[Gunmetalcruz]

New to the turbo diesel's. Bought my Dad's 2002 xlt lariet f250 extra cab. Came with 6 speed manual,7.3. Was wondering what you guys have been seen with the six speed as far as durability etc. My plans are air bags for the rear,controller,viair compressor and magnaflow 4 inch stainless exhaust. Also putting in a 2 inch leveling kit 315/75/16 BFG at's. Planning on running the egde with juice chip. Any thoughts or advice? Loads will be my 8.6 cabover with my 18 foot trailer with the cruiser/junk on it.

 

[kartek]

Hey,

The 6sp is a great transmission, very durable considering it's used in everything up to the F550. Don't forget your gauges when you add the HP. (unless the Edge/Juice chip combo has a display). The only drive line failures on my truck have been the clutch master/slave assy. (at 80,000 - about $125, easy install) and the clutch disk which was destroyed just months after adding an extra 125 HP and almost 200 lb/ft. of torque with the chip.

On edit - The stock wheels are probably 7". Lots of people will tell you they run big tires on them without a problem. I would not recommend going over 285 or you will loose a good amount of transient response. This is a big, tall truck already and it makes for interesting emergency manuvers...

 

[CanuckJeeper]

My 01 F350 with 6-speed has 72k miles on it. I believe this is the original tranny. I changed the clutch at around 68k miles. I put in a LUK clutch, works great!

Don't forget to add gauges!

JP

 

[demonranger]

6 speeds are very reliable the clutch will be the weak link if you start adding power but there are quite a few out there that will handle big hp and towing. The trans runs ATF for the lubricant and has an integrated pump to circulate fluid to an external cooler so you can stick a temp guage on there if you're concerned otherwise just keep the fluid changed. The tcase has an upgraded input shaft (more splines) over the auto.

And has already been mentioned you'll need to make sure you got some guages to protect your engine.

 

[lowerd96]

I have 45K on my 02 F-350 and my 6 speed hasn't given me a bit of trouble.
I ran the Evolution on 100hp setting for a while on the stock clutch, it held it no problem, but I decided it needs to be upgraded before that happens again.

 

[adrianspeeder]

I love my '02 7.3L, but if there is one thing I would change, it would be to dump this 4R100 and get the ZF6. Great tranny and will outlast the auto (minus normal clutch wear).

Adrianspeeder

 

[Gunmetalcruz]

Thanks guys, the edge chip is the one with the mointor/gauges etc. It's not cheap but i don't have to buy a couple hundred in gauges. Has anyone run sythetic in the tranny. I love it so far, second seems a little notchy when downshifting, upshifting it doesn't happen. Was wondering if syth. would help or do I just need to get used to it more. 63,000 on the clicker when I picked it up. Made it from PA to truckee in two days and I even sleep 10 hrs. Left sat at one arived monday at one.

 

[RP Films]

Nice Truck! Hope it treats you well!

 

[Gunmetalcruz]

What up Pat? Going to be frequenting the hammers much more.

 

[adrianspeeder]

Some guys have had luck with GM syncromesh or something like that. To me, they are truck trannys and not mustangs.

Looks good!

Adrianspeeder

 

[kartek]

Yeah,

Nice truck! If you think it's fun now, wait til you get that extra HP and torque! The syn. oil will help out with shifting. I'm planning on upgrading when I replace the clutch later in Aug. Also, try double clutching when downshifting into second. It helps a lot. If not, don't pull it into 2nd at any speed above 15 MPH. 2nd is good for any speed from barely moving to about 30 MPH depending on your gears.

 

[couchracing]

The Luk clutch is a knee saver. Much easier to engage/disengage. Handles the HP also. One more recommendation is the short shift kit from Black cloud diesel. Makes rowing the boat nicer. Good luck, Scott.

 

[7938]

Air bags are a great investment. I have them up front as well as in the rear. You might give the Superchips programmer a look. It seams the Edge stuff works better on GM rigs. I went with the Bullydog out look monitor instead of an ugly gauge pod or the Edge monitor. I believe it is a better product then the Edge stuff. There is plenty of info @ http://www.thedieselstop.com/

 

[texascadillac42]

So far my ZF has held up fine to a TS 140 chip, but in 2 weeks a Cummins 5.9 is gettin dropped in with a few goodies, and Im starting to get a bit nervous about what its gonna hold up to. I should be around 450hp at the rear wheels, so that should give the ZF a good test. Synthetic fluid helped my shifting alot, and I do run a trans temp gauge which shows 100 around town, 180 on the highway unloaded, and I saw 195 pulling some grades on I80 out in PA towing 7500k. It should last just fine for what you are doing.