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GM guy thinking of buying a ford

1K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  monoloco 
#1 ·
Well let me start off by saying hello and im new to this site and after this weekend i will be the new owner of a used 2000 ford f550 70k 4x4 7.3 psd.

I own a concrete/snow plowing company and im looking to replace 2 trucks with one ( summer only 2wd dump15k gvw and winter only 4wd dump12k gvw
so i dont have to hear one ford should replace all of your gm's lol) truck that i can use all year round.

i joined this site to see what problems to expect, things to look out for, and so on. This site ill have to admit has lots and lots of info on the bulk of the problems that these trucks have. I have been reading here for the past 2 days and im now going to go out and pick up a cps for the truck to keep in the glove box and also going to price out a new tranny.

i havent picked up the truck yet so i cannot say which of the brands i like better, im hoping to be impressed with the truck and look towards buying maybe another ford. I have a fleet of over 13 gmc's and untill now wouldnt have it any other way.

I guess for the question part of my post would be:

What are the absolute must have additions to the truck? i dont mean cd player or rim type of add ons. i mean like , must put bigger tranny cooler on or you will cook the tranny. Like with my new gmc, i had to upgrade the tierod ends because they were prone to failing. stuff like that. This will be a work truck and it wont be uncommon for me to be pulling 15k+ loaded trailers, and pushing snow for 8-12 hours straight. Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.
 
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#2 ·
:ORG welcome: Since you are getting a 7.3 your problems should be few and far between...atleast mine have been. The CPS is a good idea and you might want to upgrade to the 6.0 tranny cooler (im assuming it is an automatic). If you get the truck and find you would like a little more power you can upgrade the exhaust and intake and put a chip in it relatively cheap. Also i would recommend your first purchase be some gauges especially since you are going to be pushing and pulling alot. Im sure you will get alot more opinions here soon.
 
#3 ·
Another GM guy gone Ford. I feel ya. After owning 23 GMs, I bought a 2000 F-450. That F-550 you got is one honkin' work truck. I can't advise too much cuz I'm new as well. I can tell you that upgrading to an aftermarket or DIY intake will help HP/TQ and protect your engine. Also, consider a good chip or tuner. Even my ****ty SuperChips tuner gives a bunch of TQ over stock.
 
#6 ·
If you are going to plow with this rig, add a larger trans cooler with a thermostatically controlled electric fan. there is plenty of room behind the grille with a little trimming. if you are interested in this install, I can put up part #'s



"if I'd have bought a plow last fall, I'd be retired right now"
 
#7 ·
Welcome to the ORG all of you GM guys! The 6.0 cooler is a good one, but they can get kinda spendy. I think other guys also run the tru-cool 40k. You should really like your 7.3. Nice to see you found one with low miles too!
 
#12 ·
there are a lot of venders on here that will help you out. . . i went with jodys tunes dp-tuner.com he is a great guy to work with. . . i ordered mine at 4PM had my email with the tunes by 10 the next day :thumb:
 
#11 ·
no you will still have the stock fan. And you can also go to beans for custom tunes here that he has spent alot of time working on tow tunes to keep thing under control not saying any others are bad but you have options. and no all you need is the code off the pcm and they will make it custom for the mods you have.
 
#16 ·
when i went to buy a chip from jody i went on a head and bypassed the F5 and went with the F6 chip. with the F6 chip i have no down time with the truck. i plug my comp into the truck and i upload my new tunes. if you have a little extra coin this is the way to go.... custom tunes are the only way to go on a 7.3.... with these you will get the best for your buck. your trans will get tunned and you can get your truck tunned for what you want. . . if you do decide to get your truck tunned make sure to do exhaust and GAUGES first. . . gauges are the most important so you can monitor critical temps... exhaust so your truck can breath and it will extend your turbo life as well.
 
#14 ·
the 7.3 is a true work horse and should give you few if ne problems custom tunes from tony wildman are a good choice so is an intake, exhaust, and guages they will give you more power for pushin snow and pullin trailers and heavy loads and the guages will make sure you dont cook parts. the TW chip installs into the computer on your truck and it is just a chip with a wire that you plug in to the computer and the chip has the tunes loaded into it when they ship it out, plus if you dont like the tunes you can pull it and ship it back to get reburnt for free anytime you want to!! btw glad to see you chose a :icon_ford: :thumb:
 
#15 ·
If it is just going to be a work truck and others are going to be driving it i wouldnt see the need for a chip or tuner. I would keep up on the oil changes and stuff like that. May also want to check out the glow plugs and glow plug relay, so that it doesnt give you problems starting in the cold winter months.
 
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