Something Followed Me Home

[FastDriver]

I've always loved and wanted a Ford PSD. I've heard so many positive stories about the old 7.3L Diesels that I had to give one a try. I picked up this 2 days ago:

2000 F250 XL 7.3L 4x2 SB SRW w/ ZF6 @ 151,000 miles for $6,500. It's a basic no-frills truck, but this one does have some minor additions from its previous owner:
- 5th Wheel in bed
- Plastic bed lining (stock?)
- Electric brakes controller
- Aftermarket head unit
- Pretty Sweet tool box

The only problem was the minor damage to the rear bumper that looks like the truck may have been backed up into something. The seller threw in an extra bumper, though. So, I feel like I really got a deal on it. This truck is CLEAN. It's from dry, warm New Mexico. No leaks, nothing more than very minor surface rust anywhere underneath. The paint is even in pretty good shape. The color had nothing to do with the purchase, but I've already warmed up to it.

Front wheel hub assemblies were replaced at 145,000. The cam position sensor was replaced at 140k according to carfax.

I think I got a smokin' deal. What do you think?

 

[FastDriver]

More:

 

[FastDriver]

Truck acronyms for those of you who are like I was before I started looking for a truck:
PSD - Power Stroke Diesel
SRW - Single Rear Wheel (as opposed to DRW or duallie)
SB - Short Bed
ZF6 - 6-speed manual transmission, but it's more like a 5 speed with a low "L" gear to help get heavy loads moving.

 

[mikestang63]

nice clean truck. Thiose motors go 200k easy.

 

[stykthyn]

My father has one that's nearly identical to that one. Super simple to work on and tows like a beast.

 

[RangerJoe]

Nice on the manual trans, that thing should hold up well.

Joe

 

[A5literMan]

Echo the other opinions. That's a good buy and will haul almost anything you want for at least another 100k. Congrats!

 

[GroverDill]

Good truck, 200k is nothing it will go more like 500K easy.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Looks clean. I love driving diesels, even having absolutely nothing to haul, I have still been tempted to buy one.

 

[FastDriver]

nice clean truck. Thiose motors go 200k easy.

I'd heard these motors go 300-500 with the exceptional ones that will go all the way up to 900k before needing a overhaul.

My father has one that's nearly identical to that one. Super simple to work on and tows like a beast.

Yeah, just a little worried about my unfamiliarity with diesels, but I was unfamiliar with cars altogether when I built my first mustang. So, I've got a haynes manual and I'll give it a shot.

Nice on the manual trans, that thing should hold up well.

Joe

Yes! The research showed the autos were the biggest weakness with these model years. It's a shame really. Ford had the 7.3 with a bad 4R100 auto and then quality of motors dropped to the 6.0 PSD when the quality of the trans went way up to the 5R110 IIRC. If only you could get a 7.3 with a 5R110. Oh well. I figured the best solution was to go manual. I dig the 6-speed, though. The low "L" gear will help to get a heavy load started without being too hard on the clutch.

QUOTE="A5literMan, post: 8952771, member: 177274"]Echo the other opinions. That's a good buy and will haul almost anything you want for at least another 100k. Congrats![/QUOTE]

Thanks, man! I'm pretty excited about it.

Good truck, 200k is nothing it will go more like 500K easy.

Thanks. Didn't want to argue when I saw the 200k comment earlier, but this is what I'd been reading. I'm sure the biggest issue will be accessories.

Looks clean. I love driving diesels, even having absolutely nothing to haul, I have still been tempted to buy one.

I looked up the towing capacity of a new F150 with the ecoboost V6 and it's actually higher than mine. Wow! It was somewhere around 12k lbs. Mine is rated for 10k lbs. I think that's just because of the limitation of the hitch, though. The Gross Combined Weight Rating of my truck is 20k lbs, and some towing guide a lot of people use says it's good for 14k lbs on the 5th wheel. Still, the V6 F150 of today is apparently on par with this old king-of-the-hill 3/4 ton pickup of old.

