It's no Cummins but... Opinions on 7.3?

[440dart]

Tottaly disagree we had a 97 powerstroke and a 2000 F550 rollback brandnew both were pos's when you own a towing company and the montana highway patrol call you to do a crash 3am -20 outside and you commit to do the tow only to call back 15min later that your super awsome ford powerstroke wont start tends to be pretty embarassing. We decided to try the fords because you couldnt get a dodge 5500ect as our trucks weight around 13k empty doesnt leave you much room to haul legally. The trucks them selves hold up but the 7.3 is just a gutless turd and here in montana it had to be plugged in 24/7 we had to park it in our shop if we knew it was going to be 20deg or less. We had about 130k on it when we sold it and it was plum woreout they dont make good work trucks yeah there are alot of 7.3s out there with alot higher miles but when you weight 13k empty and can weight up to 30k on some loads they just dont hold up. My dads first new tow truck is a 1990 dodge diesel its got over 1.3million was a tow truck since brandnew and it doesnt move unless its towing something atleast one way. We also have a 05 dodge rollback 560k edge juice att, banks cooler banks highram and afe intake only major problems is had 2 sets of injectors and we will be putting in a new headgasket monday. We also have a 04 dodge towtruck 430k ish only put in a set of injectors.

If you live in a warm area and use the truck for a DD if you got it cheap the ford wouldnt be a bad buy. Sorry for the long rant but when people give out false information from being "uneducated" to someone who is about to possible make an exspensive mistake because of there "educated" opinion is missleading is upsetting to me.

Originally Posted by brycebba

I am glad to see that there havent been (7.3) powerstroke haters yet because they are just plain uneducated. The 7.3 is a fantastic engine that is built strong and works well, very reliable. The others have put it well, its no speed demon but it is solid, reliable, and a strong puller. What year is it? I would research because I think around 01 or so they went to cast piston rods which some have said dont last as long. I had an 97, and an 01 and both were great. the 99.5 is when they made some of the best stock performance improvements on the engine. The 97 I had was good but it also had a banks intercooler on it which I was told was added because they didnt come stock with an intercooler.

Long story short, its a great engine and the superduty is a great truck. The trans is always something to be worried about. As always, I would pull the intake boot off and look at the impeller blades on the turbo to see if there has been any dusting which could indicate light-severe internal damage.

I did do light mods to mine and never caused me any grief at all and just improved its over all drivability. DP Tuner, 5 inch exhaust and Airrade intake. Oh, and wicked wheel. Very nice setup.

[brycebba]

The OP has said at this point that he will wait. To clarify what I meant, as with any forum there are the uneducated brand loyal posters who think that anything besides a <<insert forum topic>> sucks. I should not have said uneducated, I should have said "uncalled for biases"

Something like this, "I only drive cummins, the powerchokes and durajunks are for sissies, rather be cummin that strokin! My brother has a stock 1st gen that beats durajunks all day (if they even start) "

I understand that there are opinions with everything, people say they have had cummins that are crap or a powerstroke that is crap and its probably very true. You have to look at the majority and let that speak to you as it is the only somewhat reliable source of truth. There are the edge cases in everything that could make any purchase something to fear.

One thing that you have to keep in mind is that like you said, the cummins did not leave you much room to work with in regards to weight and legal capacity. You have a towing business which IS an edge case. The fact that you have introduced a whole new purpose and equipment to the truck means that your results will most likely be different than someone who buys one and tows a 5k bumper tow trailer all day.

I guess at the end of the day this is what a forum is about, each person posting their experience to help others. Every post is biased and strictly opinion based regardless. Like you said, your 7.3s had tons of issues, mine didnt. Both opinions are factual to us, but not to the general population.

[Drew G.]

I have a International T444 ( a 7.3 powerstroke) with 260 something thousand miles. It may be low on power but its a 95 and it starts really good giving the age and never been plugged in. Its a rollback and while I love my Dodge when the motor is in one piece, the 7.3 is a hell of a motor and pretty reliable.

[Charmander]

I'd compare the 7.3 to the ve pumped cummins trucks, reliable, not totally gutless and decent on fuel.

If you wanna hotrod one I wouldn't go with either one, both motors can make good power but like anything once you hit a certain point it gets considerably more compliated.

[DieselDon16]

If your gonna go with a 7.3L, Go with the OBS models. Much nicer and tougher truck IMO.

[440dart]

Iam not against fords at all i like the 6.4s not that i would ever own one but still a really impressive truck.

If you say a 7.3 starts good in cold weather obviously you havent been in cold weather or havnt been around something that does start good a 7.3 not plugged in here in montana is suicide. All 3 Ford,GM,Dodge will all start in -20deg weather not pluged in now days but dodge has been doing since 1989.


The 7.3 has left a bad taste in my mouth

[rufushusky]

What did you run for motor oil in the 7.3 in the winter? Heui's don't take well to thick oil in cold, -20 is properly cold.