towing with older diesel trucks

burningman wrote:
The 5.9 Cummins of the era you're looking at are terrific, you just have to know what they need.
First, the auto trans (the 47RE) is actually stouter than the manual, IF you have it built right.
A STOCK 47RE is a weak link, but if you upgrade it with a triple disc converter, billet input shaft, better valvebody, and all the other good parts, it's one of the stoutest transmissions you can buy.
About $5000 will get you a good one. Do NOT buy from ATS, regardless of how convincing their marketing is. Firepunk is the best 47RE builder out there, and there are plenty of others with good reputations.
Someone said you can't have 2nd gear torque converter lockup - YES you CAN. All it takes is a little JB weld to block a certain spot in a certain valvebody passage. You can buy a valvebody already modified or do it yourself.
Next with the early 24 Valve Cummins is the fuel lift pump. The original was a poor design, aftermarket upgrades are readily available and ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. FASS (electric) or Fuel Boss (mechanical) are the ones you want. The VP44 injector pump gets killed by inadequate incoming fuel pressure. You should install a fuel pressure gauge so you know you have over 10psi. Many were dealer retrofitted with an in-tank fuel pump, that's garbage too, don't run that either.
As for power, if you've done the transmission properly, you can easily have however much power you want. These trucks have been around long enough that they have been very well figured out.
400hp and 800 ft/lbs torque is easy to attain.
The things are loud, as are the older 7.3 Fords. The actual engine is the same as the later ones, it's the fuel injection system that makes them loud.
Beware that if you buy a 2003 or later "Common Rail" Cummins, a set of injectors costs about $3000. The '98.5-'02 are only $400-$500 for a full set and the injector pump
Is only $1000. You can redo the whole system for half the price of just the injectors on the '03 and up models.
The Fords have been covered on here pretty well.
Don't buy a Chevy diesel that old.

If you do your own work, the straight-6 Cummins design is a whole lot easier to deal with, the engine compartment isn't crammed full like with V8 diesels. That's a big reason why I like them.