 

[cleanLX]

nice rig, love the way those things make TQ... mountains of TQ

 

[cleanLX]

I looked up the towing capacity of a new F150 with the ecoboost V6 and it's actually higher than mine. Wow! It was somewhere around 12k lbs. Mine is rated for 10k lbs. I think that's just because of the limitation of the hitch, though. The Gross Combined Weight Rating of my truck is 20k lbs, and some towing guide a lot of people use says it's good for 14k lbs on the 5th wheel. Still, the V6 F150 of today is apparently on par with this old king-of-the-hill 3/4 ton pickup of old.

Friend bought one with 6spd M, loaded his house and race car into a "long" enclosed trailer and headed to Alaska from Arizona... stopped at a truck stop for grins to weigh the thing... IIRC well over 24,000lbs total... memory is weak, but, I remember thinking to myself, dang, that is near 20,000 of trailer alone!!! He had no issues on the trip... I believe the tow rating back then was underated, and would trust it to tow a poop-tonne more than the new F150, regardless of motor.

 

[bentley429isBAC]

Nice deal for sure. Jealous, I've always wanted a orange vehicle. Didn't know that was a choice in those years.

 

[stpete]

Sounds like a pretty decent deal. I've had a 2001 7.3 Excursion for a few years now. I have mixed feelings on owning a Diesel. They're pretty cool, but have their down sides. They're expensive to own (15 qt oil changes, $200 ea. fuel injectors). The 7.3 was not designed to run on the newer low sodium Diesel mixtures, so the fuel system seals all rot out. They're loud, which seems cool at first but gets old on long trips hauling a trailer (or having to shut off the engine to order at a drive through). Old school twin I-beam and steering box (same as my Ex) ... ugh. Diesels don't run well until they get fully warm (which takes a while to warm the 900 lbs of metal in the 7.3). I like the trucks none the less. They have a strong aftermarket and enthusiast group, like the Mustang, that make it easy to find the info and parts/fixes you need to make them the way you want. Mileage is significantly better than gassers when towing. The engine has a lot of quirks you'll have to learn as you go. The trucks had so many variants that getting the right parts is sometimes a crap shoot also.
The tow ratings are a combination of the hitch and the rear springs. With the 5th wheel and some F350 leaf springs (or other upgrades that are around) ... it's up to you what you want to tow. I had a '98 F150, towing is night and day. What seemed like epic hills that I had to grind up in the F150 don't even phase the 7.3. I know the new F150s are way better than my old one, but I bet the old 7.3 still makes towing less noticeable.

 

[FastDriver]

Friend bought one with 6spd M, loaded his house and race car into a "long" enclosed trailer and headed to Alaska from Arizona... stopped at a truck stop for grins to weigh the thing... IIRC well over 24,000lbs total... memory is weak, but, I remember thinking to myself, dang, that is near 20,000 of trailer alone!!! He had no issues on the trip... I believe the tow rating back then was underated, and would trust it to tow a poop-tonne more than the new F150, regardless of motor.

Damn! That's one of the bigger loads I've ever heard of. Any idea what his towing mods were?

That's one of the driving factors in buying this one. I'm going back into the military on active duty at the beginning of May, and I was planning to ship my house and a car, too. You end up making a few thousand off of a "DITY" move and I'm tired of paying Penskie a couple grand each time. I figure that over the 3-4 moves left in my career, the truck and a trailer will pay for themselves.

The biggest limitation after replacing the stock 10k hitch would be the GCWR of 20,000 lbs. That would legally limit me to 13,100 lbs. I'm glad to know it could pull more, and maybe I will one day, but I wanted to be conscious of the decision to pull over the legal limit. On the other hand, GCWR isn't listed on the door tag. Only 2 numbers might matter if I were to be pulled over or get into an accident. The 6,084 lbs rear GAWR, and the GVWR of 8,800 lbs. At a 12.5% 1,900lbs tongue weight, I'd be able to get away with a 15,200 lbs trailer, and with 10%, I'd be at 19,000 lbs. I guess my biggest concern once I go over the GCWR are whether the brakes and motor would be able to handle steep grades.

Nice deal for sure. Jealous, I've always wanted a orange vehicle. Didn't know that was a choice in those years.

