?

[mrsleeve]

was a 98 model with a 7.3 in it.. Who knows migh have been a 97 with the wrong tags on the keys.


Agreed 100% on the dodge, but I would buy a dodge before I bought a ford. Lots of guys swap the 6bt into gmt700 GM trucks.

Just read that actually. Never owned the older style. Couple of guys on on ford-trucks.com forums have installed intercoolers.
Ford didn't have a diesel in 98 ... that I know 100%.



Cummins can make some seriously stupid power ... it is just too bad there is a dodge heap of shit wrapped around it. Owned a 12v 96 ... Motor tough as nails but the rest was a rolling chuck of scrap. I'd rather have my balls slammed in a door 100 times than own another dodge!


Here's some good info on the PSD's.

[flyguy91318]

well if it already has a goose neck hitch in make sure you check out tranny fluid. Look at color, smell make sure it isn't burnt. Look in the valley of the motor kind of down behind fuel filter housing to make sure it isn't leaking any fuel or oil from the by pass line. Also make sure it isn't leaking any oil under the turbo, there are a few o rings under the pedestal that ware out over time. Pull the intake boot off of the turbo make sure the fins are all bent to hell and check shaft play in the turbo.

Op how many miles are on the truck and does it have any Mods done to it? gauges, chip.

Find out how often oil changes were done, tranny flushes if any. Fuel filter changes?

7.3 FTW

[eurotrashm20]

Agreed 100% on the dodge, but I would buy a dodge before I bought a ford. Lots of guys swap the 6bt into gmt700 GM trucks.

Really? The dodge I had was just over 100k miles and was falling apart! Breaks were so spongy it NEVER felt like it would stop (Same as the G3500 I just got rid of). And I have driven several 97-99 in various conditions and they were just the same. Local euro repair shop has several of them and the ONLY reason he buys them is for the cummins. He has 2 econoline 4x4's with the psd's and is swapping in a cummins in one of them after destroying the ford auto again (he beats the piss out of this van).

I have owned 3 99 and 00 f250's and they always feel much better. Brakes are firm and responsive (like euro cars) as well as the suspension. My last one I sold running perfectly with 230k. Trans was about done but I had been pulling some pretty heavy loads.

Does your Duramax have the allison? Looked at one shortly after they came out with allison and the local dealer had 3 of them sitting out back with messed up transmissions ... no one at the dealer knew the ins and outs of them and no parts were available yet to repair them iirc. But yeah all three had less than 40k on them ... kinda scared me off!

[napabavarian]

Does your Duramax have the allison? Looked at one shortly after they came out with allison and the local dealer had 3 of them sitting out back with messed up transmissions ... no one at the dealer knew the ins and outs of them and no parts were available yet to repair them iirc. But yeah all three had less than 40k on them ... kinda scared me off!

The allison had some growing pains when it first came out, mine was replaced at 9,800 miles under waranty, after that as long as you took care of it and didn't try to chip the engine for 500 horsepower you should be fine.

For the '90s trucks in your budget Ford is your best overall bet, I strongly prefer the 5 speed, deep first gear, and I've put lots of miles towing on both 5 and auto, if you get an 4x4 go for the F350, it has a solid axle VS the f250s TTB (twin traction beam) for more robust and fewer parts to break, if you get a 2wd to tow the F250 and F350 are almost identical trucks except for brakes and springs.

Whatever you get I'd recomend turbo back exhaust ASAP, it really helps the turbo spool up and gets you into towing torque more quickly, then if money permits an intake and a mld tune is nice, crazy big engine tunes don't get you there any faster, they just break shit.

The 90's trucks don't have the crazy power that newer trucks have, but my old 175hp 1984 6.9 diesel pulled some crazy loads, not the speed of the newer 350hp duramax in my driveway now, but it always got there.

Dodge has a great engine...but everything else was meh, and for heavy hauling the chevy 6.5 won't be as robust as the ford.

It never hurts to go through the breaks on a truck that age, unless they are fairly new replacing the master cylinder and rear wheel cylinders is cheap insurance and the weak point of the hydraulic systems.

[Vtec?lol]

omg this is all very usefull information.
I went to check out the truck, it only has 235k miles on it and that's not bad. It's registered as a farm truck.

