Who’s still using a 7.3 diesel truck

I went with these tires, they are working great so far, especially in 4x4:
General Grabber A/TX - #04508440000
All Terrain Truck SUV
Size: LT235/85R16

Jtime wrote:

mellow wrote:
I hate the picture capabilities of this site.
Here is mine:

Dang!! Which model is that TC and what’s your camping weight?

Lance 1191 that is in my signature. Camping weight as in full of water for offgrid camping like I do? Not going to get the weight police going on that one, I am heavy which is why I upgraded to a DRW.

Jtime wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:

ticki2 wrote:
And almost none of it has anything to do with a truck camper

So is about 90% of this forum replies.
At least less trolling than usual and I'd say the topic was pretty constructive.

I agree lol. Which tires does everyone run on your duallys or which would you recommend?

The 7.3’s came with 16” inch rims is it worth the extra coin to jump up into a 18 or 20?

I would be concerned about the clearance in the front wheel wells making that big a jump in size. The turning radius is already bad for these trucks, if bigger tires rub in a turn, it’s going to make that worse. There’s also the question of increasing the unsprung weight with the bigger tires and wheels. That can have a negative affect on the braking performance, especially with the rear drum brakes if yours has them.

There are tire options in 16” size that have higher ratings than OEM. Michelin XPS Traction is one, but I know there are others that are probably going to be easier to find. The XPS traction is turning into a rare bird, and there are only two sizes still made.

The least expensive way to get higher rated wheels is to just buy six steel Accuride wheels that were made for the E450 vans of the same year. If you want great looks too, get four Alcoa’s and two Accuride wheels. Whatever you get, make sure the wheels are hub-centric, not lug-centric. No eight to ten lug adapters either.

:):)

I have a 97 350 auto. Still stock with the exception of helper springs and air bags. 180k.

Thinking about a new one but even with 25 years, still wonder if I will regret it. Recently switched from a real lite truck camper to a fifth wheel. That truck is rock solid. At 150k I replaced all the bolt ons with a bearing as a preventative measure after I lost the original alternator.

Most likely going to get a 2022 and an arctic fox to go with it. We will see.

Kayteg1 wrote:

ticki2 wrote:
And almost none of it has anything to do with a truck camper

So is about 90% of this forum replies.
At least less trolling than usual and I'd say the topic was pretty constructive.

I agree lol. Which tires does everyone run on your duallys or which would you recommend?

The 7.3’s came with 16” inch rims is it worth the extra coin to jump up into a 18 or 20?

ticki2 wrote:
And almost none of it has anything to do with a truck camper

So is about 90% of this forum replies.
At least less trolling than usual and I'd say the topic was pretty constructive.

And almost none of it has anything to do with a truck camper

Yeah there’s some fishy info being thrown out in here... I appreciate all the good answers and info. Also don’t be shy post a pictures of your 7.3’s camp ready! And how heavy was your setup?

The 7.3 Powerstroke was first available in mid-year 1994, so it is usually said to have started in 1994-1/2. I remember there was a period of time when you could order a new truck with either the old 7.3 IDI, or the new 7.3 PS. I was so envious, because I was still driving a 1984 F250 with the original IH 6.9L Diesel. And when I say “IH” I mean it was still International Harvester then. It even had the IH logo cast in the intake manifold somewhere.

I liked my 1995 F350 a lot, and dumped a bunch of money into it making it a pretty decent camper hauler. I thought it was fairly reliable, but like a lot of long-term 7.3 owners I got good at recognizing a CPS failure, and then replacing it on the side of the road, learning to hate the dual-mass clutch in the ZF tranny (not Getrag unless you swapped it out of some junky old Dodge), finding out the hard way that LUK clutches were junk, deleting the back pressure valve that would stick closed, adding pillar gauges and 4-way flip chips, ........and......and........and

And just for old-times sake, this was taken the day I sold it.



:):)

burningman wrote:
I’ve got a Gear Vendors OD. It’s awesome but it won’t give you twelve gears.
You have to be going almost 20 mph to use it, so it’s oil pump is operating.
You only use it with the upper gears.
I have 4.10 gears and the GV drops my 60 MPH cruise from 2000 RPM down to 1500.
It makes 4.10 effectively 3.20.

That's good info to know. I doubt I would need or want to split the lower gears anyway. I know it also doesn't work in 4WD, but that's not going to be an issue.