F350 with 460 or F250 with 7.3 idi

[Ethanlogan99]

Well I am looking around for a truck since I get my license in a month... Anyways I have looked at an 93 F350 with a efi 460 in it, and a 91 F250 with the 7.3 N/A. The F250 has 210k miles on it and the F350 has roughly 247k on it. I know that's a lot for a gasser, but it has been babied its life. It is an automatic. It has no rust, no dents, and just a couple paint chips. It's a crew cab. The only wear in the interior is a few spots where the seat is starting to rip. The F250 is actually pretty decent itself, very little rust and a small dent on the back of the bed. It is a single cab 5 speed. Interior is clean too. If I get the F350 it may need a rebuild pretty soon. My question is what's the best bet? I like both, but the F350 is in better shape.

 

[Clb]

4 door gasser is gunna kill yer wallet,
The mileage is a killer as most of the useful life is used up, not all.
Sounds like this is the one you really want( just a guess) the idi will keep running and the manual will last longer than the auto,
If ya live on the prairie and dont have to navigate the city or college parking lots the quad cab is cool ( its gunna take a 40 acre feild to u turn it)
The 2 trucks are opposite ends of the field.
What ya gunna do with it?

First truck cool factor 350
Cheaper cost of maint' 250
Untimate fantasey buy both put the idi/manual in the quad cab.

 

[towcat]

if the F250 is a 4x4, the turning radius will be as wide as the f350
no matter how you drive it, the 460 will have a love affair with the gas pump.
imho, a dream truck at your age is nothing but a joke. if the truck survives 'till you're 21, you will have beat all the oddsmakers in Vegas.
every kid who gets their lic at 16 will have gotten into a wreck before they are 18 and will have gotten into a major wreck by the time they ae 21. I have yet to be proved wrong and I am the parent's first call. Why? I own a towing company. If I do the pickup before police rotation gets to it, the cost savings are enormous.
my vote? buy both. when you blow up the gasser, and it will be sooner than later, transplant the diesel into it.

 

[Ethanlogan99]

4 door gasser is gunna kill yer wallet,
The mileage is a killer as most of the useful life is used up, not all.
Sounds like this is the one you really want( just a guess) the idi will keep running and the manual will last longer than the auto,
If ya live on the prairie and dont have to navigate the city or college parking lots the quad cab is cool ( its gunna take a 40 acre feild to u turn it)
The 2 trucks are opposite ends of the field.
What ya gunna do with it?

First truck cool factor 350
Cheaper cost of maint' 250
Untimate fantasey buy both put the idi/manual in the quad cab.

Yeah I like the F350's looks, the obs crew cabs are cool (my cousin has a 97 crewcab). I do like diesels better though. I know the old idi's are really cheap, but I didn't realize they were that much cheaper. I will pull a little, nothing to much. Full bed of cow cubes, a 12ft enclosed trailer during duck and goose season. Mostly just going to classes or work. Probably tweaking some things for more power too, turbo, turn up fuel, injectors ect, with the 7.3. I would love to put the idi in the crew cab, but I don't have near enough to buy both of them and pay for the conversion .

 

[needlenose]

Get the F250 with the IDI. No computer, no emissions(?), no telepathic automagic transmission, better fuel economy, and it will go the 247K *without* being babied.

 

[Clb]

See us old guys think alike' I think towcat was channeling my first thought.
The 250 is a smart buy, for a cheap start and cost per mile if it lasts say 2 yrs.

 

[DaveBen]

Get the diesel as the gas 460 will eat you alive, $$$ wise.

Dave

 

[Ethanlogan99]

if the F250 is a 4x4, the turning radius will be as wide as the f350
no matter how you drive it, the 460 will have a love affair with the gas pump.
imho, a dream truck at your age is nothing but a joke. if the truck survives 'till you're 21, you will have beat all the oddsmakers in Vegas.
every kid who gets their lic at 16 will have gotten into a wreck before they are 18 and will have gotten into a major wreck by the time they ae 21. I have yet to be proved wrong and I am the parent's first call. Why? I own a towing company. If I do the pickup before police rotation gets to it, the cost savings are enormous.
my vote? buy both. when you blow up the gasser, and it will be sooner than later, transplant the diesel into it.

The turning radius will be the same? Even though it's a single cab and not a 1 ton? Anyways, I should buy both? Everyone here says that the 460 will be a wallet sucker. Should I buy it and save for a 6.9 idi motor to swap in?

 

[towcat]

The turning radius will be the same? Even though it's a single cab and not a 1 ton? Anyways, I should buy both? Everyone here says that the 460 will be a wallet sucker. Should I buy it and save for a 6.9 idi motor to swap in?

i thought the F250 was a SC truck. that's what I get for speed reading. reg cab will turn tighter but a straight axle truck will turn the tightest. IFS trucks especially D50 IFS need 40 acres when under a SC truck.

