Coming from a guy who is a pretty big 7.3 fan, don't put a 7.3 in that truck.

Either do a common rail Cummins swap. At least it has been done enough times where other people have worked the bugs out for you.

Or cut your losses and go to 6.7 F450 .

 

Can you hook up the f450 trans to a 7.3? The later super duty automatics are sweet.

I vote cummins or 6.7 f450.

 

No way you'll be happy with the 7.3 after having the 6.4. Those 6.4's scream. I say Drop another 6.4 in and add every monitor you can on it and replace the injectors routinely. Or go 24 valve.

 

Not sure about the 450 trans to a 7.3, have read a little bit and it seems like a pretty daunting task. As far as the 7.3 not being "enough" it isnt anything that a 66mm turbo, big hpop, and 238 injectors cant fix. The selling point is that I have a parts truck in the yard. Dont really care how badass a running 6.4 is, junk.

 

Do you really think a 7.3 will be reliable making that power and pulling that ginormous trailer? Even Scott at addicted finally stepped away from the 7.3 for hauling his 5th and buggy.

Now that I think of it, what does that trailer wiegh?

Might be time for a true mdt/hdt.

 

6.0 swap? We have a genius on the board. :flipoff2:

 

Brilliant! Glad you agree. :flipoff2:

 

Dont let em hold you back man!! The 7.3 rocks but it sounds like you know that.

For your gauges, look into dakota digital, maybe even give them a call! And I dont mean a digital dash, they sell all sorts of senders and pickups to run any gauge.. they may be able to put something together pretty easily to monitor the older model powertrain with your newer cluster!!

 

With a lot more air (thinking compounds) it might survive, but remember they derated the T444E by quite a bit when tossing it into school busses (with a big ****ing radiator). It just isn't heavy enough to soak up that kind of sustained HP output. Not saying not to do it, but saying you may notice similar reliability issues.

Only way it'll last for certain is to derate it just the same in the ECU programming.

 

Screw the warranty. Build the 6.4 with forged pistons. 8 pistons gotta be cheaper than a swap.

 

Wait, the current blown motor will be covered under warranty? **** all this noise, get fixed under warranty and sell it.

 

Cummins. Why? Because it has been done a million times. Shits a lot easier when you have countless build threads to look at when you get stuck on something.

 

Vortec 8100.

Slow, hard on fuel. Really slow, really hard on fuel.

Pretty simple engine, bulletproof, cheap. Faster than a stock 7.3

Just kidding of course, but they were built for 4500/5500 series trucks, and from personal experience will run WFO all day. Boat guys run them at 425 hp as stock Magnums (Mercury heads, ECM.) Stock pickups are 340 hp, HD is around 325 hp. 4500/5500s had Allison 6 speeds/NV271/273s. (although passenger drop if I recall correctly.)

 

No idea how much work the 7.3 swap would be, but I'd guess it's more than bolt in. If that's the case why not go for a true MDT motor? May be more work, but if the idea is to build something that can be a good MDT/LDT hybrid heavy rig, why go to the effort of putting in a light duty motor? 7.3 is a good motor granted, but it's not really a true mdt engine, at least not in pickup form (true IH MDT motor is down rated) especially not after being turned up. So if it's going to be a pain and you want a good solid unit, may as well go for a real motor... assuming you can make it work.

My bet would be that getting the electronics to play right with the 7.3 swap would be a rather huge pain in the rear and may or may not actually wind up reliably functional.

I personally have no experience with anything much newer than mid 90's, but everything I read is that doing swaps with more modern integrated electronic rigs is very difficult to get working right.

 

Get it fixed and trade up to a 6.7 truck. They are even sweeter to drive and have gobs of power.

I know you are already set on doing the 7.3, but from a down the road perspective, when the truck is ready to be replaced, resale will be hurt pretty badly. If you do insist on keeping the truck, and swapping it, Cummins is the way to go, the learning curve has already been bent for you and resale won't be hurt nearly as bad.

 

This ^. It's been out for 5 years now and has proven pretty reliable. Plus you get an extra gear from the 6R140.

Add in that the 2017 trucks are a completely new design, that means you can probably get a pretty screaming deal on a 2016.

 

The 6.7 is growing on us a bit. Still a PITA to work on but it does seem like a better motor than the 6.4. Really don't want to be driving something around that requires DEF but it seems like they have a lot of it dialed in now. Don't really care for the 17 body style but the changes made in the 15-16 with the turbo etc make it sound promising. Can you lease an F450? Not a stripper c&c though.

 

To my understanding......DEF only needs to be filled like every oil change....Ito's not like every tank you need to stop and add DEF. Plus I would bet as hard as you will run the 6.7 that will will hardly regen...

 

The 6.4 is junk.......Ford only sold it for three years right? Shortest lived diesel motor that I know of

Cummins swap, or fix the 6.4 and sell it all

 

If it's under warranty, have them replace it and drive it till it blows up again. In the meantime, save monies and build up that 7.3/ZF6 combo. When the 6.4 shits the bed again, swap the 7.3/ZF6 in there and drive it till doomsday.

