Had a 97 F350 7.3 PSD dually c/c. Great truck except for an annoying squeak in the front suspension. New owner loves it.

Price was the key. $7K cheaper for the 3500.

Great truck, except for an annoying squeak in the front suspension.... seems I am cursed with squeaking front ends...

 

I had a 1999 SuperDuty with the 7.3,one of the first ones when they came out,I loved it had 0 problems,drove it to 120000 in less than a year,swore Id never own anything else.Then I went to buy a new Ford and for the same truck I had they wanted 6000 more than I payed for my 99 everywhere I went same thing.
So I looked at Dodge saw a 2000 3500 and bought it and have never looked back,I am on my second Dodge and so far so good.

 

Well, I had a 97 2500 V10. Loved it, would have kept it forever, VERY RELIABLE, but, couldn't keep well enough alone, and added a Paxton supercharger. Professionally installed - what a POS - made the truck extremely unreliable, and Paxton was no help. This was in early 2001, and I wanted to go diesel. I won't go into the reasons I went with Ford, but my 7.3 turned out to be a POS also. Three years, 35,000 well-maintained miles: HPOP gushers requiring a tow, clutch issues, glow plug relays, e-brake mechanism snapping....I could go on.

So, while there are MANY trouble-free 7.3s out there - mine WASN'T one of them.

SO, I'm back to Dodge. Aside from my little belt-shredding incident, all has been well. I must admit, though, that did tee me off, and I know am carrying a spare belt with me. Shouldn't have to do that with only 6500 miles on the ticker.

 

I too had a '92 F-350 (7.3 non-turbo). Kept it for 6 years. Like someone else mentioned it cost him about $2,000 per year in maintenance to keep it on the road. In the 6 years of ownership I laid out $12,000. Always said that when it's like making a car payment I'd get new.

Ford was also way out on the deal they offered. Drove both a new Ford & Dodge. The Dodge just seemed better all the way around. I guess I was lucky, because I didn't realize at the time they (Ford) were having so many engine problems.

Alan

 

I have heard of some problems through the 7.3s history,but I had two a 96 and a 99 both where awsome.
One thing I did forget to mention about the 99,if I used certain oil it would foam up and cause the truck to quit or sputter,first time it happened it was pouring rain,thought it was fuel,but after it sat for an hour ir ran fine for the rest of the day.
But it was my fault I was using oil that didnt have anti foaming agents in it,because stupid me said who reads the owners manuals,well now I read them front to back

 

Oaky..I am looking at the Dodge/Cummins. If the truck will hold up I will probably own one. They seem to have the options I want. The navigational system etc but it is how the truck holds up and such. I will investigate the next few weeks and decide if I want to buy one or wait for the Mega cab. It will be a one ton dually for sure. The only thing right now that would get me back into Fords Camp would be price and the 6.0 dependability that does not yet seem to be there.
DJ

 

I had a 2002 GMC Yukon XL 2500 which I had no end of problems with and I have a Ford Tauras that I also have no end of problems with. Both dealers and companies refuse to fix problems during waranty period. I decided to give Dodge a try and I'm extremely happy with the dealer and the truck. This is my second 04.5 dodge. This first one was stolen after 4 months and 10,000 miles. So far both trucks have been excellent and I can't say enough good things about the way the cummins runs. My mileage varies between 18-20 mpg's. Would not go back to Chevy or Ford especially when buying a diesel.

 

I had a GMC Sierra with the 6.5 in it, which threw a rod. When it came down to it, I could've gotten a very significant discount on a PSD 6.0 had I decided to buy one. When it came down to it, I'd heard of way too many people having problems to buy one. The Dodge was a good price, a great driving truck, and the Cummins is proven.

Now if only I could get my dealer to actually do that **** TSB...

 

I don't have much brand loyalty, rather some models seem to warrant loyalty. We have a 93 Taurus and 99 Taurus as we needed seating for six, and the Taurus seemed to be best package for the price that was available. The 93 has over 175k miles on it now and it's still running well, but it's gone through a starter, two fuel pumps, signal switch, headlight switch, has no air now as it's too expensive to get fixed, steering pump, water pump, and radiator.

When looking at a larger vehicle a crew cab with a canopy made sense, so a diesel made sense, if I got a diesel it made sense to get a Cummins as it had the reputation for durability and reliability, and a stick made sense as I'd seen coworkers have problems with their Ford autos. A couple of coworkers have said that their next truck would have a stick.

A friend with three pre 72 Chevy trucks looked closely at mine, watched my experience with it, and then picked up a 3500 Laramie, with a Cummins of course. A coworker watched my experience and then trdaed in his Durango for a 2500 Laramie with a Cummins, later upgraded his trailer and sold it to relative who also got a 2500 with a Cummins, and another of his relatives got a 2500 with a Hemi. Dodge says that the commision is in the mail :^)

 

strong manual transmission avalibility and coil sprung front end solid axle.... hearing them 6.0 were gutless with a stick [no torque down low] was a turn off... although them 99-04 ford SD's are nice looking trucks, but the interior is drab