Ford 7.3 owners towing 12,000 lb 5th

Kevin O. wrote:

up2nogood wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

Hannibal wrote:
Noisy, loud, slow, stinky, whatever, that's a good looking truck and a good find! Wishing you many years and miles of happy travels with it. :B

Well noisy and loud yes, stinky is personal choice not likely slow even with 12,000# in tow.

Define slow :h 35-40 MPH is slow in my book towing 13K up a mountain grade compared to 60 MPH plus towing with the new generation truck.

Was your old 7.3 bone stock or modified? At the moment I'm towing 8,000lbs and can maintain the speed limit at 1800rpms. Not sure I can do that with 13,000? But then again I don't think my truck is rated to tow that much weight? Even if it did climb big hills at 40mph, I would still take that over a $700 monthly payment! I not afraid to admit that the 7.3L is not even close to being on the same playing field as today's diesels. But with some minor modifications(gauges,exhaust,intake,tune)at about $1450 it certainly is no slouch!!! :B

IMO anything much over 10K is overloaded for 7.3. Yes at 13K plus it was overloaded.

I did a few mods to it . DP tuner, 4" exhaust, AIS intake, 6.0 intercooler, and 6.0 transmission cooler 31 row. The truck ran great it just did not have the power.

If I was towing just 8K I would have no concerns either. I towed several trailers over the 16 year period that I owned the 7.3, and it was okay UNTIL I went up over 10K ,then not so good. It just didn't have the torque and power it needed for that weight. Sure it towed it, and when not in the mountains it did okay.

Most are fooling themselves thinking the 7.3 is going to tow heavy trailers, they tow them, but they struggle, and the 4R100 transmission is always a concern unless they have been to BTS , john Woods or someone that builds a good transmission. Now you are talking nearly 5K for a decent transmission, and the list goes on for the other mods.

It gets to the point where you are throwing money at something thats just never going to get the job done the way its supposed to. Granted I drove that 7.3 Superduty for 14 years with no payment, but it was time to get something that would get the job done. No regrets having the power ,and truck to handle a 13K fifth wheel.