If the engine is NOT under warranty, then I vote 12 valve with the ZF6 from the donor truck. Tough, simple, reliable.

Last option would be a Common Rail Cummins to the 5R110. There are growing numbers of this swap happening, but be careful on year model of Cummins because I've read of ECU-TCM communication issues between the Cummins and 5R110, unless you fork up the cash for a standalone computer.

 

I have a few questions about a possible swap though. The basics are pretty forward when it comes to swapping the 7.3 drivetrain in. The hard part is keeping the a stock appearance. One thing is how do you retain stock gauges if possible. Read around that even a 6.0 truck can be tricky to hook everything up. Would it be better to convert stock gauges or even make a 100% cluster? Another thing is the automatic transfer case. Anything that I have thought of that is apparent let me know. Just trying to work out a game plan.

The gauges aren't terrible to do as long as you don't mangle the stock harness too bad. I helped a buddy do a Common Rail in a 6.0 and it was straight forward until the cam and crank wires. Unraveling everything does kind of suck, and getting the cam and crank sensor wires figured out for the Tach and cruise to work is a little finicky. I believe all you need for the electric T-case is the "shift on the fly" mod or to somehow trick the case into thinking everything is neutral, assuming using a different transmission. If you go manual, snagging a manual TCM/DCM is generally easiest to maintain stock harnesses elsewhere.

 

If under warranty, make Ford eat it. Then sell me that old worn out 7.3 put that money with your F450 and trade it in and up to the 6.7. A friend bought a used F450 4x4 w/ 6.7, leather, loaded. No clue how reliable they are but it was an amazing ride and seemed to have good power pulling a gooseneck LQ horse trailer w/ several horses. It rode like a cloud.

 

wouldn't the warranty be denied if its been deleted? and im an old school cummins guy 12v and drive it.

 

If you thought the 6.4 was powerful, have you driven a 6.7 yet? 6.7s are bad mother****ers.

 

This, going from my 6.0 with a little tune to a stock 6.7 then back to the 6.0 made me sad.

 

i owned a 6.4. Tuned and deleted it was a monster but i did not trust it. I got rid of it and sleep much better now.

Why not call destroked?

 

Talked to them today and leasing is out of the question for the amount we drive. Kicked around every idea we could come up with, add a forged lower end in the new motor, motor swap, etc. A big truck is out of the question also. A few of you may not like this idea but it is an option to think of. Find an 05-07 F450/550 4x4 6.0 at a dealer, and trade the 08 in. Spend $5k right off the bat on the motor to "bullet proof" it and run it. Get to keep the F450 styling and retain a pickup and hope a 6.0 can go longer than the 6.4. At least the 6.0 seems to be repairable when it has issues. Cant say the same with a 6.4. A 6.7 F450 is out of the question though.

 

A 6.7 F450 is out of the question though.

Too bad, but I do understand where you are coming from. I have 7 different F-350/450/550 trucks I drive on a regular basis at work, 2002 7.3 to a 2012 6.7, all loaded heavy. The 7.3 at 13,200 is definitely working hard, the 2012 6.7 at 13,600 is like driving an empty pickup. It just doesn't seem to work at all. The 2002 is used for local work, the 6.7 usually 80 mile round trips.

Find an 05-07 F450/550 4x4 6.0 at a dealer, and trade the 08 in. Spend $5k right off the bat on the motor to "bullet proof" it and run it. Get to keep the F450 styling and retain a pickup and hope a 6.0 can go longer than the 6.4. At least the 6.0 seems to be repairable when it has issues. Cant say the same with a 6.4.

I have spent far less maintenance and repair on my 6.0s than my 6.4s. Can't say it's a good choice. We are a public agency, so changing emissions equipment is a non-starter. I would much rather have DEF and a 6.7 than the goofy assed overfuel condition when they regen the DPF in the 6.4. DEF is just a non-issue for us, and we have some real issues with level of competence as far as dealing with vehicles with our drivers. Even checking tire pressure is beyond their level of expertise.

But there is a HUGE difference in a 6.0 truck and a 6.4 truck as far as riding comfort. I think if you are happy with the '08 you will be disappointed taking a step back.

 

The 6.0 will be down on power compared to the 6.4. My personal truck is studded and has a HD oil cooler but still has the egr. I put about 35k trouble free miles on it last year. I'm not sure what the gross is on that big trailer but be prepared to not be able to lay the hammer down as hard with the 6.0.

 

I am sure a few of you have read that our 2008 F450 has blown up again. We have replaced it once already and it blew again under warranty.

What actually failed on the 6.4? Is there a link to a thread?

 

Trade a 6.4 for 6.0 :laughing:

If youre going to run a pos at least stick with the pos you know.

Also, not sure if this will spoil the idea or not, but pre 08 F450s never came as a pick up, only c&c.

So you looked at brand new 6.7s? Have you looked at 11s and 12s?