In the interest of not drifting The Wood Wolverine 's thread Mower deck maintenance. Is it worth it? any further, I think this topic might be able to support its own thread, so, here goes. Here's how we got here... Last night I asked my buddy that owned the used truck dealership that I used to work for about the trans options for the 7.3 IDI turbo in '93/94, he said he thought (and I'd tend to agree) you could get both the auto and the 5 speed...it was just when the 7.3 DI ("Powerstroke") came out as a 94.5 model year option, it was only with a 5 speed...auto came in '95, along with Ford giving it the official "Powerstroke" name (International just referred to it as the Navistar 7.3 T444E in their trucks, some minor differences in the two) Anyways, carry on...
early idi's usd c6's and than went to zf5's as well as the e4od iirc. the t-19 was offered in the 6.9 , don't believe it was available when they released the 7.3 but I may be wrong on that.
One time I tow bar'd a truck (don't recall what it was) from Shinston WV to Ohio using an old '86(?) F350 4x4 cab/chassis with a high top utility bed on it and a 6.9/C6 under the hood...maaan was that a long ride home...I think I was in second gear more than third...gutless! Heck, I was even holding up the loaded semis pulling hills with their 4 ways on!
I dated a girl who's parents had an 87 f250, 7.3 with 4 speed / creeper gear. I don't know if was the T-19 or not but it definitely didn't have OD. I suppose it could have been swapped in as it was used but not that old when they bought it. Edit...that truck was an automatic. The manual was in a 1986 6.9 diesel another buddy had. Old age....lol
I'll take a P pump Cummins 4bt or 6bt all day over any other. Preferably stuffed in a 70's ford or 68-72 chevy. I lean heavily towards the SHTF reliability / simplicity of those engines.
That sounds about right. This Ford C6 transmission - Wikipedia says that they were used commonly until '89, and then an option in some F & E series until '96. I never cared for the old 3 speed autos, especially for towing....all 3 manufacturers had some tough 3 speed autos, but I always felt like a lot of power and economy was wasted with them too...just didn't transfer the power to the ground efficiently. The low horsepower/high torque engines (like the 6.9/7.3 IDI) were much nicer to drive with a manual trans behind them...the old 6.2 Chebbies were the same too.
The pickups I’ve had over the years. 2003 F150 5.4 triton. 4R100 transmission. Last year of this engine before they added the cam phasers to the heads. Valve cover gaskets were notorious for leaking and they’d ruin coils and plugs. Also known for broken exhaust manifolds. it didn’t do horrible pulling equipment. Sold that when I got a boat and added a 5th wheel camper to the stable. It was replaced with a 2012 ram 2500 6.7 Cummins. 68RFE transmission. This was an EGR only motor. Last year before DPF was added. Also had 650 hp and 810 ft lb of torque factory and an exhaust break. This thing was a BEAST for a stock truck. when all of my fishing tackle was stolen, I sold the boat and took advantage everything Covid. Sold the boat for more than I’d paid for it as well as the camper. I traded it in on a 2020 F150 3.5 Ecoboost 10R80 transmission. And I got burned on what the salesman wanted to sell on the lot. I was trying to preserve as much of the towing and payload from the Ram 2500. And the salesman saw me coming a mile away. On the lot, this truck had the largest payload of all the trucks. GVrW was 7050 lbs which I was told the highest ford made. the 3.5 Ecoboost was a beast of an engine. It will pull. But the payload on the truck just wasn’t there. way overloaded for the F150. But it was 4 miles rural country gravel roads. but even the salesman was wrong. Shortly after buying the 2020, I learned about the “Heavy Duty Payload Package” ford offered. Longer wheelbase and all and a 7850 GVWR. this thing was the 3/4T truck I wanted in the 1/2 ton package. Handles the camper and the skid steer as well as two full cord of split firewood. Trunk form, you can overload the trailer easily. This is the 5.0 Coyote Flex Fuel engine and 10R80 transmission . In 2022, there was actually a time when it was more economical to run E85 gas instead of an E10 87 octane gas. So getting the flex fuel capability the 3.5 EB can’t do, became important when I ordered the truck. for a stock 5.0 liter engine. I’m really impressed with its capabilities. This is the only truck I’ve had that’s had “towing gears” as I ordered it with factory 3.73 e-locker.
Tall gearing in the autos plus no lockup converter definitely didn't help with performance or mpg. TCI makes low ratio gear sets that lower 1-2 by 20% if I recall. 3rd is still 1:1. They also sell a low drag set that frees up lost hp from parasitic loss. I don't remember how much. All that and still no overdrive or lockup. Gear vendors has auxiliary overdrive but can only be used in 2wd as it mounts after the T case in a 4x4. Not that 4x4 and overdrive are needed often unless winter driving in 4x4.
We used to sell/install those, they were a big deal back in the day...we had a guy put one on a 4x4, but he well knew that it could only be used in 2wd...I don't recall the details anymore, but I think there was some customizing on that one
You mean parasitic losses in the GV OD unit? Never heard that complaint...I can't imagine how there would be that much loss, its just a fairly simple gear box. Maybe some people think that there is a power loss just because of the gear ratio change in OD?
You motor heads...my dad had a Cadillac Seville with a diesel back in the early 80's....that thing could barely tow my fat azz!
Ewww...that was probably that GM 350 converted to diesel fiasco...those were terrible! Oldsmobile Diesel engine - Wikipedia
