Listening to the diesel hum
This one is just for fun. How many of you diesel owners mute the radio just so you can listen to your motor hum? I will sometimes, 12 years of owning one and it never gets old. I think sometimes i...
Forum Discussion
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.
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.
