Thanks for the input guys, I'm going to look at the 7.3 today. It fits what we want to do with the truck better than a gas at this point and were we live I could probably get my money out of it tomorrow if I needed to. The seller had a no start issue and started replacing parts. He's done injectors, glow plugs, relays, pcm, ecm, high pressure oil pump, batteries, starter, alt and battery cables in the last 50 miles. He also replaced the clutch 3000 miles ago. As far as daily driving I will listen to reason and drive one of my other cars or ride a bike when it isn't snowing as superbuickguy suggested, I could probably use the exercise.
Ford or chevy? Gas or diesel?
- Thread starter Toivul
- Start date
I think that's a good choice. The 7.3 had the reputation of being a reliable workhorse, especially relative to the 6.0 powerstroke that followed it.
Talking early and even mid 2000's vehicles, I'd much rather deal with a good reliable diesel (each brand had their good ones if you know which years to look at) over a comparable gasoline engine.
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F350joe
Well-known member
I too was in the same boat, went with a 7.3 crewcab and an electric bike. The eletric bike is like my dingy for around town and on trips. The 7.3 is a great motor in a great truck. Parts are easy to find and the available upgrades are endless. You can cover a lot of ground doing 85 and still get 15 mpg @ 10,000lbs with the right tunes and deletes. The torque is nice to have when climbing passes and getting through soft spots on the trail. All the power you will ever need, even loaded up and with big tires, once the turbo spools. Is it overkill? Yes, but the extra power makes driving that much more fun. Check fuses wth a multimeter, most problems with these trucks are simply wiring related, countless stories on the forums of guys throwing thousands of dollars at what turned oit to be a fuse or solenoid.
JJEH
Member
Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi; you'll be just fine ;-)
I think for your purpose a gas truck is the way to go. I've had excellent service from GM trucks for many years so I keep buying them. If they didn't perform well I wouldn't own them any longer.
GM made huge upgrades in the HD trucks in 2001. If you can stay that year or newer you will get a much better truck. The 8.1L big block from that era would be especially nice. They came with the Allison automatic (or a manual) and it's a great engine. The Duramax from 2001 to 2004.5 has injector problems but is otherwise solid. If you really want a diesel and go GM get at least a 2004.5 with an LLY engine.
GM made huge upgrades in the HD trucks in 2001. If you can stay that year or newer you will get a much better truck. The 8.1L big block from that era would be especially nice. They came with the Allison automatic (or a manual) and it's a great engine. The Duramax from 2001 to 2004.5 has injector problems but is otherwise solid. If you really want a diesel and go GM get at least a 2004.5 with an LLY engine.