Listening to the diesel hum

I loved my 96 F-250 S/C 4x4 7.3L 5 speed manual truck too. I would likely still have it if we hadn't upgraded fivers which became too much for it. I had the intake and turbo downpipe upgraded which definitely helped with increased power but also noise, especially under load! It could be a LONG day with the old girl pulling in the mountains!

I still drive my ole '96 F250 with the venerable 7.3 diesel. The only time it sounds loud to me is when idling in a quiet zone or at a drive-in window or under hard acceleration and maybe climbing a mountain. But once the old gal settles down to its cruising speed of 1500 rpm towing with the AC working full-time, it's hard to hear the engine from the background noise.

This is despite the fact that a few years ago I removed the hood insulation and put louvers right above the turbocharger just to cool it down a little faster. That theoretically should make the V-8 purr even louder in the cab, but the difference was indiscernible. I can't speak for the rest of the world.

As far as the ride, it's not bad. I've got a 2WD with coils in the front and Firestone airbags assisting the leafs in the rear. It doesn't hurt my 73-year-old back even after 8 or 10 hours on the road. A heavy hitch load from the trailer helps things in that department.

I plan to keep my 7.3 forever, which admittedly at my age can't be that awful much longer. But I've got grandsons looking at it fondly. But it I live too much longer, it'll be their children fighting over it, if they allow such beasts on the road by then.

The reason I bought it new back 21 years ago was to improve my fuel mileage when towing. At the time I was towing with a 454 Chevy C30 one-ton crew-cab, which achieved about 8 mpg towing. The 7.3 was an overachiever, averaging 14 mpg towing. Wow, what a difference. Now I can fill up in the morning and drive a long day without needing to refuel. This was in stark contrast with the sidesaddle C30 fuel tank design, which made me fill up every 150 miles or so even though the thing had two 20-gallon tanks. That was because the brilliant engineers placed the fill ports on OPPOSITE SIDES of the truck. Because I usually didn't want to try maneuvering the thing in a gas station with a 28-foot trailer in tow, I just filled one side at a time, requiring several stops a day to keep the blasted thing fed.

So, what's not to like about my 7.3 for me?

Well, maybe one thing: it does make an aircraft carrier look good in a tight turn.

My '03 common rail ISBe 5.9L Cummins was fairly quiet as far as the clatter goes but you can't get away from the Cummins hum. The 2001.5 with NV5600 and 3.55 Dana 80 rear gear was the most relaxed sounding Cummins Ram to drive. When Chrysler went back to the Getrag trans, AAM rear axle and hydroformed (tuning fork) chassis, it ruined the feel of the truck and took a step back in longevity. Had to have the rear end rebuilt in both my '03 and '05 2500HD Rams before 100k miles. Ball joints in the '05 at 97k miles. Both had the dreaded driveline vibe that the dealer and Chrysler gave up on. A/C evaporators sit in their own muck due to the design of the evaporator housing. So far at 94k miles, my current truck has needed cab mounts and a brake caliper bracket. My hat's off to the Chrysler Hemi engine though.

Hannibal what an entertaining post. When I sold the ole 7.3 Stroke I always said it had the ultimate low hours on the radio. No use trying to turn up the radio to drown out the rattling. That would put you in the coo coo's nest. :B

I can now deal with the gasser throbbing up long grades, ya and I know those new diesels are quiet but they just do not fit into my budget.

Got a planned trip to Vegas this late spring staying at the Red Rock Casino on some of the "diesel" bucks.

^^^^^^^Your 95 RAM/Cummins is a completely different animal than newer diesel trucks. My 15 RAM/Cummins is not loud at all even when pulling big grades it's not noisy.

We used to run with the radio off most of the time with my four Cummins Rams. Had to turn up the volume to hear it over the Cummins hum anyhow. I liked to hear the Cummins run until I got tired toward the end of the day. Then it was just a drone. Now I'm liking the sound of the V8 gasser. Sounds like a quiet Mustang 5.0L. I've heard some mighty sweet sounding Dmax's. Like a turbocharged big block gasser. My cousin's 2006 Dmax sounds great!

I was brand from getting donuts at 6am in our Arizona snowbird park when we had our bombed 2001.5 RAM.

I had a '01 5.9 Dodge/Cummins. Damz thing was loud enough to kill normal brain cells.
Girl in the hut in front of Zion National Park refused to open her window till I killed the racket. I never liked the racket from the 5.9. However it was handy when some rude dude turned on his boom box/stereo while sitting in a parking lot/drive in/etc. Just fire the 5.9 up and usually the dude got the message.
I jumped on the 1st new gen much quieter '03 HPCR 5.9 my Dodge dealer got in. Much better.

Having over 1.2 million miles total (850k in a 11 years period) behind the wheel of 460/450 one ton DRW trucks pulling for a living has left me deaf in my left ear and require a hearing aid in the right ear. Back then I was young and dumb and thought my trucks had to beller and roar with burned out glass packs or straight pipes.
No more engine racket or exhaust drone in the cab for me. I love to drive the wifes new '16 1500 chevy....such a quiet ride.

Sport45 wrote:
A 6-71 Detroit sounds nice when it's working. Especially if you're far enough away. :)

Two of these in the old USCG 40 footers sounded super nice. No mufflers. Scearmimg Jimmy's!!!


http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2015/12/24/video-the-song-of-the-detroit-diesel-6-71/

A 6-71 Detroit sounds nice when it's working. Especially if you're far enough away. :)