If I was towing 12-15K I would look into either water injection Banks Double Shot for $1000 or a 38R turbo for $1400 to keep the EGTs down and still be able to bump up the power even more. (I would probably do both).
Then you can play with some methanol mixture to fine tune more power and manage the EGTs.
Still all cheaper than $60,000 for a new truck.
I doubt I would have done most of them on my 7.3. My F350 was a working truck, a tool to do a job, not a hot rod play toy, to spend my weekends tinkering with.
Getting a bigger engine, in a bigger truck, made more sense to me than getting another 7.3 old body truck (a
'95-'97 F-Superduty was considered) and spending thousands of dollars and countless hours building it into something it isn't. Even though I do truly love the old body trucks, and the 7.3. I much prefer the old body over the '99-up body.
A Ford Pinto can be turned into a bad@ss 1-ton diesel dually, with enough creativity, money and time (and I would love to see one done!). But doesn't it make more sense to just buy an actual 1-ton diesel dually, and be done with it, if that's what you need?
01 International 4800 4x4 CrewCab DT466E Allison MD3060
69Bronco 86Samurai 85ATC250R 89CR500
98Ranger 96Tacoma
20' BigTex flatbed
8' truck camper, 14' Aristocrat TT
73 Kona 17' ski boat & Mercury 1150TB
92F350 CrewCab 4x4 351/C6 285 BFG AT 4.56 & LockRite rear
Exact reasons I bought the 4600LP, even tho it had the same engine as the For SD or pre 450 15K gvwr, or the GM 3500HD ie a pre 4500 15K gvwr. The REST of the 4600 was much more truck. I did not need nor require the HP of a DT466 or 360. Altho I admit at times I wish I had the 235/620 T444E, but that would have been another $6-7K, $10K for a DT like you have which would be the cats meow for how I use my truck. Mostly local doing under 55 mph, a few forays on the interstate at 60, now where legal per say to drive over 60 for 100 miles N, S, E or West for that matter.....
At the end of the day, it is choosing the truck that fits ones needs and desires from a carrying standpoint, power/speed standpoint, and gearing such that one can go up a certain % grade with out stalling out! be it lack of gearing but power there, did that with many 454/TH400 1 tons, or lack of traction.
Marty
92 Navistar dump truck, 7.3L 7 sp, 4.33 gears with a Detroit no spin
2014 Chevy 1500 Dual cab 4x4
92 Red-e-haul 12K equipment trailer
I have to agree that if you you are looking for reliability or using the truck to make money to pay your bills, it is hard to justify tweaking the engine beyond original parameters. On the other hand, there are some upgrades that increase reliability by addressing weak points in the OEM setup.
Chevy Sonic 1.8-Honda Passport C70B-Host Mammoth 11.5-Interstate Car Carrier 20-Joyner SandViper 250-Kawasaki Concours ZG1000-Paros 8' flatbed-Pelican Decker DLX 8.75-Ram 5500 HD
cummins2014 wrote:
Been saying it along. That 7.3 just can't handle that 12K in the mountains, period. ETG's are the enemy .
Highbeam wrote:
For the OP, if he is still watching. Don't do it. 12k behind your (same as mine) truck is too much for our passes. Blewett pass is tough with even 7500# trailer.
Mine is 7.3, 2000, Ford AIS intake, 4" exhaust, tuner, trans cooler etc. I overtemp on EGT before I run out of "power" meaning I have to back off to 50 mph instead of 60 to keep it from melting down with only a tall TT.
For the OP, if he is still watching. Don't do it. 12k behind your (same as mine) truck is too much for our passes. Blewett pass is tough with even 7500# trailer.
Mine is 7.3, 2000, Ford AIS intake, 4" exhaust, tuner, trans cooler etc. I overtemp on EGT before I run out of "power" meaning I have to back off to 50 mph instead of 60 to keep it from melting down with only a tall TT.
Been saying it along. That 7.3 just can't handle that 12K in the mountains, period. ETG's are the enemy .
Or EGT's as the case may be. But it does not make logical sense that a larger displacement diesel engine must run out of "ability" sooner than smaller counterparts. If the EGT registers too high on the 7.3L, then something must simply be wrong with the tune. And the correct tune is a simple, basic principle; always matching enough air with fuel during the powerband.
So I think WTP-GC may have pinned it down. Many Programmers deliver too much fuel, not enough air; i.e. faulty tuning. It seems probable that if a 5.9 Cummins and 7.3L International had the same identical turbo, that the larger displacement 7.3 might suffer from too little "air feed delivery"; i.e. too much displacement space to fill in comparison. In other words the undersized 7.3 factory turbo cannot efficiently supply enough air to properly match increased fuel delivery on the large displacement 7.3.
