Anyone hotshot trucking in an IDI?

I was pondering this very same question this weekend on my way home from the shop, right after dropping the freshly rebuilt 7.3 IDI-T back into my '85 F350. I passed a couple of Indiana Transport Dodge / Cummins rigs hauling new RV's from Goshen to a dealer somewhere southwest of me. It got me thinking about signing up to do the same, especially since the company I work for is not in the best financial shape right now and I have been keeping my eyes open for other opportunities in case I find myself unemployed in short order.

The truck can certainly handle your standard 24 to 30 ft bumper pull RV and it even has a gooseneck ball in the bed. I don't think I would want to pull a big 5th wheel or Gooseneck RV across country with it though. It will be interesting to see how much better this 7.3T pulls vs. the old 6.9 NA. Hopefully I will be up and running next weekend. Just need Wes to send me my injectors and finish hooking up a few of the accessories.

I run a 90 f250 ats turbo and retarder on the drive line delivering new campers out of Indiana. Used a f350 crew for 5 yrs with a banks and a auto.
Hauled bumper pulls 5th wheels and goose necks all over the US (Not california they aren't in the US.)
Just got rid of a 06 ford with a 6.0 tired of over complications for a diesel to run.

NeverHave-I-Ether said:

Most companies have a required minimum tow rating of 10k Ib. With an IDI you'd probably be missing some of the "good" loads. You'd be slow and they would choose someone else. A 460 would be better for a hot shot but gas.....

Never-Have-I-Ether

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460 is an awsome engine, but cant see how it could be better as a long term towing engine??

Black dawg said:

460 is an awsome engine, but cant see how it could be better as a long term towing engine??

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Agreed. It would all come down to how you have it setup. A stock 80's or early 90's smogger 460, forget about it. But start with a D0VE (early 70's) core, build it with the right cam, compression, headers, etc, and maybe even a bit of forced induction, and you could have one knarly pulling rig that would require a pull behind fuel tender. 500 ft-lbs of torque would be easy, 750+ ft-lbs would not be that hard with a supercharger or turbo.

FrozenMerc said:

I was pondering this very same question this weekend on my way home from the shop, right after dropping the freshly rebuilt 7.3 IDI-T back into my '85 F350. I passed a couple of Indiana Transport Dodge / Cummins rigs hauling new RV's from Goshen to a dealer somewhere southwest of me. It got me thinking about signing up to do the same, especially since the company I work for is not in the best financial shape right now and I have been keeping my eyes open for other opportunities in case I find myself unemployed in short order.

The truck can certainly handle your standard 24 to 30 ft bumper pull RV and it even has a gooseneck ball in the bed. I don't think I would want to pull a big 5th wheel or Gooseneck RV across country with it though. It will be interesting to see how much better this 7.3T pulls vs. the old 6.9 NA. Hopefully I will be up and running next weekend. Just need Wes to send me my injectors and finish hooking up a few of the accessories.

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The RV transportation people usually have the same rules, no old trucks doing their hauling.

FrozenMerc said:

I was pondering this very same question this weekend on my way home from the shop, right after dropping the freshly rebuilt 7.3 IDI-T back into my '85 F350. I passed a couple of Indiana Transport Dodge / Cummins rigs hauling new RV's from Goshen to a dealer somewhere southwest of me. It got me thinking about signing up to do the same, especially since the company I work for is not in the best financial shape right now and I have been keeping my eyes open for other opportunities in case I find myself unemployed in short order.

The truck can certainly handle your standard 24 to 30 ft bumper pull RV and it even has a gooseneck ball in the bed. I don't think I would want to pull a big 5th wheel or Gooseneck RV across country with it though. It will be interesting to see how much better this 7.3T pulls vs. the old 6.9 NA. Hopefully I will be up and running next weekend. Just need Wes to send me my injectors and finish hooking up a few of the accessories.

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Your engine looks great!

FrozenMerc said:

But start with a D0VE (early 70's) core, build it with the right cam, compression, headers, etc,

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This is the key to a good running 460. They were only available in cars from the factory as far as I know. The one that was in my last Dent Side truck was completely stock except for a set of long tube headers. It even was still running a 2v carb on it. I think the rear end gears were about 3.50:1. I had no trouble pulling a 14,000 load down the highway at 60-65 with that truck. Disclaimer: I never said anything about being DOT compliant.

