it didn't have 4wd, so there was no transfer case available to deepen the gearing when backing up a trailer. So the rule became simple: No backing equipment trailers... which led to no more transmission swaps after the 4th one was installed.

On the other hand, in my personal truck, that is three years older, I'm still on the original production transmission. No fancy valve body. No tricumulator springs. No billet torque converter. No triple disc. No torrington bearing. No furnaced brazed fins. No machined groove for a special snap ring. No kryptonite input shaft. All of it is bone stock as it left the production floor in 1999. What is different is merely an awareness of how tall first and reverse are, so I stick with stock sized tires, and use 4Lo without locking the front hubs whenever deeper gearing will help, which is always in low speed maneuvering, and backing in particular, where many a 4R100 owner has reported failures happening, until they better managed the heat from the torque converter.

The effective first gear ratio in the 4R100 is deeper when taking the torque multiplication in the converter into account. But the unwanted byproduct of that hydraulically driven force multiplier is heat.

4R100 owners have found that by managing the heat, the transmission's life can be prolonged, and ultimately require the 4R100 to be dropped out of the truck less than the ZF-6, because there is no clutch to have to change out periodically.

Don't get me started on shift forks, throw out bearings, and knee replacements.

So I hope this balanced response helps you feel less kicked, as we are fellow 4R100 owners, not just fellow FTE'ers.

A heavy hauler can motivate more mass from a standstill with deeper gearing, so choosing the right rear axle ratio for the application can help mitigate taller first and reverse gears in the transmission.

Tire and wheel choice is also an easy way to pickup up some grunt.

Ford's and GM's latest automatic transmissions not only leverage deeper gearing, they also push the envelope further into taller gearing, offering overdrives as low as 0.61.

Sadly, these new automatics come with anywhere between 60 to 100 thou$and reasons not to buy them.

 

whenever I see the
“testing waters”
”I know what I got”
”don’t lowball me”
I don’t bother calling at all. Most of those are way way overpriced and I know the seller thinks the item is made of gold and diamonds simply because they own it.

here’s some crazy price on a excursion and it sold
https://nashville.craigslist.org/ctd...344922734.html

 

I will be testing this theory very soon, I already have a few serious enquiries about my genuine low mileage , rust free truck & I have yet to advertise it. I'm sure it would probably sell very quickly in the USA. The market here is also strong for good trucks but Ram is the main flavour here so I have to find someone who likes to stand out from the heard.....

 

I posted this image on 6/21 as seen above. I believe you can still go to the FTE Classifieds and see the vehicles that sold for the marked prices. I know Unleashd and Ponykilr from their posts and comments here. Heck, I was going to run to Atlanta to look at a car for Unleashd as a potential purchase one time, but another FTE'r that is closer took on the task.

These trucks don't have rusted rims, shoddy engine harnesses, pealing paint, etc... They are selling for what they are because they are nice vehicles in an era where used trucks (especially the 7.3L PSD) are way overpriced.

A good friend of mine told me a story the other day about one of his relatives trading in his 2017 F-350 6.7L PSD. He traded it in for nearly the same price he paid for it new 4 years ago... He ordered a F-250 7.3L gasoline truck, new from the factory the way he wants it. After it was all said and done, he paid about $4,000 swapping his 2017 6.7L PSD for a new 7.3L gasoline.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shovelheadrob

I will be testing this theory very soon, I already have a few serious enquiries about my genuine low mileage , rust free truck & I have yet to advertise it. I'm sure it would probably sell very quickly in the USA. The market here is also strong for good trucks but Ram is the main flavour here so I have to find someone who likes to stand out from the heard.....

Rob, there is no doubt in my mind you will get your asking price. It might even be from an American over there on an overseas tour.

I remember US service members selling their vehicles to UK nationals before they were headed back to the states. They would buy a BMW, Audi or something else tax free direct from the factory and have the US military pay the shipping bill. If you sent a car overseas, you could have one sent back. At that time anyway.

Your truck(s) are very well maintained and taken care of. They are not rode hard and put up wet by any means. I wish you the best of luck with your sale, but I don't think you will need luck, not at all...

 

Thanks @Sous, I'm fortunate that I don't need to sell the 350, apart from it being hard to justify keeping both. Which makes negotiations very simple. "If you don't like the price, go find something within your budget!"
I hadn't considered it selling to US personnel, I have a friend who does some work on base, he's American by birth so I will get him to put the word out

 

If he has a network account, there used to be a "classifieds" listing on the network that anyone with an account could post to. It was free and anyone with an account from RAF Mildenhall or RAF Lakenheath could access and read. This was back in 1999 - 2005 though, so things may have changed.

Ask him about that if you feel that is something you are interested in.

 

For sure that my thoughts as well. 20-30k seems like the sweet spot for these sub 150k mile clean highway driven garage kept type trucks.

MY point was more to the fact i wonder if this particular craigslist seller are in fact selling these vehicles they say are sold, or if they are just posting this up to justify their other listings. I have never taken much time to delve in to it but everytime I come across those "eureka, Mo" listings and see that is crosses my mind because they are usually priced will into the 40's.