how well does an IDI tow?

[superduty12v]

im looking at a few IDI's and a few OBS strokes again. how well would an IDI tow about 11, 12,000 pounds on a pintle tagalong trailer. its a decent sized backhoe. how would they stack up power and fuel mileage wise. id like to get both but i cant afford it right now.

 

[Ross01]

Powerstroke will tow better, especially with a few mods.

 

[wmoguy]

Both will do the job. Neither as good as your 24v Cummins tho

 

[Silver Burner]

Cummins is the boss for towing. I think 12K is a bit much for an IDI, but that's just my humble opinion. I do love my IDI though!

 

[Ross01]

I love my IDI, and this is my third IDI. However, where the IDI "will do the job" the PSD will pull the trailer and probably accelerate up the hills that the IDI would lose speed on.

 

[superduty12v]

yeah i could always do a 12v swap down the road lol. the 24 valve i have now is a solid truck but just rusty.

 

[Ross01]

Get a clean Ford with a bad motor and/or tranny. Do a 24v swap with your motor. Or, if you are more in favor of mechanical engines do a 24v swap witha P-pump swap onto your 24v.

 

[ManicMike]

The IDI will be cheaper to run and get better milage then the PSD, but it won't tow as fast.

 

[Ross01]

My PSD isn't an OBS, and isn't 100% stock. But I get 17-18 mpg on the hwy, avg 15, and got 12 pulling a 10,000 lbs load (my IDI plus 3000 lbs trailer). It's a crew cab 4x4 auto. I'm not sure if an IDI can do better on mileage than that in the same configuration. 3.73 gears with 285/75r16 tires. My old 2wd idi with e4od and 3.55 gears got 19 hwy, but that's not a fair comparison to my 4x4 super duty.

 

[benton]

IDI will pull anything! You just wont be pulling it very fast!

 

[Diesel JD]

We have lots of people here that pull that heavy or heavier with an IDI but I'm afraid you won't like the performance as the Cummins has spoiled you, especially if the 24V is not stock. If you get an IDI, it's going to need to have a turbo, fresh fuel system, free flowing exhaust and a tight transmission (I prefer manuals but others like autos for towing) and probably 4.10s to do a good job and even then you might think it's wimpy being spoiled with Cummins power. It will get the job done. I'm not quailified to speak on the PSD, just leave that to guys who have owned one.

 

[88beast]

idr who said it
but an idi will tow anything across country it wont set any speed records
grandma may even flip you off
but it will make it with no worries and on the off chance something happens its cheap and easy to fix along side the road
while a cummins will pull it past the speed of light but once it breaks youre looking at a ton of money for parts and lots of time
the psd will be a equal medium good power good milage ok priced parts (compare to cummins) and fairly reiable

 

[towcat]

We have lots of people here that pull that heavy or heavier with an IDI but I'm afraid you won't like the performance as the Cummins has spoiled you, especially if the 24V is not stock. If you get an IDI, it's going to need to have a turbo, fresh fuel system, free flowing exhaust and a tight transmission (I prefer manuals but others like autos for towing) and probably 4.10s to do a good job and even then you might think it's wimpy being spoiled with Cummins power. It will get the job done. I'm not quailified to speak on the PSD, just leave that to guys who have owned one.

my F450 carrier sits at 10.5k empty. it routinely hauls at gross(15k) and sometimes up to 21k(way not legal). with 4.62 and 5.13 gears, the truck doesn't even know there's a load on it's back or tied to it's tail. only problem is it won't do it very fast at all. otoh, anything faster than 65-70 with that weight, brakes are paramount and on the 88-91 f450's they get the job done very well.

 

[RLDSL]

I pull that kind of weight with my gooseneck enclosed carhauler and it's not bad at all It actually pulls easier than my 5er does that only weighs around 10k because the carhauler isn't as tall and it has a V front instead of a flat front bucking the air. A backhoe on a flat is going to have even less resistance. I believe my max is around 14 mpg loaded with the pointy front trailer, granted it's taken some tweeking to get there.

 

[johnnyb1]

I like the V8 for some things but a in-line 6[ of any kind ] just makes sooo much torque. That's why they put them in trucks and equipment. I couldn't decide either and I found another F250 first. I don't care for 'strokes simply because it's electronic. I don't have good luck with electronics.!!