That is a fine looking engine. I'm hoping to make a pretty motor for my crew cab. But yeah, it seems like you could pull regular campers for someone.

I have a friend who is doing the camper delivery thing. I've looked into it. I would really like to find a company that will allow old trucks and no CDL.

FrozenMerc said:

Agreed. It would all come down to how you have it setup. A stock 80's or early 90's smogger 460, forget about it. But start with a D0VE (early 70's) core, build it with the right cam, compression, headers, etc, and maybe even a bit of forced induction, and you could have one knarly pulling rig that would require a pull behind fuel tender. 500 ft-lbs of torque would be easy, 750+ ft-lbs would not be that hard with a supercharger or turbo.

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I guess my point was I dont see how a properly set up turbo 7.3 wouldnt do a better job long term than a 460.

WECSOG said:

I have a friend who is doing the camper delivery thing. I've looked into it. I would really like to find a company that will allow old trucks and no CDL

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What I think that made all these company's avoiding "old or older" trucks, Is that this implies Improper maintenance, so bigger risk that their new campers are involved with some accident?
and of course the representative factor; people who buy for much money some nice camper, and imagine if you're not into older trucks as we are, what impression that leaves for those companies?

Maybe, if one has a incredibly neatly renovated truck, "all new" those companies could make a exception? But I don't think so.

Black dawg said:

I guess my point was I dont see how a properly set up turbo 7.3 wouldnt do a better job long term than a 460.

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I completely agree with this. It sure would get better fuel mileage.

Bart F-350 said:

What I think that made all these company's avoiding "old or older" trucks, Is that this implies Improper maintenance, so bigger risk that their new campers are involved with some accident?
and of course the representative factor; people who buy for much money some nice camper, and imagine if you're not into older trucks as we are, what impression that leaves for those companies?

Maybe, if one has a incredibly neatly renovated truck, "all new" those companies could make a exception? But I don't think so.

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"I have a dream......of a day when a man isn't measured by newness of his truck, but by the amount of love and time he spent on his OLD TRUCK......I've been to the mountaintop, and I've seen how some people treat their new trucks because they got no BLOOD invested in them!!!!" Seriously, just yesterday I watched a guy in his new truck pulling his new 30+ft gooseneck camper CREAM the post next to a gas pump because he parked in a bad situation and wasn't aware of his tail swing! His wife looked HOT(and not in a good way) when she got out and looked at it.

My two newer truck abuse stories are as follows:
First, I was working for a contractor in 2015. His two trucks were a 2008 Chevy 2500 and a 2015 Chevy 2500. First, he was in the 2008 (not new but still fairly new at the time) and was pulling one of his dump trailers. He had another guy riding with him and they were heading back to the shop. He pulled into the parking area at the shop and (somehow) forgot that he was pulling the trailer (so he claimed). He went to back in to a spot in front of the building and jack knifed the trailer, damaging the battery box, exploding the battery, and pushing the end of the tailpipe almost to the ground (he hit the battery box with the tailpipe). A few months later, he was pulling the same trailer with the tailgate down on the 2015. I was backing up the other dump trailer and saw him drive by. I heard a loud CRUNCH and heard him cussing. After I got my trailer unhooked, he came over to me and asked if I saw what happened. I told him that I didn't but didn't need to since I saw him drive by and heard the noise. He claimed that it would take $1500 to replace the tailgate since it had a back up camera in it. All I could do was laugh.
Second story: I know a farmer who lives around here who trades in and buys a new Dodge every two years. One truck that he had was on it's third automatic transmission in around 100,000 miles.

Yeah, I don't "baby" my truck....it's a truck.... and I don't understand guys who do "baby" their truck. And by that I mean fussing over the paint or not putting anything in the bed without a blanket, ya know the kind. But like what you discribed, just irresponsibility. I heard of a farmer that bought a new truck every few years and the first thing he did when he got it home was to get his employees together to see it and then he'd drag the key down the side and announce, " alright, its got a scratch now let's treat it like a truck." It might be overkill, but I think it's legit. But jack knifeing trailers and not changing the oil or monitoring your gauges.......or that sagging thing everyone's doing.....