Opinions on diesel trucks

[aluminumdreamer]

Hey guys,

I have been thinking alot lately about buying a new (to me) truck. I am a diehard Toyota guy but they just don't build a truck big enough/tough enough for what I want to do. I was thinking about buying a tundra 01-04 but the bed just isn't big enough. I can't swing one of the new Tundras with an 8' bed (not to mention it is still only a half ton truck). So I've been thinking it may be time to step it up to a full blown man truck. I'm thinking F250 extra cab with an 8' bed 4X4. 00'-02' with a 7.3L TD.

I know we have Chevy guys, and Dodge guys also. I can't afford a nice Duramax with an Allison, and I won't buy Dodge with an auto trans.

I would buy another Toyota in second but I just need a big tough truck. I work on Toyotas all day everyday so it is what I know, I also know they have there limits.

Any input?

Nate

[MacCTD]

3rd gen Dodge trucks, '03 and newer have the 48RE automatic, you will not have any issue with one of those.

[aluminumdreamer]

My father has an 04' Cummins dually and he went through three trannies in the first 50k miles. Maybe he was just a little to tough on the equipment?

[welder]

My father has an 04' Cummins dually and he went through three trannies in the first 50k miles. Maybe he was just a little to tough on the equipment?

One has to learn to drive the cummins, the low end grunt WILL hammer the snot out of a Auto or Standard tranny. Your choice of the '00-'02 Ford with the 7.3 is a good one.

When my Blue oval Died I needed a new truck as I was in tow to Florida , I did not want a 6.4 ford and our Family has VERY bad luck with GM products So I went with the New '07 5.9lt 2500HD [ In '08 ] for $23,900.00] 6spd man. 3.73 rear end Towing package and just a few other goodies . It is 2 wheel drive but she is a TOWING BEAST and running empty I get 21-23 on the Hwy and 15-17 around town.

[Jonsboat]

I bought an F350 7.3L 4x4 8'bed crew cab in 1997, loved it so much I purchase another in 2002, it hammered so loud people thought I had installed a Cummins, Ford agreed I had a problem and after several attempts to fix it I was told it was "consistant with the fleet" and they would no longer attempt a repair, in 2007 I bought another with the 6.2, the only problem I have with it is when it takes a notion it looses power, shudders, and smokes. Again Ford agreed I had a problem and after several attempts to fix it I was told it was "consistant with the fleet" and they would no longer attempt a repair. I have learned to controll the problem by using additive with each fill, an added cost. If I could roll the clock back I would keep that 1997, today it would only have 375,000 mi and it would be running good.

Now that I'm done whining, the 7.3 is a great motor, some of the 2002's had a fuel injector problem that caused a loud hammering sound, the fix was a longer fuel injector in I think the #6 position which quited it down some but was still annoying. I sold that 2002 to a friend who put it to work delivering trailers, last week it was at 425,000 mi, the only major repairs were new injectors and a water pump at 375,000, he's hard of hearing so the noise doesn't bother him. Guess I wasn't done whining.

[waterdog247]

I guess that depends on your budget. If you are looking for used, there are a ton of trucks out there. I am a GMC guy myself. Mine is a 2001 2500HD SLT Duramax with overload springs and set up for a goose neck. She has about 200k and is still running like a top. I personally went with the GMC because it doesn't drive like a truck. My buddies F-350 is a nice truck, and can do everything my GMC can, but it drives like a truck. I appreciate the refinement and the fit and finish the GMC offers, but Toyota's are nice, too.

I dont think it will be long before Toyota starts a line of bigger trucks. The Nissan Titan is almost as big as my GMC, but only a half ton. It will happen, probably sooner than later.

I will keep an eye out for you though!

[welder]

Jonsboat, that would be Injector #8 , you have to get a "Long Lead Injector" and our buddy Daddy'O has a new one in the box.

[Chaps]

My main big hauler is a '94.5 F-350, first 7.3 powerstroke and it is and continues to be a beast. Gets great mileage cruising down the hwy and can literally pull anything. I don't drive it daily 'cause its a crew cab long bed so its a pain in town but its a great drive train (mine's a 5spd stick). The only used ford I would buy. I hear the latest diesel is really nice but since 2003 they are all suspect IMO.

[Jonsboat]

Jonsboat, that would be Injector #8 , you have to get a "Long Lead Injector" and our buddy Daddy'O has a new one in the box.

I new it was something like that but couldn't remember, it's been awhile, any way, I think he'll be happy with the 7.3.

