What are your thoughts on this?

[Josh25]

1993 ford f350,crew,DIESEL,4x4,5sp,lifted

So I want to get my first diesel truck and I've been looking at everything between older up to 05's. Now I found this truck that is local to me that is fairly inexpensive and I wanted to see what are the pro's and con's of the older 7.3 etc and this particular deal. I'm mainly going to use it for commuting and hauling a atv. Since this one isn't a 18k truck it would open up the opportunity for us to get a toy hauler later on nothing big but 20+ feet or so. So that being said how are these trucks with towing and fuel mpg. I want to get something that is going to be good all around dependable and be more economical than my 95 suburban that gets 10mpg.

[Josh25]

bump for input, thanks guys

[FordGuy100]

7.3 IDI's are good motors. A ton of powerstroke guys are going to come on here and tell you to buy a powerstroke. There are pro's and cons to both.

The IDI is all mechanical, no major sensors or anything of that sort. They are underpowered compared to an powerstroke. They make 175-185hp N/A (no turbo), and around 340-360ft lbs of torque. Not speed demons for sure. You can get some decent power out of them with a turbo, a little faster than a stock 7.3 powerstroke. They are cheap to fix if something does go wrong, and real easy to work on. They get decent fuel economy, and are fairly reliable for a rig its age.

Things to check are SCA's, which is a coolant additive. You can get test strips at NAPA. Dip it in the coolant to see if it has any. If it does, and is at the proper levels your golden.

If your not affraid to be the first one to a destination, loaded or unloaded, then I would jump on it. But if your power hungry, then a powerstroke would probably be a better bet.

[FordGuy100]

Depending on the size of the load, and how fast you drive, will effect milage.

My truck with no overdrive has gotten me 19.7mpg. That was driving 60mph. Anything beyond that kills milage, these things arent anywhere close to aerodynamic. Towing 4000 pounds over mountain passes going 60mph netted me close to 15mpg. Overdrive would help me a ton.

With a load its going to feel slow, if you want more power, a turbo will help out a ton.

But I know of a guy with a F450 with 5.13 gears, ZF-5 speed, ATS turbo, that tows his 16,000 pound trailer that gets 10-12mpg. Thats pretty decent considering the weight.

[Josh25]

Thanks for that input. I will try and check it out on tues to see if it is even still there and see the miles etc. They don't have that listed so it could be extremely high I don't know. I haven't made my mind up yet on exactly what I'll get but trying to be open minded and know the pro's con's for my choices. I appreciate the info.