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7.3 liter Gas option verse 6.7 liter PSD


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There are some pretty strong opinions in the other thread regarding the question I posed regarding the 7.3 L gas motor. We'll move the discussion here so I don't derail the other thread.

 

My comment/question was "I am surprised to see so many people select the 7.3 L option. I assume cost plays a factor, but what are the other reasons.

 

Personally, I couldn't imagine buying a Super Duty without a Diesel motor. Am I out of touch with today's technology? I just don't see how a gas motor with 1/2 the torque can compare when under load.

Edited by Robin Hood
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2 hours ago, Robin Hood said:

I am surprised how many people are ordering the 7.3. Why are you all going that route. I would assume for some, cost is a major factor, but is there other reasons as well?

 

Above is my original post and below are the responses from the other thread.

 

2 hours ago, AndyG. said:

 

For me...several reasons.  Cost is one.  Another is the added weight of the diesel vs. the 7.3, which subtracts from the payload.  Another is the added maintenance costs of the diesel over the 7.3.  Finally, I travel out of state a lot which means my truck will sit idle for couple weeks at a time.  I've heard that's not good for diesels.

 

2 hours ago, Deanh said:

Diesels I feel have a finite future....the F150sdiesel has now been discontinued...hard to argue when the Ecoboost hybrid boasts better all round numbers and equals the mileage...…..

 

2 hours ago, klinc said:

 

I don't want anything to do with a diesel and the garbage/nightmare the EPA has forced on them. 7.3 with 4.30 gears will pull anything I need it to pull in the next 10 years.

 

Maybe if I was getting rid of it before warranty ran out, but not something I will eventually have to maintain and fix.

 

24 minutes ago, Tncdrew said:

I dont want the complexity of the modern Ford PSD. They're not like the relatively simple diesels of 20-30 years ago. You can add a Whipple supercharger to a 7.3 gas and with the power gains, it starts to make that overly complicated oil burner obsolete. Not to mention the weight advantage that others have noted. Hell, I can buy a complete second 7.3L gas crate engine from Ford for still less that the diesel upcharge! ?

But, to each his own.

 

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36 minutes ago, Tncdrew said:

I dont want the complexity of the modern Ford PSD. They're not like the relatively simple diesels of 20-30 years ago. You can add a Whipple supercharger to a 7.3 gas and with the power gains, it starts to make that overly complicated oil burner obsolete. Not to mention the weight advantage that others have noted. Hell, I can buy a complete second 7.3L gas crate engine from Ford for still less that the diesel upcharge! ?

But, to each his own.

 

A quick search of a Whipple supercharger and it is a $8500 price tag plus labor to install. Even if it was equal in power it wouldn't be worth it. You would lose your warranty, diminish the reliability of the motor, and you would no longer have your savings to buy your spare crate motor...?. The Wipple Supercharger states it isn't legal for highway use and in some states that may not be an issue, but others it might.

 

What is the difference in weight between the 7.3 and 6.7PSD?

Edited by Robin Hood
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18 minutes ago, Robin Hood said:

 

A quick search of a Whipple supercharger and it is a $8500 price tag plus labor to install. Even if it was equal in power it wouldn't be worth it. You would lose your warranty, diminish the reliability of the motor, and you would no longer have your savings to buy your spare crate motor...?. The Wipple Supercharger states it isn't legal for highway use and in some states that may not be an issue, but others it might.

 

What is the difference in weight between the 7.3 and 6.7PSD?

Personally, I wouldn't do the Whipple anyway. I like the stock form of the 7.3l. VERY understressed, and I like that. Diminish the reliability of the 7.3 with the Whipple? Depends on how you set it up. Don't know the weight difference gas to diesel, but its a LOT! You can research obviously. "Not legal for highway use".... Yeah, if you don't live in a free state. Not looking to get in a big discussion here. You asked opinions, you got some...

Edited by Tncdrew
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I have 0 need for a diesel.  Realistically, I don't/didn't need a 250.  The 7.3 is the main reason for finally going to a super duty for me.   The 6.2 I felt just wasn't enough for these big trucks.  The initial costs, maintenance cost and the EPA garbage is just WAY more than I'm willing to live with for a daily that pulls an enclosed motorcycle trailer and the occasional trailer of gravel.  My F150 5.0 had no issues power wise pulling my enclosed trailer, just wanted more truck for the relaxed towing experience as I go cross country. 

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I chose the 7.3 for many reasons.