 

[Ethanlogan99]

i thought the F250 was a SC truck. that's what I get for speed reading. reg cab will turn tighter but a straight axle truck will turn the tightest. IFS trucks especially D50 IFS need 40 acres when under a SC truck.

Ok. I'll probably go with the 7.3 to start.

 

[Clb]

Probabley not what you want to hear' but a pos econobox that gets high mpg while being easy to maintain would let you save for a nice second car/truck.
My youngest went thru 3 in his first 2 yrs driving( and he paid for them himself)

 

[Ethanlogan99]

Probabley not what you want to hear' but a pos econobox that gets high mpg while being easy to maintain would let you save for a nice second car/truck.
My youngest went thru 3 in his first 2 yrs driving( and he paid for them himself)

I had thought about doing that. I looked at some tacomas and liked some of them. The problem with that is I live on a farm, so a truck is needed. I can defiantly get by without 4x4, but it would come in handy for the back road I live on. I can just gen some sand bags and through them in the back. I really don't need a big 4x4, I just stumbled across the two I liked and thought about buying one of them. I also looked at 2nd gen Dakotas, but the mpg with them isn't really all that great either. Should I go with the 7.3?

 

[Clb]

Both trucks are 2x4?
Either one have a limited slip rear diff?
IF you need a 4x its worth it to go there, they do not make it worth wile if you only lock in the hubs 3 times a year.
Whats the guys on the ranch telling you?
Out here we are kinda proud of our trucks' but ya'll back home USE your trucks as trucks more.
Need versus want... Hauling towing dragging stuff , or just getting a case of oil and groceries.

When I was yer age my first rig was a 66 f-100.
Never owned anything but trucks( I dont count the fleet of air cooled vw's as I spent as much time walking/wrenching as driving) whats mom/dad say?

Seeing your other post,,, a minni truck!
Look at the yotas
My 83 has 250+ on the chassis
Daily drive it and do the rubicon trail twice a year.
You wont get a decent yota for 90's ford $$$ tho.

 

[pafixitman]

I say IDI 250 also. Heck my Grand Cherokee 5.9 kills me in gas, I can't imagine what a 460 gets (8 downhill?). As a previous owner of a CC - they are long and you better have started your turn yesterday to be finished today.

On a side note - as Tow Kitty said the sad reality is you will be in a very elite group if the vehicle is not wrecked. I was in 6 accidents by 23 - two were total losses only one was not my fault. First total loss was 5 months after turning 16. I do consider a full size truck a good first vehicle though. Looking at my Hyundai Elantra as it sits in the garage after getting a$$ ended Monday night (first accident since October 1989 (2nd total loss that night))makes me wonder about unitized body construction!

 

[jhenegh]

if the F250 is a 4x4, the turning radius will be as wide as the f350
no matter how you drive it, the 460 will have a love affair with the gas pump.
imho, a dream truck at your age is nothing but a joke. if the truck survives 'till you're 21, you will have beat all the oddsmakers in Vegas.
every kid who gets their lic at 16 will have gotten into a wreck before they are 18 and will have gotten into a major wreck by the time they ae 21. I have yet to be proved wrong and I am the parent's first call. Why? I own a towing company. If I do the pickup before police rotation gets to it, the cost savings are enormous.
my vote? buy both. when you blow up the gasser, and it will be sooner than later, transplant the diesel into it.

I guess I escaped that statistic The 1999 F150 4.6L/5-speed that I paid my own cash for in 2007 is still goin' strong as my current daily driver. Done up to towing 5-7klbs regularly for a few years, 2 years of commercial snow removal and about to wrap up quite a few years now at college. Only accident in this truck was rolling a doe into a ditch at 15mph on an icy road; no damage. (I've had a fender bender in my old Taurus that I drove for 2 years while commuting more, but 1 busted headlight and I was good to go.) Enough about me.

I'd personally lean towards the smaller truck that will get your job done. You are shopping in a currently "low" gas price time but a big truck will still eat $$$. I almost bought a 1997 F250 w/ 460/E4OD when I was 16 (in 2007) but I knew I didn't want to spend all my money on gas. 9-10mpg in that truck vs. the 14-16 in my F150 doesn't look like a lot, but 50% better gas mileage makes it sound like a much bigger difference. I know for a fact, now also owning a bigger 1994 solid-axle F250 and having driven quite a few more over the years, driving my F150 with a better handling suspension (real IFS front) and overall lighter and more nimble truck kept me out of some trouble. Big trucks don't stop, turn, go, or get fixed fast or cheap. My F150 isn't a little bumming around vehicle (like that aforementioned Taurus), but I'll be the first to admit it drives nice while still being a full-size. Slam on brakes and turn HARD to avoid trouble in F150? Hairy situation, but keeps all 4 on the ground with 4 wheel ABS to boot. Do the same in the F250: hope it can lock up a tire or two, pray the body roll doesn't take the rest of the truck with it, and try to find a new diesel core support when the one on the truck destroys whatever it was I was trying to not hit.

My 24-year-old 2 cents of opinion.