New guy trying to decide on first purchases

[dieselcrawler]

I agree with D-man... unless you know the rest of your truck is TIGHT, be prepaired for high-cost upkeep... I got my F-350 SD last summer, got on heck of a deal on it, by the end of the summer, I had replaced both front hub/berring asmbly, rear w/b, trans rebuilt... so $9500 for the truck sounds great, but add the $4-$5 grand in extras since then, and I'm mighty glad it's financed by my business, as a "work truck"!

Don't forget the cheap DIY mods... but I would also agree with looking for some gauges in quick order, I prefer mechanical ones, but any type will give you some added info, allowing you to better understand what your truck is doing, and help you keep it in safe temp ranges (EGT top priority IMO)

[redstroker_2002]

get the edge with attitude and get the monitor then u dont have to have gauges if money is a object

[kf4zht]

Originally Posted by D-man

I am guessing that you just bought the truck. If so.....
If you are on a limited budget, and I assume you are because 500 isn't much when it comes to modding a 7.3, and your vehicle is 9 years old, you better save that 500 for things like, ball joints, up-pipes, oil and fuel leaks, brakes, glow plugs and relays etc. etc....
Unless you know all of these things are good, you better save it for those repairs because they will eventually need it and they are all expensive repairs. Just a warning.

I already have money set aside for maintance. I work on jeeps for a hobby and can fix just about anything on a vehicle. I am very familar with cost to upkeep. Mine is usually lower since I can do 99% of the work myself, and can get parts at discount (connections and owed favors). This is $500 that was set aside for performance parts.

Sounds like the concensus is option 1. THis is probably best, i have several people bugging me already about not having a code reader in my garage.