Well today I had to help a friend navagate the back roads of Lancaster...and to my pleasure he had a 7.3lt f-250. We were pulling a 1700lb horse and a 4k lb trailer, all on the lovely back roads of Lancaster, PA...Well after having to get out and lock the hubs so we could get out of where he parked, we were on our way... The first stright away it pulled nice, almost at an idle..Then we got to a hill and it went up little to no problem...Back to a stright away and another hill...This time the truck had a very hard time...Ran high RPM's the whole ride and scared me abit. We then parked on a hill and loaded another horse...Had the worst time getting up the hill...

My conclusion...

My dad pulls a steel gosseneck horsetrailer w/4 horses on these hill's all the time with no problem..
The 7.3lt is a great enigine for reliability and daily driving..It was an auto, but so is my dads and there both the same modle type (f-250 and 2500)...The way the interior shakes with that truck is some what annoying...


My day riding in a ford

Mike

 

The 7.3 liter Powerstroke was a great motor. Lots of people are up over 400 HP with them, at least in my area. Now the Cummins is starting to get more and more popular, but before the 6.Debacle the 7.3 was by far most popular.

7.3's with "Banks Power" stickers on the side of them used to be a dime a dozen.

 

From my expieriences after riding in many 7.3's and Cummins, the 7.3 is a good engine for daily driving andhighway cruising and maybe with some modifications one could pull like a Cummins, but the Cummins walks all over a stock 7.3 in pulling. This is because of it being an I6 which makes much better bottom end power than a V8 which like you observed has to stay higher in the RPM range to make decent torque for pulling....*****

 

Well a friend of ours that was over had to back the truck up because the owner cant back up with a trailer....Well he said to me afterwards "WOW, that thing has less power then a flippin lawnmower..." This 7.3lt dissapointed me very much.

 

It kind of depends on what your buddys used to. If he's used to a Cummins then ya the stroker probably does feel like a lawnmower. My grandpa has three of them witch he uses as work trucks and the truck in my sig which is used for towing and playing. Talk about difference after driving a bombed Cummins and getting into a stock stroker. The go just go's away. And my personal opinion is that if the owner can't back the trailor he shouldn't be pulling it.

 

Thats the thing, my friend and my dad are both stockers....

 

the 7.3 was a strong motor and ran usally after the bodys fell off not a whole lot of power but were long lived. many times have we been clear down to 2 gear pulling steep grades hauling 3 saddle horses and 3 mules on the way to the mountains wich annoyed me so we got a cummins lol

 

Still are, factored for inflation.

 

I've been to many dyno meets over the years, witnessed hundreds and hundreds of trucks on the dyno, looked at the results of many more events, and can testify that any 7.3 over 400 hp is a good running Ford, and not all that common. There're are a few making much better numbers, out there, though, but rare. If, there's lots of over 400 hp 7.3s out there, they're not coming to dyno meets.

 

i had and 02 f250 with 7.3 and i loved but just wasnt big enough to pull my 36 ft cattle trailer loaded. that trailer pushed were ever it wanted.dynoed at 436hp

 

No, they mostly drive around saying "lookie at me, yo; I gave Bank$ five-zeero billz and know I gotz me over 400 whorzepower, dawg. Glamis Roolze, yo. I got 5 feetz of liftz and nowze I gotz to go to Glamiz, dawgz. See ya at Glamiz, 'cuz Glamiz is the shizzle."

 

Ya know im actually impressed with you all. No one has started bashing fords yet, and with a bunch of dodge guys complementing the 7.3 thats pretty cool . If i ever get my engine built, i'll dyno it. I should have a good solid 400

LOL
So i should get some banks stickers for mine and be 600hp

 

Comparing modded to stock trucks is pointless Yea, so I drove an 02 stock 24V 6spd and it had no go compared to my modded 02 7.3.... it's like apples to oranges. sorry (?) you had a bad experience... i haven't a had bad experience to speak of in any of the big 3's trucks.
My girlfriend is a teamroper and drove a 99 7.3 and had no trouble pulling her 28' trailer, same thing with her new 05 King Ranch 6-uhoh which of course she thinks is even better. The new trucks all seem to be pretty powerful.
Now I have a few friends with modded CR's and 24V's and they walk all over my truck... so it just depends on what's done to the truck.
But hey, i think most stock trucks are dogs, GM Ford and Dodge alike. The more I ride in blackdevil's truck, the more of a dog I think my 02 7.3 is...

 

i pulled a skidsteer with my uncles 12v (completely stock) wasnt very impressed compared to my 02 7.3 with the same load. but then i drove a buddys slightly bombed 12v and now my 7.3 is for sale and lookin for a 12v

 

I have ridden in and Driven a 99 7.3 stroke(automatic) with a superchips on it. The 7.3's are great motors, but they just dont have the low end pull of the Cummins. The truck runs allright if you keep it above 2500rpm's, but once it gets under 2k it doesent have much. I think with a load my truck would run with it in valet mode on the hills. Like I said. Good motors, but they have a totally different(higher rpm) power band than the CTD; and that is what I dont like about any V-8 diesel. At 1500rpm's in overdrive, my truck wants to pull the frame out from under the body, and that is what I love about it

Eric