[aluminumdreamer]

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. I wouldn't expect anything less from this crowd. Now all I need to do is sell my Tacoma. Shouldn't be too difficult. I have been informed by a friend that there is a 00'-02' F250 for sale locally that I may want to go take a look at.

I'll keep you guys up to speed.

Thanks again,

Nate

[pjay9]

Hi, I am still around...I'd go for a Cummins. My 2004 dually is doing just fine...at 125K I needed a fuel pump so went to an aftermarket and it works better than before the OEM. Of course I have done stuff to my Dodge too like 19.5 wheels and commercial tires...with the Lance I carry it sure made the difference. Got 130k on her now. I suspect that the truck has around 65k with the camper on...that included two big trips of around 12k each over the last 3 years...just did a run to LA CA for thxgiving...and will be heading to FL in Feb to go to maritime school with the camper...I may take the boat along as well and do some fishing on the gulf. So I like my Cummins and get a 2004, not a 2004 and half...there was an emission change then, my 5.9 works just fine with an auto behind it and 373 rear...with those tires the rpm are around 1600 at 60 mph...BTW all up I am hauling around 16500# with full tanks and refer full of grub and boat fueled and loaded for fishing. Do a Cummins! Capt PJ

[aluminumdreamer]

Alright, I found a 2001 f250 7.3 4X4 extended cab 8' bed Lariet package 105k on the clock. The price is well below book and the truck is in good shape, except it needs an oil pan. I have heard of this being a common problem on the 7.3 anyone deal with this? The general consensus is the engine needs to come out and that is whole lot of engine (around 1000lbs). The other opinion is you can cut the frame cross member out replace the pan, weld the frame back together.

Anyone have an opinion or experience with this on there powerstroke?

Nate

[21ftcc]

From another post************

First of all, this was my sisters 1999 F-250 superduty with the six speed transmission. It began as a small leak that my sister referred to as her "continuous oil change." Although this leak seemed bearable at first, it became a big problem very soon. My advice to anyone noticing a leak is to get it fixed as soon as you notice oil leaking. Hers ended up draining out completely after sitting for a night. Don't mess around with trying to JB weld the hole shut because it wont stick to the oily surface.

Since I am a stubborn person, I was reluctant to pull the motor to fix the oil pan. (This seemed like a lot of work that I did not want to do.) I instead elected to cut the cross member out from under the oil pan, replace the oil pan, and weld the cross member back in. This was successful except I was unable to get the mating surfaces clean enough. After welding the cross member back in, and buttoning everything up, the pan leaked once again.
I then tried to pop the oil pan down and reapply the RTV and try again. This also proved to be unsuccessful. So I decided to do the job right. The next steps are the correct and most effective way to solve this problem. Trust me and learn from my mistakes. This is much easier.

