Quote:
Originally Posted by ckelly78z
I have a 1999 Lariat F250 with the 7.3 L with 235,000 miles on the clock, and gets driven about 5000 miles a year. I have looked at replacing it, but don't want to buy a 6.0L diesel, and won't look at Chevy/Dodge etc... I generally pull our 30' camper, loaded down 16' utility trailer, or the horse trailer.
Unloaded in the Summer months, I can knock down 18 mpg (stock tires 3.73 gears) and have seen multiple times of 14 mpg pulling a heavy camper. The only issue I keep running into is sticking brake calipers.
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Don't be afraid of a 6.0 if you don't have smog testing. It's not quite legal but you can stud and EGR delete the early 6.0's or just EGR delete the later trucks because the stud issue was addressed. I know a few guys that own these and did the "bulletproof" on them and they run quieter than a 7.3, get better mileage, have more power and after the bulletproofing are pretty much as reliable.
I found the best way to prevent the sticking caliper problem was to just do a complete system flush every couple years. It doesn't cost much and if you have a pressure bleeder you can do it yourself pretty easily.
Someone touched on Trans temps. That's why my truck has a gauge and a 6.0 cooler and a transgo shift kit installed. Ford undersized the cooler of these trucks until the 6.0 came out.