Thinking About An Older Ford Diesel

[akdiesel]

Guys,
I have had a few of the newer diesels (2005 Duramax, 2008 F-350 6.4, 2006 Cummins) but have strong feelings towards the older diesels I had an 86 F350 with a 460 before and love the older body style. The truck will be a DD and a tow rig whenever I get a camper (part of the reason I'm looking toward an older truck to save $$) From what I understand with the OBS trucks the 250's don't have a true solid front axle..something about TTB and a Dana 50? I am pretty unaware so I will ask some questions some of which I'm sure are a little stupid.

What year did they start making diesel crew cabs?
Part two of this: Are the extended cabs full back seats or jump seats?
Any immediately necessary mods for reliability?
What kind of fuel mileage am I looking at in a CCLB 4wd?
Max towing capacity/do they tow a fifth wheel decently?
What year did they get a turbo/are the NA diesels worth a damn?

I'm looking for something reliable, 4wd, CC/Ext, LB and prefer SRW. I have a 4 month old and plan on at least one more so definitely need either a CC or an Extended Cab if it has a full bench seat like my old 86 for car seats and baby stuff. I had posted this on PSN, PSA and PS.org but I had read you guys were the place to come for OBS/IDI stuff.
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[theguruat12]

Extended cabs are full back seats. NA went to turbo in 1992.5, and then to Powerstroke in 94.

6.9 IDI 1983-1986
7.3 IDI 1987-1992.5
7.3 IDI w/factory turbo 1992.5-1994
7.3 Powerstroke 1994

I have an 85 6.9 and I certainly don't mind the power, towing small trailers (not goosenecks) I have no issues at all, mine does have an aftermarket turbo on it though. Many consider the best year to be a 1987 6.9, because it does not have the cavitation issues that the 7.3 has, and has many upgraded 7.3 parts on it.

Check out the info in the sticky threads in the 6.9 & 7.3 IDI forum, it will answer many questions you may have. One good thread has many FAQ's about these engines: http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?5467-IDI-Forum-Frequently-Asked-Questions-FAQ

Welcome to Oilburners!

 

[akdiesel]

Thanks for the great information. I will check out the FAQ thread for sure. That's great to hear that the 87 is a good year. I grew up around a 87 CC DRW flatbed F-350 my buddy's dad had. Heck I learned to drive in that thing.

 

[kc0stp]

What year did they start making diesel crew cabs? 1983 when the first diesel came out
Part two of this: Are the extended cabs full back seats or jump seats? Most are full back seats but occasionally youll find one with jump seats
Any immediately necessary mods for reliability? Pending milage refreshing the fuel system (Injection pump, injectors)
What kind of fuel mileage am I looking at in a CCLB 4wd? Anywhere from 10-20mpg typically
Max towing capacity/do they tow a fifth wheel decently?
What year did they get a turbo/are the NA diesels worth a damn? 93-94 Turbo IDI 94.5+ Powerstrokes, personally NA are worthless in my opinion and the turbo'd ones can leave some to be desired

I'm looking for something reliable, 4wd, CC/Ext, LB and prefer SRW. I have a 4 month old and plan on at least one more so definitely need either a CC or an Extended Cab if it has a full bench seat like my old 86 for car seats and baby stuff. I had posted this on PSN, PSA and PS.org but I had read you guys were the place to come for OBS/IDI stuff.
__________________

Answers in red (sry apparently a quote doesn't meet minimum length requirments )

 

[akdiesel]

Right on. Thanks for the post. I just had never seen that body style in crew cab..searched it and found pictures just wonder how hard to find they are. I'm interested in either the 6.9 or 7.3 but don't know which would be better...but I absolutely love the 83-86 body style...I know it's no powerhouse but with a turbo can it be comparable to a stock PS? I'm mainly asking for the day when I get a camper and want to pull it.

 

[rob93]

Extended cabs are full back seats. NA went to turbo in 1992.5, and then to Powerstroke in 94.

