Newbie, with some ?'s - Diesel Forum

BlakeP · 03-02-2005, 05:10 PM

Alright everyone. I am a newbie to all this diesel talk. I currently own a 2004 Cobra, but I now need to get rid of it in favor of a truck. I am in the process of building chicken houses, now. I have decided on an f-250 crew cab 4x4 [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img].

First: I have located many in my price range, but most have in excess of 100k. Is that too many? I have gotten mixed responses on that question. Also, how much (ballpark) should I llok to pay for one in the 100-130k mile range, reasonably taken care of.

Second: I am a speed freak and a boostaholic. How much boost do these things make stock? Hw much can the turbo make safely? How much can the bottom end handle?

Third: I probably "probably" won't be doing many mods to this truck. I have heard amazing things about the chips and so forth for the things making 150 more hp and 200 more ft/lbs. Is this true? If so, how do they make so much more power? Do these trucks come that de-tuned, or does this up the boost?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help. I know it's a lot of questions, but I'm diesel-dumb.

BlakeP
P.S. I will be getting a 7.3 most likely

tsaelens · 03-02-2005, 07:48 PM

100K is no big deal if it has been taken care of. I bought my 1999 14 months ago with 115,000, now has 145,000 with no major problems. I did have to replace the alternator, but partially my fault. I regularly leave my parking and trailer lights on so I can load up at night, then jump in and start it up and take off. With the Batts drained the alt is always working hard. Oh I did have to replace the clutch too, but that was definitely my fault. Although it was pretty wore when we got it out, probably would have only got another 20K out of it.

Price is way up in the air. I paid $17,000, but I have a super cab and a six speed. Super cabs probably run a couple grand cheaper. The market really goes up and down quickly. A good deal right now could look like you got hosed 6 months from now, or vise versa. Just do your home work and you'll find what you are looking for at a price that you feel is good. Don't make quick decisions.

good luck,
Trinity

BlakeP · 03-02-2005, 07:51 PM

Thanks a lot for the reply! I appreciate it.

BlakeP

**SmokeyWren** · 03-02-2005, 09:52 PM

All answers below assume you're talking about a 7.3L engine in model years '99 thru 2003:

[ QUOTE ]
How much boost do these things make stock?

[/ QUOTE ]

Around 17 PSI.

[ QUOTE ]
Hw much can the turbo make safely?

[/ QUOTE ]

International engineers say 25 PSI max on the stock turbo. Some go higher, but some have also reported busted turbos, too.

[ QUOTE ]
How much can the bottom end handle?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll let the folks reply that have actually broken their engines. And lots of them have. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

But if you want reliability and longivity as well as increased power, then you can safely go up to about 300 horses and 600 lb.ft. torque with no problem. And yep, some have gone higher, but some have busted cranks and rods, and head gaskets, too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
Do these trucks come that de-tuned, or does this up the boost?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ford tunes them to the max that will result in a 250,000 mile design life. It's easy to produce more power - basically you add fuel and boost with a chip or programmer. But your expected life goes down the tubes if you add over about 80 HP and 100 lb.ft. torque, or if you allow turbo boost to go much over 25 PSI.

And even with "mild" hot rodding, you must drive by the gauges and never allow more than 1,250 pre-turbo EGT or 25 PSI boost. So Rule 1 is to install gauges before you do any hot-rodding.

BlakeP · 03-03-2005, 08:45 AM

Thanks a lot grumpy ole man. That was just what I was looking for. I will begin the hunt for my new truck monday morning.

BLakeP

Lightningfast01 · 03-03-2005, 10:39 AM

I would watch for the 2001 J1 automatic trannys they had a mechanical diode that can break under heavy use. There are minor changes from year to year. I would get the lowest mile truck you can find. The last thing you want is to pay $20K for a used up truck and have expensive repairs along with your payements.. Watch for trucks that have a tuner or chip on them for the last 80K miles. At that mileage you will be close to frotn hub hearings, ball joints, etc. That is a lot of machinery to maintain compared to a Cobra. Good luck!

**SmokeyWren** · 03-03-2005, 12:56 PM

I wrote: "But if you want reliability and longivity as well as increased power, then you can safely go up to about 300 horses and 600 lb.ft. torque with no problem."

But I meant to say that's rear-wheel HP and torque - measured on a dyno - not at the flywheel where the advertised HP would be.

Engines that are rated for 250 HP at the flywheel usually put down a little over 200 at the rear wheels. So 300 at the rear wheels is a good sized jump from stock. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/warmsmile.gif[/img]

BlakeP · 03-03-2005, 07:17 PM

Great info guys! I appreciate it. You say a lot more to maintain than my Cobra. How so? Is there a lot more stuff to keep up? I'm sorry for the "dumb" questions, but I am dumb to all this.

BlakeP

tsaelens · 03-03-2005, 07:28 PM

It's a heavy motor sitting up front causing more wear and tear on the front end parts than what your cobra would see. Plus all the extra 4x4 stuff. And everything is bigger and more expensive.

Trinity

nadaplug1 · 03-04-2005, 07:04 AM

I'm 42. Take some advice from an old man.
Don't tinker with your bread & butter rig.
Ford spent billions engineering it to start and go every day.
If you're used to the kidney searing jolt of the 5.4 Cobra,
don't look for it in a truck that weighs 6000#. ~not there.

I assume you require the truck to haul supplies for chicken house construction?
If that's how you make your living, you need 100% reliability,
not a rolling dyno experiment.
Save extra bucks for a project or hobby car that will fill your weekends.
(that or just get married and have a few kids) [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

...again, just my advice.

Rock on.

DCN

BlakeP · 03-04-2005, 08:56 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I'm 42. Take some advice from an old man.
Don't tinker with your bread & butter rig.
Ford spent billions engineering it to start and go every day.
If you're used to the kidney searing jolt of the 5.4 Cobra,
don't look for it in a truck that weighs 6000#. ~not there.

I assume you require the truck to haul supplies for chicken house construction?
If that's how you make your living, you need 100% reliability,
not a rolling dyno experiment.
Save extra bucks for a project or hobby car that will fill your weekends.
(that or just get married and have a few kids) [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

...again, just my advice.

Rock on.

DCN

[/ QUOTE ]

Your right there [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]. I won't be doing big things to it. Exhaust, air intake, wheels tires, and still on the fence about a chip(leaning toward no). I do need it to be reliable for me. Thanks for the info.

BlakeP