Reliability and Economy of the pre-'99 Stroke

[rebel_horseman]

The sife and I have been talking recently about the best solution to our growing family. With the little one sure here in March, we're considering the vehicle situation to try and determine what would work best for the family.

She asked me what I thought would be the best all around vehicle for us. We need something with 4-doors (real doors not the suicide doors) for getting the kiddo and other stuff in and out of the truck, 4x4 for general farm use and for traveling in adverse weather to the mountains sometimes, and we need a truck again for towing trailers and around the farm work. In addition I'm probably going to get a used Crown Vic or Grand Marquis for general family travels and better economy.

As far as I know, the only trucks that fit that bill are the F250/350 and GM K2500/3500 trucks. I'm more familiar and fond of the 7.3L stroke because of my positive experience with my '01 so I'm leaning heavily towards a pre-'97 F350 CC 4x4 with the 7.3 Stroke, E4OD, manual t-case pretty much like Mike's old '95 that he recently traded for his Harley Truck. The reason for that is that I'd prefer the solid Dana axle over the TTB front end.

So here are my questions.

Did the solid front axle come only in the F350s?

What were the rear end ratios in these trucks? I'm thinking they were 3.55s and 4.10s.

What sort of fuel mileage were you folks getting out of these trucks? I had a friend of mine with a '97 and she got about 18mpg out of it.

If I remember right, the '97 and older trucks are non-intercooled. Am I correct in that?

Were there any other common issues with these older Strokes versus the newer ones like I had in my '01 such as ball joints, bearings, hubs, etc?

Can someone give a comparison in driving experience between the early Strokes and the later? It seemed in my '01 that you had to really get some throttle and RPMs before the computer would dump fuel and you could go. Are the older trucks more responsive?

What kind of life expectency can I expect out of these trucks? I'm guessing somewhere north of 200k but just curious.

Anything else that I missed or should know about?

 

[geonc]

Comming back from the sandbox eh?

B, my experince with the OBS PSD's are not any diff from any other vehicle.....I'm knocking at the 300k mi door and save for the freak front cover rupture, all has been 5X5

Other than of course 1 CPS and SMFW/clutch....the rest have been normal maintenance replacements associated with a 12 yr old truck with 300k mi.

re: fuel mileage----with my rig weighing 7980k and 4:10 LSD with 305/70/16 ten ply tires I still get 17 mpg----on the ORIG squirters !!!!!!....never got around to upgrading.

If the supreme decider perfers auto to a bolt action, the upgrades to the E4OD have vastly improved the life expectancy and reliability!

Just out of curiosity, have you considered an OBS -IDI no 'pooter {if manual} and perhaps even more reliable

As with any ride, gimmie reliable consistant performance and dependability over ballz out short term power anytime


just my couple pennies!

 

[rebel_horseman]

Well we are planning ahead for when I get home for good. I've got my first R&R in April and I'm hoping to deal with the vehicles then. If I get the slush box then I may just go ahead and get the thing rebuilt with good parts so I don't have to worry about it crapping out on here while I'm 9000 miles away. And she can drive a bolt action too so if that's what we get then so be it. I'll swap out the SMFW and clutch and be done with that.

I'm definately not opposed ot the IDI. I too like old school reliability and am willing to forego performance for that.

I'm glad to hear these trucks get good mileage. 17 with 4.10s and 305s is pretty damned good IMO.

Thanks for the good intel. 'Preciate it.

 

[JLDickmon]

just as, if not more reliable than, other light truck diesels of the era...

save for iron moths and the occasional errant drunk driver..

 

[Mike]

She asked me what I thought would be the best all around vehicle for us. We need something with 4-doors (real doors not the suicide doors) for getting the kiddo and other stuff in and out of the truck, 4x4 for general farm use and for traveling in adverse weather to the mountains sometimes, and we need a truck again for towing trailers and around the farm work. In addition I'm probably going to get a used Crown Vic or Grand Marquis for general family travels and better economy.

As far as I know, the only trucks that fit that bill are the F250/350 and GM K2500/3500 trucks. I'm more familiar and fond of the 7.3L stroke because of my positive experience with my '01 so I'm leaning heavily towards a pre-'97 F350 CC 4x4 with the 7.3 Stroke, E4OD, manual t-case pretty much like Mike's old '95 that he recently traded for his Harley Truck. The reason for that is that I'd prefer the solid Dana axle over the TTB front end.

Those were the hurdles I had to clear when I bought my 95, I asked my self all the same questions with two added requirements; In 2003 when I purchased the 95, the purchase price HAD to be under $15K and the vehicle needed to be at or around 100K miles. Well, I spent $15.2 and the rig had 108K miles when I bought it.

So here are my questions.

Did the solid front axle come only in the F350s?

Yes.

What were the rear end ratios in these trucks? I'm thinking they were 3.55s and 4.10s.

Correct.

What sort of fuel mileage were you folks getting out of these trucks? I had a friend of mine with a '97 and she got about 18mpg out of it.

I regularly got 18 with my 95, chipped, injectors and intake/exhaust mods.

If I remember right, the '97 and older trucks are non-intercooled. Am I correct in that?

Again, correct. And as such the turbo was not waste gated and already had the more agressive compressor wheel that the SD crowd wanted and called the wicked wheel.

Were there any other common issues with these older Strokes versus the newer ones like I had in my '01 such as ball joints, bearings, hubs, etc?

The pre SD's had a much frendlier (rebuildable) hub assy, other common problems on the pre SD's were TC failure in the E4OD, EBPV failure, GPR and GP failure which was common on the 99+ trucks as well. Need to keep an eye on the DCA levels in the coolant, the fuel heater/fuel bowls are prone to failure now that these trucks are pushing 15 years old. Of course with age and mileage you will have to inspect all rotating assemblies, but thats just regular maint.

Can someone give a comparison in driving experience between the early Strokes and the later? It seemed in my '01 that you had to really get some throttle and RPMs before the computer would dump fuel and you could go. Are the older trucks more responsive?

No, throttle response really wasnt improved but that is in the PCM programming, I highly recommend a chip custom burned, not a downloader/programmer. The 94-97's werent as receptive to the flash tuners (SCMT, Diablo etc etc) as they were not intercooled so SCMT just didnt program them hot enough to get the fuel in. Going with a custom chip ($300-$400) is a very wise investment, especially if you get an econo tune in it. However, remember that you are dealing with a V-8 here and it likes higher RPMs to find its power curve. Get that stroke at 2800-3200 RPM and it will try to move the world.

What kind of life expectency can I expect out of these trucks? I'm guessing somewhere north of 200k but just curious.

Anything else that I missed or should know about?

There are alot of them north of 300K (i think Rich is north of there with his dually no?) and geo, hheynow and a host of others on this site and SDD are approaching 300K. Reports of 500K are all over the place. Mine was at 200K when I let it go and I feel it was just getting broke in.

 

[rebel_horseman]

That's some great info....that's what I was looking for. I had a feeling those were the answers but wanted to make sure.