6.9 IDI 1983-1986
7.3 IDI 1987-1992.5
7.3 IDI w/factory turbo 1992.5-1994
7.3 Powerstroke 1994

I have an 85 6.9 and I certainly don't mind the power, towing small trailers (not goosenecks) I have no issues at all, mine does have an aftermarket turbo on it though. Many consider the best year to be a 1987 6.9, because it does not have the cavitation issues that the 7.3 has, and has many upgraded 7.3 parts on it.

Check out the info in the sticky threads in the 6.9 & 7.3 IDI forum, it will answer many questions you may have. One good thread has many FAQ's about these engines: http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?5467-IDI-Forum-Frequently-Asked-Questions-FAQ

Welcome to Oilburners!

Actually the NA idi went all the way to '94 as well. You could get turbo or NA in that last year and a half. Just so you know when you are searching for a truck, just because its 93 or 94 doesn't necessarily mean it has a turbo.

 

[theguruat12]

Actually the NA idi went all the way to '94 as well. You could get turbo or NA in that last year and a half. Just so you know when you are searching for a truck, just because its 93 or 94 doesn't necessarily mean it has a turbo.

Correct. I only wrote in the newest engine for each period.

 

[kc0stp]

Right on. Thanks for the post. I just had never seen that body style in crew cab..searched it and found pictures just wonder how hard to find they are. I'm interested in either the 6.9 or 7.3 but don't know which would be better...but I absolutely love the 83-86 body style...I know it's no powerhouse but with a turbo can it be comparable to a stock PS? I'm mainly asking for the day when I get a camper and want to pull it.

Turbo IDI running decent boost (10lbs) is roughly equivalent to a 94-99 7.3 PSD if the PSD is 100% stock at least on the power side of things. Ill be the first to admit that part of the reason Im so ******* IDIs for power is my location, when you never get below 4200' elevation (live at 5200') and frequently have a thousand foot (or more) elevation change is a short distance you need decent power to tow a trailer. Heck some of the highways around here Im 99% sure a NA IDI couldn't hold the speed limit on (empty Im at probably 80-90% throttle to stick with traffic)

For reference that particular highway/section of road is basically ~7miles of 8% grade peaking at 11,000' roughly

 

[Lithgow]

Thats some serious highway grade and elevation! I can see where as naturally aspirated wouldnt work too well there.

 

[Ruger_556]

From what I understand with the OBS trucks the 250's don't have a true solid front axle..something about TTB and a Dana 50? I am pretty unaware so I will ask some questions some of which I'm sure are a little stupid.

All F-250's came factory with Dana 50 TTB front axles. F-350's have a Dana 60 solid axle. If you buy a truck with a Dana 50 keep in mind that you'll need to change all the bushings out (And in all likely hood the ball joints too). Takes about a weekend and the bushing kit costs $100 and if you do the ball joints too that's around $400. Once done the TTB will ride and handle better than a Dana 60 all though prone to alignment issues if the bushings aren't done when required. Swapping in a Dana 60 costs about $1200. Ignore the Dana 50 haters on here... They just get scared of all the two extra moving parts in a TTB front end. I had good luck with mine and I didn't have any tire wear problems.

 

[theguruat12]

All F-250's came factory with Dana 50 TTB front axles.

Or a Dana 44HD TTB.

 

[GOOSE]

The D60 came out in 1986. 80-85 F350's have the D50 TTB and the 250's have the D44HD TTB. The D50 TTB made their way into the F250's from '86 on up.

 

[Ruger_556]

The D60 came out in 1986. 80-85 F350's have the D50 TTB and the 250's have the D44HD TTB. The D50 TTB made their way into the F250's from '86 on up.

I forgot entirely about the D44's

 

[kc0stp]

Anyone else notice that the OP disappeared?

Thats some serious highway grade and elevation! I can see where as naturally aspirated wouldnt work too well there.

Heres a video of the west side approach of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR-gMWRzvOg Havnt tried towing up it yet as the only reason Id have I could just take I80 and avoid most the hills however I basically go all the way up on the west side repeatedly in the winter to go ice racing in my truck and Ill be the first to admit its working to make it up at 65 (speed limit)

For those that care the math works out to ~2000' elevation change in 8 miles