Hi new to the board.Looking to get a cummins 4x4 pu
Thinking a older one with a standard tranny.Wondering what to lookout for. And what is the real fuel mileage .Plan on towing about 8000 lbs if I get a bigger trailer.Figure its getting time my old gas pot is wearing out.Any advice would be helpful.
Had a ford with the old 7.3 non turbo and found the power ok.

 

92 or 93 https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...threadid=44398

 

The older 12 Valve trucks are great! In the 5 speed's- watch out for the "5th gear nut" problem. Otherwise these are very powerful (if you slide the camplate forward) and reliable trucks. A good 12 valve truck (94 to 98) will pull with anything on the road today! It might have a little less HP an torque, but will get the load there......and they get very good fuel economy. A friend of mine had a 95 3/4 ton standard cab, long bed, 2WD- it would get 30 MPG (running empty) on the road- no lie- that's checking it will pencil and paper...

 

Pencil and paper and on the overhead console I get right at 18 mpg for a mix of city/hwy driving.

Towing a john deere 570 skid steer on my 18 foot car trailer still nets around 14 mpg on the same trips as above. Haven't done much hwy driving since I brought it home from Tn to NW IN. On that trip, running around 73mph it still got 17mpg and I'm sure it would get much better at 65 mph.

I have noticed that the tow rating for a truck like mine, auto with 3.54 gears, is much lower than the same truck with 4.10's, and a manual will tow even more.

Mine is rated for 9400lb and a manual with 4.10 is rated for 12000 I think. I don't have my manual in front of me.

 

"Had a ford with the old 7.3 non turbo and found the power ok."

Man, if you thought the old non-turbo 7.3 had enough power then I think you'd be totally satisfied w/ ANY turbo diesel engine!

 

Man, if you thought the old non-turbo 7.3 had enough power then I think you'd be totally satisfied w/ ANY turbo diesel engine! [/B][/QUOTE]

Well now, I have used a small diesel tractor to pull extremely heavy machinerey around bfore, and never really had much problem with power. Just MPH!!!

Seriously though, depending on gearing, etc., the old IDI 7.3 wasn't truly a bad engine. Ford sold a lot of them, and many are still pulling today. Much better engine than the first go-round 6.0 Powerstroke's!