No chips or tuners active or were in use since she bought it 8 years ago. I might just go for it and she may sell it for 2500.

I drove it around and it sounds and feels so solid. I felt like I was cruising in a fast ass boulder. I got some more to check out. I might be sold on this one though.

Another one closer to me just popped up and they want 2500 and its a 95 f350 4x4 crew with the solid front axle.

And about dodge, I have no idea why they put such an engine in such a pos truck. I mean the dash falls apart and can fly in your eye when you roll the windows down or crank up the defroster. The fiberglass fairings seem to just wither away. guages and other electronics fade away. I can't bring myself to buy one but everytime I see my buddys 4x4, gosh... His isn't that bad. It a single cab with the 8ft bed or longbed. 4 inch pipe running from the turbo down through the center of the truck. man.

[quickervicar]

My solution for a great truck with a great engine:





(please ignore the funnel)

[Vtec?lol]

well if it already has a goose neck hitch in make sure you check out tranny fluid. Look at color, smell make sure it isn't burnt. Look in the valley of the motor kind of down behind fuel filter housing to make sure it isn't leaking any fuel or oil from the by pass line. Also make sure it isn't leaking any oil under the turbo, there are a few o rings under the pedestal that ware out over time. Pull the intake boot off of the turbo make sure the fins are all bent to hell and check shaft play in the turbo.

Op how many miles are on the truck and does it have any Mods done to it? gauges, chip.

Find out how often oil changes were done, tranny flushes if any. Fuel filter changes?

7.3 FTW

I looked into this and everything was change a little under a year ago. What should the fluid look like?

[xwill112x]

problems i see with the truck your getting:

the 7.3L turbo diesel motor EATS auto trannys. go for one with a 5/6 spd.

2wd is a big truck SUCKS. it will get stuck if you spit infront of it.



just make sure the glow plugs aren't faulty, and the tranny doesn't slip and you should have a solid truck.

EDIT: my dad has a 02' f250 super duty, 6 speed, AFE stage 2 CAI, Edge on the fly attitude adjuster chip, straight piped, and he just got a new clutch. that thing will fly. easily out runs my 91' 318.

[Vtec?lol]

problems i see with the truck your getting:

the 7.3L turbo diesel motor EATS auto trannys. go for one with a 5/6 spd.

2wd is a big truck SUCKS. it will get stuck if you spit infront of it.



just make sure the glow plugs aren't faulty, and the tranny doesn't slip and you should have a solid truck.

EDIT: my dad has a 02' f250 super duty, 6 speed, AFE stage 2 CAI, Edge on the fly attitude adjuster chip, straight piped, and he just got a new clutch. that thing will fly. easily out runs my 91' 318.

Thanks, I really don't want to bother with the shifting though. I'd rather get in my truck and cruise.

EDIT: my 89' 325is will easly outrun your 318.

[xwill112x]

but my 318 can haz m42 power bandz?

[shiboujin]

oh oh I wanna join!

I have a 93 non PS 7.3 F250. I'd go for a turbo model if you're hauling that much weight. My auto tranny has held up well. Never heard of the 4 speed auto breaking. The 3 speeds do apparently.

[flyguy91318]

I looked into this and everything was change a little under a year ago. What should the fluid look like?

Nice and red. If it is a dark red to a brown it hasn't been changed in a long time or its burnt.

[quickervicar]

Unless you have a 4.10 rear I really can't recommend the manual tranny on a PS. I have a '99 with a 6spd and it is a DOG in the bottom gears. I am convinced that the fueling is cut back in the lower 3 gears. Boost only comes on @ 2,000, yet at highway speed it will hit around 1,800. A chip would help, I'm sure, but compared to the '98 24V Cummins we were running it is absolutely gutless off the line.

[napabavarian]

I looked into this and everything was change a little under a year ago. What should the fluid look like?

Pull the transmission dipstick and sniff the wet end, if is smells burnt, like smoke, or if you've ever smelled burning oil or plastic, then be sure to take that into consideration in the purchase price, and be willing to walk away if the seller wont budge. Buying a truck with a bad transmission isn't too much of a problem, when you replace it you'll know you have a solid transmission.

[napabavarian]

7.3L turbo diesel motor EATS auto trannys...

What he said