 

1. Price...with x plan it was $1500 over the 6.2.

 

2. Long term maint and repair. My last diesel was a 6.5 Detroit  turbo. It had no power but I got 475,000 miles on it and it was still running but was in desperate need of a rebuild. By the time I put a new injection pump, injectors, other parts Plus the rebuild, it was cheaper just to sell truck and buy another. Out of the old Cummings, Detroit and the good old 7.3 D you could get many miles out of those engines, the new diesel stuff is too high pressure for me to be comfortable (and in MY THOUGHT AND OPINION) I will not get high miles out of the diesel as I will with the gas , and once the warranty runs out you better have deep Deep ....deep deep Pockets. But that is my thought and opinion maybe I am wrong maybe not.

 

3. I don't need a thousand foot pounds of torque, 475 w/4.30 is plenty to haul my equipment trailer rarely, my car trailer, or my travel trailer. ( some people may need thousand foot pounds of torque, I don't).

 

4. When warranty runs out I can stick a programmer on it and a procharger and boost the power up a bit and have plenty of extra play power that I don't need. I can get the extra power if I want it if I don't want it I can stick with the stock engine.

 

5. I can work on the gas engine, I can't work on the diesel as easy.

 

6. I'm an old school big block guy, drag racing days of Chevy and Ford big blocks. I have a special love for Big Block gas engines, so to get one and a 2022 truck was just plain ?.

 

7. Nothing irritated me more then stopping at the gas station with one gas/diesel pump  and 10 gas only pumps. And you always have that one guy in a Prius that pumps his 5 gallons and leaves his car there at the only gas/diesel pump and goes into the convenience store 10+ minutes before he moves his car away from the only pump you can get fuel from. 

 

These are my thoughts and my opinions which other people may agree or not agree with but that is why I chose the 7.3

 

 

Edited by IUEC135ELEVATOR
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41 minutes ago, IUEC135ELEVATOR said:

I chose the 7.3 for many reasons.

 

1. Price...with x plan it was $1500 over the 6.2.

 

2. Long term maint and repair. My last diesel was a 6.5 Detroit  turbo. It had no power but I got 475,000 miles on it and it was still running but was in desperate need of a rebuild. By the time I put a new injection pump, injectors, other parts Plus the rebuild, it was cheaper just to sell truck and buy another. Out of the old Cummings, Detroit and the good old 7.3 D you could get many miles out of those engines, the new diesel stuff is too high pressure for me to be comfortable (and in MY THOUGHT AND OPINION) I will not get high miles out of the diesel as I will with the gas , and once the warranty runs out you better have deep Deep ....deep deep Pockets. But that is my thought and opinion maybe I am wrong maybe not.

 

3. I don't need a thousand foot pounds of torque, 475 w/4.30 is plenty to haul my equipment trailer rarely, my car trailer, or my travel trailer. ( some people may need thousand foot pounds of torque, I don't).

 

4. When warranty runs out I can stick a programmer on it and a procharger and boost the power up a bit and have plenty of extra play power that I don't need. I can get the extra power if I want it if I don't want it I can stick with the stock engine.

 

5. I can work on the gas engine, I can't work on the diesel as easy.

 

6. I'm an old school big block guy, drag racing days of Chevy and Ford big blocks. I have a special love for Big Block gas engines, so to get one and a 2022 truck was just plain ?.

 

7. Nothing irritated me more then stopping at the gas station with one gas/diesel pump  and 10 gas only pumps. And you always have that one guy in a Prius that pumps his 5 gallons and leaves his car there at the only gas/diesel pump and goes into the convenience store 10+ minutes before he moves his car away from the only pump you can get fuel from. 

 

These are my thoughts and my opinions which other people may agree or not agree with but that is why I chose the 7.3

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing! Honestly I never considered the gas motor, but based on some of the comments and feedback it might have been a good choice for the daily driver work truck.

 

Edited by Robin Hood
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My view is this.  Our current trailer puller is a ‘98.5 24 valve Cummins rated at 235 hp and 460 lbs./ft.  Our ordered ‘22 Super Duty 7.3 is rated at 430 hp and 475 lbs./ft.  See where I’m going with this?  The Dodge Cummins has been a great truck for the 18 years we’ve owned it, and it’s still highly desirable and valuable because it’s pre DEF and all of the other emissions crap that’s on the new Diesel engines.  We also aren’t in the cattle business any longer, and aren’t hauling something several days, every week, year around.  The new truck will be pulling a living quarters horse trailer with two or three horses as needed, and will see very limited use pulling the stock trailer, or anything else.  I’ve never been disappointed or dissatisfied with the Cummins, and I don’t expect to be disappointed or dissatisfied with the 7.3 gasser.  And I’m just not going to put up with all of the crap that goes along with owning and maintaining a modern Diesel engine.  My $.02, YMMV.