1. Look in your phone and call all of your buddies that owe you favors and have them come help. You will also want to make sure you have a full set of metric sockets. If you dont have any, have your buddies bring them.
2. Since you promised beer and pizza, you had better go out and get a few cases. (My buddies like their beer.)
3. Go to your local autozone and get 2 tubes of RTV, some paper towels, brake cleaner,about 3 gallon jugs of unmixed coolant, 15 quarts of oil, and an oil filter. (You may also need a small amount of transmission fluid)
4. Pull the truck into your shop if it runs. If not, hopefully your friends are their to push it. After this you should all sit back and enjoy a beer since its a big truck. (I was fortunate to have a winch, but we drank anyways.)
5. To prevent headaches, and since you will have to do it sometime anyways, remove the hood of the truck. This is a 2 person job. Before loosening the bolts, outline the brackets with a sharpie. This will help you align the hood later.
6. Begin by draining the remaining oil from the oil pan and remove the oil filter. Shove a rag in the filter hole to prevent getting oil all over the shop floor and your face later.
7. Remove the turbo and y-pipe infront of the turbo. You will need this off for clearance when lifting the motor.
8. After realizing that the V-band clamps are a PITA to get off, use a small hammer and tap on them to loosen them up. They will pop off due to the vibration.
9. After you have severe hand cramps due to the clamps, sit back and have a beer and have your buddy put the turbo in a safe place.
10. Offer your buddy a beer.
11. Remove the pedestal that the turbo sits on. Be sure not to lose any of the O-rings that are in it. Also, cover the holes that are now visible along with the intake holes that the y-pipe were connected to.
12. Loosen the intercooler piping from the intercooler and remove them. This is a horrible game of tetris, but they can be wiggled out.
13. Remove both of the batteries.
14. Remove the piping coming out of the turbo to the airbox. Also remove the air/battery box in order to make more room.
15. Remove the bumper and grill from the truck. This will give you a place to stand, and it makes removing the engine a lot easier.
16. Sit back and look at how different your truck is looking.
17. Drink a beer because it is now looking like a bigger project than you originally thought.
18. Drain the coolant from the radiator from the petcock on the bottom drivers side of the radiator. This may be tricky if the POS plastic bolt gets stuck. I drained my coolant into a clean five gallon bucket. I reused mine.
19. Disconnect the transmission lines from the bottom of the radiator, and plug up the lines. I tied rags around the ends of the free lines.
20. Drink a beer to calm your nerves following the transmission fluid getting in your eye.
21. Get your five gallon bucket ready again, since there is still fluid in the hoses.
22. Remove hoses on the bottom of the radiator, and attempt to catch all of the fluid that begins to flow out of them.
23. Spend 10 minutes attempting to locate the wrenches you threw following the shower of fluid. (The fluid missed the bucket and hit you in the face instead.)
24. Unbolt the resevoir (3-8mm bolts), radiator (5-8mm bolts on top) and fan shroud (2-8mm bolts on top).
25. Push the fan shroud back over the fan and remove the radiator. Place the radiator in a safe place far away from where you are working.
26. Unbolt the intercooler (2-10mm bolts on top) remove from the engine compartment.
27. Unbolt the two L-brackets that hold the A/C condensor from the removable crossmember.
28. Unbolt the hood latch (2-8mm bolts) and swing out of the way.
29. Unbolt the removable crossmember. Each side will have 4-13mm bolts and 2-8mm bolts. There will also be 2 angular supports that need removed (2-8mm bolts). Wiggle the crossmember up and out. (If your truck is anything like the one I was working on, you will probably need a pry bar and a small hammer.)
30. Swing the evaporator out of the way. Be careful not to bump into it or bend the pipes. As soon as the pipes are bent, they are ruined. I chose to swing the evaporator out of the way rather than discharging and disconnecting.
31. Disconnect the grounds from the motor. There will be 2 in the front of the motor (one on each side) and on on the passenger side rear.
32. Disconnect the fuel lines using a 3/8" quick disconnect tool. Many people say these are a PITA, but I found a second set of connections in the rear of the motor. These connections came apart very easily.
33. Remove the serpentine belt from the motor and set it aside.
34. Remove the A/C compressor from the top of the motor and set it aside. (4-10mm bolts)
35. Remove the alternator from the top of the motor. (3-13mm bolts)
36. Remove alternator bracket from the front of the motor. (4-13mm bolts) Leave the power steering pump attached to the bracket and tie the whole thing out of the way with a piece of wire.
37. Sit down and enjoy a beer or two before the heavy lifting begins.
38. Slide under the truck and remove the starter. (3 bolts) Many say not to leave it hang, but I just set it on top of the front leaf spring.
39. Remove the dust shield from the bellhousing and slide it somewhere out of the way. (3-10mm bolts)
40. Loosen the transmission mounting nuts. (2 nuts)
41. Remove the engine mounting nuts. (2 nuts per side)
42. Have your friend slide a floor jack with a piece of wood under the truck. Snug the jack under the transmission in order to support it.
43. Remove the transmission/engine bellhousing bolts. It is easiest to remove the 4 bottom ones from underneath the truck and the top 2 while standing over the engine.
44. After crawling out from under the truck you should drink a beer while all of the rust works its way out of your eyes.
45. There will be a black plastic piece that travels along the cowl of the truck. It is held in by black plastic push in fasteners. It is best to remove the fasteners and push it out of the way.
46. Remove the brake line cooler bolted to the bottom crossmember. (2-8mm bolts) You may not see the immediate reason for this, but you will thank me later
47. Obtain a short chain that you can run between the 2 lift hooks on the engine. Make sure the chain is as tight as it can be because you will have clearance issues if you dont.
48. With a cherry picker, hook onto the chain that you just put on the engine. Make sure the hoist is set at the correct capacity for lifting this load. The engine is 1000lbs alone.
49. When you first lift the motor off of the mounts, the lifting hooks will bend. You shouldnt be alarmed as this will not cause any problems. Although, you should let down on the hoist and tighten up the chains.
50. It is now safe to pick up the motor.
51. Once the motor is up off of the motor mounts, snug the jack supporting the transmission up again.
52. The next step is tricky and takes patience, but you must pull the motor forward and lift up at the same time. The oil pan tends to get hung up on the large crossmember. The motor will come out though.
53. Now that the motor has been moved up and forward, check all around the motor for anything else that is connected to it.
54. Pull the engine forward and out of the truck.
55. Drink a few beers for celebration, and also because you will need them for confidence during the next step.
56. With the engine hanging from the hoist, remove the oil pan. (a lot of 10mm bolts)
57. Using a gasket scraper and a hammer, break the seal between the oil pan and the block.
58. Spray the inside of the engine out with brake clean or starting fluid to speed up the drip process.
59. Drink the rest of the case with your buddies and go to bed. Ford suggests that you leave the engine hang for 24 hours to allow it to drip out. This step will make a mess of your shop floor, but there is no way around it.
60. Wake up and make yourself some breakfast. Hopefully you dont have a hangover from your celebration the night before.
61. Use a gasket scraper and a wire brush and remove ALL of the old seal from the bottom of the engine block.
62. Clean out your new oil pan with brake clean and paper towels. Do not use a cloth rag because the remains of the cloth can clog your oil filter. Then you will have a lot bigger problems.
63. Apply the RTV to the oil pan in heavy quantities. You dont want to be stingy on the amount you apply. The more the better. I made that mistake once before. Be sure to get a lot of RTV on any part of the pan that bends.
64. Run a clean rag with brake clean on it over the mating surface of the engine block immediately before sticking the oil pan to it.
65. Stick the oil pan to the engine. You have one shot at this. Do not attempt to pull the pan off and restick it. Have a buddy help you with this if possible.
66. Tighten all of the oil pan bolts.
67. Call all of your friends back over and maybe even have them bring an extra floor jack.
68. You have to drop the engine back in and button everything back up.
69. Using an extension and a 18" breaker bar, turn the crank bolt to line up the input shaft and clutch.
70. After the shaft is engaged, push the motor back onto the motor mounts and lower it. It should slide back into place.
71. Good luck and have fun. I hope I remembered everything.

