Ford F550 and the 7.3

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cobro92

Active member
Hey all,

Trying to figure out a plan for my truck camper build and I was heavily considering a Ford F550 as a platform, inspired by some really cool build threads lately.

My question was around the engine. Ford’s default gas engine for the 450/550 chassis cab trucks is the 7.3. I assume it’s mostly the same as you will find in the 250/350? Would it be a good option if I’m going to be hauling around 4K-5k worth of camper payload? It seems to have gotten a lot of positive reviews for the 250/350 platform but I haven’t really seen anyone use it for a 450/550 truck camper build. All of the F550 builds I see seem to be using the 6.7 diesel.


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C

cobro92

Active member
Yes I agree that the mileage will be absolutely garbage on an F550 with the gas motor. But how much better would the diesel be? Maybe 5mpg?


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Explorerinil

Explorerinil

Observer
Get on YouTube and watch some videos, you’ll be impressed with the 7.3. It will do fine, I see plenty of new 450 and 550 gas service trucks running around now.
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
The 7.3 is a very good motor that was designed from the ground up to be used in heavy, commercial vehicles. While it doesn't have the power that the 6.7 has, it's definitely no slouch.

It's also thousands less to buy than a 6.7 plus the cost of maintaince and repairs is muuuuuch lower. The 7.3 is also a pretty simple engine to work on.
 
Grenadiers

Grenadiers

Adventurer
Watch out for service records, especially for the automatic transmission. If similar to F350 version, I haven’t looked, they don’t last long. Your results may vary of course.
 
BretEdge

BretEdge

Adventurer
I would also note that if you got a 7.3 and really, really felt that it needed more power, there are options. I've read and heard that it's easy to tune for more power and if you want to spend some dough on a supercharger it'll throw down 600 HP in a snap. I opted for the 7.3 for two reasons: 1) I don't need a diesel. 2) It's a very simple motor, and Ford overbuilt it for durability.
 
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Porkchopexpress

Well-known member
Another consideration is the chassis cab 7.3 is derated for longevity compared to the super duty pickup trucks.

I considered something similar but couldn't find any reliable data on expected fuel economy. I decided there is probably a reason the F450 pickup isn't offered in the 7.3.

Commercial buyers will probably use them for shorter trips and won't care as much about MPG. I think for long freeway driving, MPGs will be pretty far off the diesel but since I haven't found any reliable data, that's just speculation.
 
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cobro92

Active member
I agree that it will probably be derated, but that’s nothing that a tune can’t fix. The 7.3 is easily tuneable. As for mileage, yeah we are all just speculating at this point. The 7.3 is pretty efficient for a big block v8 but how bad could it be? Like 7 or 8 mpg?


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Porkchopexpress

Well-known member
cobro92 said:
I agree that it will probably be derated, but that’s nothing that a tune can’t fix. The 7.3 is easily tuneable. As for mileage, yeah we are all just speculating at this point. The 7.3 is pretty efficient for a big block v8 but how bad could it be? Like 7 or 8 mpg?


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Click to expand...
It's definitely tuned differently. It has lower peak HP, not sure about torque. I don't see much need to change it if you are hauling a camper.
8 mpg is about what I saw in a YouTube video on a dump truck with the 7.3. I think it was an F600.
 
phsycle

phsycle

Adventurer
Porkchopexpress said:
Another consideration is the chassis cab 7.3 is derated for longevity compared to the super duty pickup trucks.

I considered something similar but couldn't find any reliable data on expected fuel economy. I decided there is probably a reason the F450 pickup isn't offered in the 7.3.

Commercial buyers will probably use them for shorter trips and won't care as much about MPG. I think for long freeway driving, MPGs will be pretty far off the diesel but since I haven't found any reliable data, that's just speculation.
Click to expand...

Why is the F450 not available with 7.3 but F550 is? Interesting.
 
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cobro92

Active member
The 450 chassis cab is available with both. The 450 with the bed is only available with the 6.7.


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phsycle

phsycle

Adventurer
cobro92 said:
The 450 chassis cab is available with both. The 450 with the bed is only available with the 6.7.


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Click to expand...

That seems odd to me, too. If anything, I’d have thought it’d be the other way around.
 
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