A small turbo logically cannot flow as much exhaust, and will merely struggle to spin faster to reduce the resulting backed-up high exhaust pressure feed. High pressure up-pipe intake translates to high EGT heat just by reason of thermodynamics, since the up-pipe exhaust gas cannot expand as fast to achieve cooling. Voila, high exhaust temps. The physics law is that all gas cools as it expands, or is allowed to expand anyway.
If the 7.3L is pushed much beyond the factory turbo, it seems to suffer. OTOH, my understanding is that if the 7.3 is truly turbo'd enough, say 800HP+, the factory rods are the weak point. But somewhere there must be a reasonable compromise, a correct tune, that makes the 7.3 a top notch towing engine, able to meet modern demands for towing overkill.
I'm all about fuel economy. I was pretty happy with the stock powerband on my 2000. And for the record, my initial interest was in an even lower HP, low mile '95 Dodge with a 5.9L, manual tranny, std cab and 8' bed. My buddy unexpectedly traded it for about half the $ I paid for the F-250 crew. Ya sleep, ya weep.
Wes
...
* This post was edited 06/24/16 12:04pm by Wes Tausend *
Days spent camping are not subtracted from one's total.
- 2019 Leprechaun 311FS Class C
- Linda, Wes and Quincy the Standard Brown Poodle
2019 Ford F-350 long bed SRW 4X4 6.4 PSD Grand Designs Reflection 295RL 5th wheel
Here is a pic of the '97 F350 7.3, on the trip home from Idaho to San Diego after I bought it, towing the Ranger on a tow bar. This was summer, 2011.
![[image]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/0605011911a.jpg)
I bought the diesel dually flatbed truck as an upgrade from my '92 F350 single rear wheel gas pickup.
![[image]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/0616011049a.jpg)
![[image]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/0616011048b.jpg)
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
blt2ski wrote:
Glen,
Exact reasons I bought the 4600LP, even tho it had the same engine as the For SD or pre 450 15K gvwr, or the GM 3500HD ie a pre 4500 15K gvwr. The REST of the 4600 was much more truck. I did not need nor require the HP of a DT466 or 360. Altho I admit at times I wish I had the 235/620 T444E, but that would have been another $6-7K, $10K for a DT like you have which would be the cats meow for how I use my truck. Mostly local doing under 55 mph, a few forays on the interstate at 60, now where legal per say to drive over 60 for 100 miles N, S, E or West for that matter.....
At the end of the day, it is choosing the truck that fits ones needs and desires from a carrying standpoint, power/speed standpoint, and gearing such that one can go up a certain % grade with out stalling out! be it lack of gearing but power there, did that with many 454/TH400 1 tons, or lack of traction.
Marty
With all the talk about the proper tune and intake/turbo/exhaust parts for the 7.3, I think the right combination is right there, in bold print. Glen,
Exact reasons I bought the 4600LP, even tho it had the same engine as the For SD or pre 450 15K gvwr, or the GM 3500HD ie a pre 4500 15K gvwr. The REST of the 4600 was much more truck. I did not need nor require the HP of a DT466 or 360. Altho I admit at times I wish I had the 235/620 T444E, but that would have been another $6-7K, $10K for a DT like you have which would be the cats meow for how I use my truck. Mostly local doing under 55 mph, a few forays on the interstate at 60, now where legal per say to drive over 60 for 100 miles N, S, E or West for that matter.....
At the end of the day, it is choosing the truck that fits ones needs and desires from a carrying standpoint, power/speed standpoint, and gearing such that one can go up a certain % grade with out stalling out! be it lack of gearing but power there, did that with many 454/TH400 1 tons, or lack of traction.
Marty
Whatever International did to the T444E (7.3 Powerstroke, in Ford terms) to make it produce 620 lb-ft, reliably, in a high duty cycle, commercial application, is what the 7.3 needs in our old pickups.
Find that information, and there will be the answer to the question of how do we upgrade the 7.3 to produce greater power, while still retaining the reliability and longevity it is known for.
235hp and 620 lb-ft is more than some DT466's produce. There are many ratings for all of International's engines.
Loaded up to go weld a 4 story apartment building. 18,000 lbs combined weight (scaled). 3500 lbs of 1" steel plate loaded on bed of truck, cut into connector plates for joining I-beams in framing of building. Tools for the crew in gang boxes on trailer.
![[image]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/IMG_20121025_165213.jpg)
My son helped on the job. Hanging out after work, in front of the Motel-6 hotel room that was our crew's 'home' for a few months.
![[image]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/IMG_20130130_163217.jpg)
Part way through the job. Sorry no good views of the I-beams in pic.
![[image]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/IMG_20130103_123716.jpg)
Building welded, loaded up to leave the job.
![[image]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/IMG_20130114_134134.jpg)