[21ftcc]

or call these guys in Avon MAss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slnFCb46 ... r_embedded

[goatram]

A good, long, well documented, and excellent post Sir!

I would just pull it into the Shop and let the Son have at it and after ward give him the beer and a bottle of RnR Bourbon. He works cheap for papa!
I got a Spare 7.3 liter Ford on the shop floor. A lot of them in/on CL. Gaskets are expensive though. While it is out replace any that are leaking.

[JETTYWOLF]

want one, can't afford to buy or run one, would NEVER buy a new one, want a Ford one, a 250 or 350 one.

Hate how they are all fancy wall street types trucks, now. Let a truck be a truck!

Would buy for torque only, for pulling only. Not because I gotta look cool. And would go 2 wheel drive only. I'm not dragging around all that extra weight just for once a year use.

-No radio, no electric windows or door lock....just Monster A/C.

[aluminumdreamer]

Well guys,

all the info has been nice, but my diesel plans are on hold for now. I got a job offer and am going to be making a change, so vehicles have taken a back burner for now. Maybe in the future?

Nate

[goatram]

Job Offer?

Say what type.

Jetty
Old Trucks with the old 6.9 and 7.3's are coming down in price unlike the Dodge. I can find a ford for around 2000. A dodge is still up in the 5 to 6000

[aluminumdreamer]

I am going to work for Toyota. Right now I work for an independent that specializes in Toyota so I am familiar with the product. I am slightly apprehensive just for the fact that change is scary, but change is good. It time for a change! I gave my notice last night and will be starting in two weeks. In the mean time I will be going in on Saturdays to get familiar with the way things work and with the computer system. I really want to hit the ground running and make an impression.

Wish me luck,

Nate

[JETTYWOLF]

I'm interested in what you've done to that boat?

Deck paint yet. What have ya done with that ole I/O box........you were working on it, right?

[aluminumdreamer]

I'm interested in what you've done to that boat?

Deck paint yet. What have ya done with that ole I/O box........you were working on it, right?

Thats a sore subject. I have the boat in the back yard the engine box is cut out and there is a gaping hole in the bottom and in the transom from where the jet drive intake and outlet were. Lack of boat funds is the problem. With any luck I will be in a better position soon and it will be back in the water for the summer. Once the welding starts you guys will be the first to see the progress.

Nate

[JETTYWOLF]

10-rog, Nate.

I like that boat and can see it really turning into something sweet.

[aluminumdreamer]

Thanks Capt. Dave.

Nate