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I went with 7.3 because of the lesser upfront cost, cost of ownership, and reliability.  I also like the fact that you can look down into the engine compartment and see the ground on each side. There's tons of room to work on it if the need ever arises.  (Definitely NOT the case with the 6.7...I cant imagine the labor involved to make simple repairs to that engine.)  

 

My current truck is a 2004 Dodge cummins and I love it. It has tons of power, its reliable, and is inexpensive to maintain.  Now with all the emissions garbage, I wouldn't touch a new diesel with a 10' pole. I have several friends with newer diesels and they are seemingly constantly dealing engine/emissions issues - I don't have time for that.  I believe my Dodge is rated somewhere around 600 lb-ft and 325 HP and it will pull anything I put behind it, and usually without even knowing its back there.  Even pulling tractors up mountains it performs very admirably.  With the new 6.7 engines, I cant help but wonder why anyone would need that kind of power..(yes, I know because its fun, and if money is of little concern, why not have fun with it).....But if you actually need that kind of power, you are probably towing bulldozers or heavy equipment and should probably be using something like an F700 series truck or dump truck at that point.  My dodge with 2/3 the power of a new 6.7 will chew up tires in a hurry compared to my F250 5.4, and it doesn't seem like I drive aggressive either, just the back tires go down very quickly, and I bet that they would wear even more quickly with a 6.7.  So, at least for me I believe 7.3 will perform just fine and it will save me all the expense of owing a diesel.  It is my believe that what very little bit you save in fuel cost doesn't come close to covering the other expenses that come with it

 

Edited by Kory04
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Adding to what Kory04 just said, I really can’t imagine why anyone needs that much horsepower and torque.  Our 23 year old Cummins has a five speed manual transmission behind it.  Don’t ask how I know that the torque of that older tech diesel engine will tear the center right out of a clutch disc if you’re not kind of careful with it.  ?

Edited by Mirage Flatter
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One more thing...I also do snow removal and very much prefer plowing with my 5.4 f250 over the Cummins.  With so much back and forth movement, my dodge is very sluggish while the turbo is spooling back up .  Not sure what new diesel trucks are like, but that one second delay gets annoying.  The 5.4 seems very agile and is always ready to change directions.  (5.4 is underpowered in every other use, but I've found its great for plowing) 

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37 minutes ago, Kory04 said:

I went with 7.3 because of the lesser upfront cost, cost of ownership, and reliability. 

 


I didn’t think this motor has been around long enough to be proven “reliable” yet. I’m not knocking it, but that isn’t one of the reasons that I see most say they went with this motor for considering it’s still so new. Mostly it’s cost, and then that they just don’t need the power and torque that the 6.7 offers. 
 

For me, if I end up having to go with a 7.3 it will purely be due to cost (when combined with going to a higher trim - I ultimately want the 6.7 in an XLT, but with the 360 camera package… and these aren’t being scheduled for the time being). I thought about just going with the 6.2 because it has been proven reliable… but I actually want the torque and power of the diesel, so naturally I would go with the 7.3 over the 6.2. 

Edited by chadstickpoindexter
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23 minutes ago, chadstickpoindexter said:


I didn’t think this motor has been around long enough to be proven “reliable” yet. I’m not knocking it, but that isn’t one of the reasons that I see most say they went with this motor for considering it’s still so new. Mostly it’s cost, and then that they just don’t need the power and torque that the 6.7 offers. 
 

For me, if I end up having to go with a 7.3 it will purely be due to cost (when combined with going to a higher trim - I ultimately want the 6.7 in an XLT, but with the 360 camera package… and these aren’t being scheduled for the time being). I thought about just going with the 6.2 because it has been proven reliable… but I actually want the torque and power of the diesel, so naturally I would go with the 7.3 over the 6.2. 

 

I don't typically jump on the first year or two of new tech/models. I feel comfortable going into the third year of them enough to purchase now. From what I have read they are pretty overbuilt/underpowered and simple enough they should last a good long time if taken care of.

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I agree 7.3 hasn't been around long enough to prove reliability...I guess I was trying to say I went to a gasser to avoid the un-reliability of diesel emmissions.  Time will tell, but the 7.3 appears to be built right.  The 6.2 is certainly the tried n true engine, and realistically, its probably still more than enough engine to suit my needs in a truck.  I think the 7.3 upgrade is more fulfilling a want of mine rather than a need.  

Edited by Kory04
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I agree with most of the posts here.  I have never owned a diesel but with talks I have had with newer diesel owners I have concerns about the long term reliability and the maintenance cost of the diesel and diesel emissions systems.  Even though the 6.7 has been tuned and increased in torque every iteration of these engines a new emissions part seems to be bolted on to comply with the ever changing regulation landscape. Mostly for this reason I chose to stay away from the 6.7.  

