Why is he waiting for a chip when he has an Edge?

 

My boss has a 7.3 with chip, 4 inch turbo back exhaust, wicked wheel and an intake. With 35s and a lift he gets 22MPG. Stick your foot the floor endlessly and he wont but on average with normal driving 22. Truck has 130k miles on it and never had anything done to it except 2 optima batterys. 6.0s and 6.4's are junk. Especially if you try to fix them up for better mileage / power. 7.3 is a good motor you'll be happy. Ive seen some with 280k miles on them without a hitch.

 

I would tend to think that is a little outlandish. I really really doubt he is getting anywhere near 22 miles to the gallon with 35" tires. I think that the exhaust and chip would bring a bit of the mileage loss associated with larger tires, but definitely not 22. I have a excursion 7.3 (155k) with stock tires on it and I can baby it all day, and will only get 17-19 on the highway. The best mileage I have ever gotten is 19.1.

6.0's and 6.4's are in no way junk. Sure.. the 6.0 had its problems just like the 04ish 5.4 had its problem with the plugs. There are people that have had a 6.0 that sucked and there have been people that have not had a problem since day one. ALOT of people complain about the tranny coupled with the 7.3 because of the issue with overdrive.. some had the issue and some did not. The 6.0 and the 6.4 make significantly more power than the 7.3 does. Maybe the 7.3 has them on reliability, but then again it has been around for a long time. 6.4's are still somewhat new, and im sure that there will be 6.4's that make it to 350k and still rolling like several 7.3s have. The only thing I would complain about really is that if you have any issues with the 6.4 you practically have to pull the cab off to fix anything. It would seem to me that you dont really know what you are talking about, but thats just my opinion.

 

b2therad, did you read my first post - #5? I believe that 22 mpg is VERY possible.

 

I don't, and I OWN a 7.3. (Well, maybe if it is a 7.3/ZF6 2wd truck driven super slow) Everybody and their mother who knows somebody who owns a diesel, claims that their friend of a friend gets 2,343 MPG out of their F-350 dually while towing their 4 horse trailer at 85 MPH. There is only ONE way to calculate the MPGs on one of these diesels, and that is by hand, and you MUST fill the diesel all the way up to the top of the filler. Depending on what station you go to and how fast it pumps, you can fit in an extra 3 - 6 gallons in due to foam. You cannot rely on the computers, especially when they are chipped.

 

OP I have to ask, what will you be using this truck for? Will you be towing alot, or is just for daily use? Do you have some sort of business?

The main reason I am telling you this is because Diesel's aren't really meant for anything but towing and tractor pulling if your into that stuff. Maintance and gas can get very expensive over time with Diesel's. I to have looked into getting a powerstroke, but it just wasn't relevant at the time and it still isn't.

So I sat down and figure what my main purpose of the truck would be and none of those categories came to mind, and I finally realized I'd be much better off getting a F-150 or Expedition, it's still a big suv and truck but It doesn't have a diesel that wouldn't be used properly.

Not to stab the Horse in the heart, but relatively gas miledge is pretty identical to a regular gas engine. I really see no difference, unless with them whether it be gas or diesel, you may see maybe a mpg or two more that's all.

You can put a chip etc into a diesel and get the same results, just gotta have the right stuff. If you want to know a little more about the powerstrokes and don't take what I said into some little consideration, take a look at Powerstrokenation.com and thedieselgarage.com

 

Z, that was legit. My friend is quite intelligent and he is not a BS'er. He maintains a detailed record of his fuel purchases and knows how to do math. This mileage was measured on a trip from Chicago to Florida and back. 2000 Excursion, stock except for the chip, exhaust, intake, and intercooler. 19 MPG on a trip before the mods, 26 after the mods. This was BEFORE ULSD. After ULSD, it's getting about 20 mixed driving. This guy owns a whole fleet of 7.3's - the Excursion, 2 F-350's, 2 E-350's, and a F-550 dump truck. One of the F-350's has the same mods as the Excursion, the others are all stock. The only issues he's having is the F-350 with the mods has been through 3 trannys, and the other F-350 has been through 5 trannys because the Mexicans that drive it beat the crap out of it.

 

Dude, I 100% agree with you. IMO there is no way. I have owned a 7.3 for years, and like I said.. best mileage EVER was 19.1 driving down hill with the wind to my back . I think its odd that two 7.3 owners (you and I) are trying to tell OP how its really going to be, and these two guys are saying that with little things here and there that he is going to be pulling things like 26MPG. I am not saying that he is wrong, but I definitely dont believe him.

Ill put it this way.. when I see then I will believe it. I know now though that I wont ever see it.

 

No way is he going to pull 26 with TODAY'S ULSD FUEL. However, with APPROPRIATE MODS and fuel additives I can see 20 to 22 ON THE HIGHWAY with NO load. Are the mods worth the expense? No way - unless you are going to try to run the thing for 300k miles and don't mind risking the transmission if you are going to tow with it.

 

That's true. Driving an Excursion is like driving a tank. But a tank will accellerate faster. An Excursion is basically an over-built station wagon.:o

 

the 7.3 is slow, the 6.0 is alot more powerful and the transmission is strong but you need to delete the egr cooler and install headstuds. A 6.4 is wicked 600hp on a tuner only

 

The best I've ever done w/ my 7.3 is 20.5 at 80 mph for 4 hrs. straight. Truck has a cap/topper - not sure if that helps or hurts. Most times on the highway is 17-18 mpg. Now all of a sudden at 84k miles the mpg has dropped sharply. Only changes have been new fuel filter and tires (stock size). I have no explanation???

 

Zaairman is right - above 2000 to 2200 RPMs, you can watch the dollar bills flying out of the exhaust pipe! MPGs will drop real quick!

 

Very true. The 3.73 gears and below 2200RPM and even towing 20,000lbs you can get close to 20mpg. Empty you can easily reach mid 20's. The 4.11's make it difficult at highway speed because the RPM's are too high. Unfortunately there are a lot of the 7.3's with 4.11's.

I can belive anyone believes that the 6.0 is more powerful than a '99-02 7.3 if they are both tuned. Yes you can get 600hp with the 6.0, but you can get 950ft/lbs of torque in the 7.3.

Sorry, no substitute for Cubic Inches!

 

do you realize what it takes to get a 7.3 to 950ft/lbs chip, injectors, turbo,forged rods and transmission. To get a 6.0 to 950ft/lbs tuner and larger compressor wheel.