According to the title, it's copper. Yeah, I like it.

Sounds like a pretty decent deal. I've had a 2001 7.3 Excursion for a few years now. I have mixed feelings on owning a Diesel. They're pretty cool, but have their down sides. They're expensive to own (15 qt oil changes, $200 ea. fuel injectors). The 7.3 was not designed to run on the newer low sodium Diesel mixtures, so the fuel system seals all rot out. They're loud, which seems cool at first but gets old on long trips hauling a trailer (or having to shut off the engine to order at a drive through). Old school twin I-beam and steering box (same as my Ex) ... ugh. Diesels don't run well until they get fully warm (which takes a while to warm the 900 lbs of metal in the 7.3). I like the trucks none the less. They have a strong aftermarket and enthusiast group, like the Mustang, that make it easy to find the info and parts/fixes you need to make them the way you want. Mileage is significantly better than gassers when towing. The engine has a lot of quirks you'll have to learn as you go. The trucks had so many variants that getting the right parts is sometimes a crap shoot also.
The tow ratings are a combination of the hitch and the rear springs. With the 5th wheel and some F350 leaf springs (or other upgrades that are around) ... it's up to you what you want to tow. I had a '98 F150, towing is night and day. What seemed like epic hills that I had to grind up in the F150 don't even phase the 7.3. I know the new F150s are way better than my old one, but I bet the old 7.3 still makes towing less noticeable.

That's good info. Thank you! I'm probably going to drive it maybe 3,000 mi/yr. It's strictly a utility vehicle. Maybe every once in a while, when a friend asks for a loan or a "truck favor," I'll earn a few bucks or a 6-pack with it, too :-D I've got the saturn for the daily driver. Hopefully, the limited mileage will keep the maintenance down. You're definitely right about the sound. I'm digging it, so far!

Chris

 

[cleanLX]

don't recal the mods he had done, and, his was a 350, sorry... I do know it had some sort of tune deal and aftermarket exhaust... been a while and I'm not that "into" these things so I do not pay a lot of attention... his gross weight sure go my attention tho!

 

[A5literMan]

Damn! That's one of the bigger loads I've ever heard of. Any idea what his towing mods were?

That's one of the driving factors in buying this one. I'm going back into the military on active duty at the beginning of May, and I was planning to ship my house and a car, too. You end up making a few thousand off of a "DITY" move and I'm tired of paying Penskie a couple grand each time. I figure that over the 3-4 moves left in my career, the truck and a trailer will pay for themselves.

The biggest limitation after replacing the stock 10k hitch would be the GCWR of 20,000 lbs. That would legally limit me to 13,100 lbs. I'm glad to know it could pull more, and maybe I will one day, but I wanted to be conscious of the decision to pull over the legal limit. On the other hand, GCWR isn't listed on the door tag. Only 2 numbers might matter if I were to be pulled over or get into an accident. The 6,084 lbs rear GAWR, and the GVWR of 8,800 lbs. At a 12.5% 1,900lbs tongue weight, I'd be able to get away with a 15,200 lbs trailer, and with 10%, I'd be at 19,000 lbs. I guess my biggest concern once I go over the GCWR are whether the brakes and motor would be able to handle steep grades.

According to the title, it's copper. Yeah, I like it.


That's good info. Thank you! I'm probably going to drive it maybe 3,000 mi/yr. It's strictly a utility vehicle. Maybe every once in a while, when a friend asks for a loan or a "truck favor," I'll earn a few bucks or a 6-pack with it, too :-D I've got the saturn for the daily driver. Hopefully, the limited mileage will keep the maintenance down. You're definitely right about the sound. I'm digging it, so far!

Chris

And thanks for serving!

 

[stpete]

Check out ford-trucks.com forums. There's an overwhelming amount of info there. Just be careful or you'll wind up with more mods on that than your Mustang. My credit card bill each month is full of LMR and Riff Raff Diesel charges.

 

[FastDriver]

LOL I'll never go that far again. I've learned my lesson with the mustang.

 

[tannerc91gt]

Don't care much for the trucks but love the color. Seems like a good deal from what little I know about diesels