 

Adding to that the  power of the 7.3 is a big relief from the 6.2 which I believe to be an underpowered power plant for such a large truck.  The 7.3 with the old school push rod approach and the cast iron block makes me feel that the engine while new has proven mechanics with long life spans.  The added DEF needs (while not a huge expense) is just a little pain in the butt.  

 

I have now driven every engine 6.2, 6.7 and 7.3 in the 21 MY and I can say that the  6.7 is an impressive power plant that can't be competed with.  I just cant justify the initial costs nor the excessive power.  Personally the 7.3 is going to save me tires as I know I will be very tempted to stomp the skinny pedal on the floor to get the thrill out a truck that was meant to work and haul.  

 

If maintenance and upfront costs were not a concern for me, I'd be in it for the 6.7.  I like all the creature comforts that the going with the 7.3 allows me to fit in my budget and figure once my warranty is up I can always tune or bolt on a supercharged giving me sizeable increases in torque and HP. 

 

Tune - Ford Super Duty 7.3L Gas V8 Gets More Power with a Customized 5 Star Tune (News) - The Fast Lane Truck (tfltruck.com)

 

Supercharged: This Supercharged Ford Super Duty Will Blow You Away... Literally! - YouTube

 

Headers and exhaust can also give you 20-35 HP too... 

 

There's a lot that can be done to this 7.3 that I think it makes it exciting and interesting to see what the truck community and tuners get out of these engines.  I'm not scared of new, I'm scared of old getting modified to meet current standards that the engine was not originally designed to meet.  

 

TO each their own and hope everyone is enjoying their rides and get theirs soon for those on order like me! 

 

 

 

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COST was a big factor for me.  Replacing Fuel Pumps etc is very expensive in a diesel as are injectors etc.   The 7.3 I could do every single repair on it with ease and it wouldn't cost a fortune.   Next was the cost of diesel and I also carry around ATVs etc.  I'd prefer to have spare gas tanks for all the engines instead of some gas and some diesel. 

 

The other factor was that I will never tow more than 10k.  Even at that, I'm more of a weekend RV'er and its just once a month at that. 

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2 hours ago, aboyles2002 said:

Having a 6.7 currently with a 7.3 on order I can tell you the reason I switched was cost, not upfront cost but ownership cost.  Repair bills on my 6.7 have made it easy for me to switch to the 7.3 for my next truck.

 

How many mile on your 6.7 and what kind of issues/cost did you have?

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Has anyone that owned a 6.7 switched to a 7.3 and has drive time and experience behind the wheel yet? What are your thoughts?

 

I just got home from a trip this weekend and I just don't think I could give up the diesel. One of things I like the most about my Super Duty is the exhaust braking and I just don't know if I would want to give that up.These trucks can control your speed, so well both under acceleration and deceleration.

Edited by Robin Hood
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21 minutes ago, Robin Hood said:

I ust got home from a trip this weekend and I just don't think I could give up the diesel. One of things I like the most about my Super Duty is the engine braking and I just don't know if I would want to give that up.These trucks can control your speed, so well both under acceleration and deceleration.

Gasoline engines do engine braking better than diesels (unless you have a Jake brake).

 

In theory, if the ratio RANGE of the 10 speed transmission is wide enough, torque would not be an issue.  Why do you think they used to make 18 speed Class 8 trucks l

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I would be very curious to see how many guys that had a later generation diesel (ford, gm, dodge) have decided to ditch the diesel and go with the 73.

 

And vice versa how many guys have run the seven three and decided to go with the diesel on the next truck. ( seeing that the 7-3 is a newer engine I imagine this number will fluctuate a good bit)

 

[ side note, I said seven 3 with voice to text 3 different times, now 4 and it recorded it to text 4 different ways....strange!]

 

Of course heavy load over the road haulers thar need the diesel would be excluded from this (we all know the Heavy Hitters diesel is needed for some jobs) would like to know from guys that haul campers, car trailers, horse trailers, equipment trailers, ect ect.

 

I guess for lack of better terms the Regular Average Joe that would have had to choose a diesel 15-20 years ago.

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38 minutes ago, theoldwizard1 said:

Gasoline engines do engine braking better than diesels (unless you have a Jake brake).

 

In theory, if the ratio RANGE of the 10 speed transmission is wide enough, torque would not be an issue.  Why do you think they used to make 18 speed Class 8 trucks l

 

I should have used the term "exhaust brake" in reference to the 6.7. Are you saying that the 7.3 engine package will slow down the vehicle equal or better than the 6.7 package?  I know the older diesels would not slow the truck down, but these 6.7s you hardly have to use the brakes when descending hills or coming to a stop.

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