Bronson M

iTrader: (1)

CDL's are required once you get into air brakes which most buses have. The trick is to replace them with a hydraulic system, most conversions use a hydraboost system from a 2500 Chevy. This is common in the RV world in that people convert old over the road 18 wheelers to civilian use to pull their large 5th wheels. Which reminds me, a toyhauler style 5th wheel may fit your needs if you have a large enough truck.

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shuiend

iTrader: (24)

Air brakes do that. I also have zero desire to work on the tow vehicle myself. All work will be done by a local mechanic. Back in the day you used to be able to get a bus and "convert" it to an "rv" and Progressive would insure them. That changed in the last 2-3 years and they no longer will insure the vehicle. You can apply and they accept you then about a month later they send you a letter saying the underwriter has turned it down. If you already had insurance on the conversion then you would be grandfathered in.

bahurd

iTrader: (8)

@shuiend

Knoxville, 2000 F350 2WD 5SP $3450 looks like DS fender needs replacement

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/6022609664.html


Knoxville, 1999 F350, 2WD 5SP $6000
https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/6042932120.html


2004 Ford 350 4x4 crew cab - $5000
https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/6026953825.html

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

I am not sure if I wan to drive 5+ hours to buy a truck with 300k+ and trust to make it back. I personally don't know enough about diesels to do a good inspection myself. But those prices do look pretty good.

​​​​​​​But **** it, I have started sending out messages. Knoxville is only a 5-6 hour drive. Easily doable this weekend.

wackbards

iTrader: (2)

I don't know if heat soak is a problem with more modern diesels, but holy hell I fought it on my old '83 Chevy. I'd definitely include a real nasty hot start in a test drive of any used diesel.

bahurd

iTrader: (8)

1999 - 2003 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel Used Truck Buyers Guide - Ford-Trucks.com

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

Pretty sure I am heading to Knoxville tonight to pick up the 99 in the morning.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

bahurd

iTrader: (8)

Cool! You need a gun rack... or maybe just a SIG decal for the rear window.

Roda

Just gotta get rid of the hillbilly stacks.... It's a good thing it's got limo tint... no one can identify you.

That's the manual trans truck, right?

Baseline the maintenance and it should be a solid rig. When I had a 7.3, I always carried a spare fuel filter and crank position sensor... never had to use them, though.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Sweet track car you are towing.

Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

I bet you can't even tell you're towing anything pulling the 2 and an open trailer.

Be careful, after a couple hours on the highway you may totally forget your towing something...


Also, this is my favoritist thing I've seen on this forum for a while. Shuiend shops for a 1/2 ton Suburban and ends up with the most southern and American thing ever.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

Salt Life and Yeti Cooler stickers on the back, not a SIG decal.

It is a 5 speed manual. Just a little bit different then driving a Miata or Mazda2. It feels like you are throwing the stick around more then having an precise control.

I need to figure out what base lining the 7.3 all is. So I can get that done. Previous owner said one of the front ball joints were going bad, so he ordered all new replacements for upper and lower fronts, and they showed up right when I was checking out the truck. So I am planning on getting a shop to install those and then get an alignment.

I know to pick up a spare CPS to have laying around.Had not heard about needing a fuel filter. I will look into that.

Screw racing miat's, I am just going to start racing spec Mazda2.

This trip was a few firsts for me. First I had only driven one other manual truck in my life, and that was 8+ years ago. It was a mid 8-'s f100/f150 and I just drove it around my work at the time. Secondly I had never towed in the mountains before. So I was not sure how that was going to be. The truck ran perfectly and towed like there was not anything behind it. I left it in 5th and it had no problem pulling up the mountains between 50-65mph. Speeds were more limited by what was in front of me and how comfortable I felt. I was in no hurry getting through the mountains so I just sat in the right lane. I am pretty sure I could have put cruise control on at 65mph and gone through the mountains without the truck flinching.

Man I love cruise control. Once I got out of the mountains back on flat land I set it at 69mph as that seemed to be where the truck felt happy at. It just chugged along and made the drive very easy.

Efini~FC3S you are correct my progression over the last 2 weeks is a bit funny. I have wanted a 7.3L PSD van for the past several years, just never able to find one at a price or condition I wanted. But needing a tow vehicle to get to Miatapalooza next month and having cash on hand meant I needed to get something quick. I was looking at Suburban's, but read the 6L40e was pretty crap, so starting looking for Suburban 2500's with the 6L80e instead. Savington posted up about using the 2000-2005 Suburbans to tow for him with no problems with the weaker trans. So I figured I should be good with one of those for a few years, as long as I installed a bigger trans cooler and watched temps. I bounced around looking at Suburbans, Yukon XL's, Escalade ESV's. I took a look at several and had decided on a nice local 05 Yukon XL. I was planning on picking it up early this coming week as long as my mechanic did a once over and said everything looked good.

Then Bahurd comes into this and starts posting damn 7.3L pick up trucks. I had been shying away from pickup's mostly due to sleeping in them at the track is harder. I figured if I got a 7.3L pickup I could get a cheap topper and just sleep in the bed. So I decided to seriously look at the ones Bahurd posted. Called one and talked to the guy, but he had someone coming out sooner to take a look before I could get there. So I emailed the guy with the 99 asking for a number to call and talk. He responded within minutes to the email and then I called him. We talked for about 15-20 minutes about the truck. A large part of what made me feel confident about the seller and the truck was how he talked about the problems and what maintenance he had done on it since he owned it. He was talking about it exactly how I will be talking when I try to sell my 97 miata in a month or so. As an owner who knows what they have is not the prettiest, but it is not supposed to be. Mechanically it is sound and will keep going, but there is some TLC needed. He went over all the issues and did not try to hide anything. The truck also has those awesome 6" stacks, and a programmer already. So after the phone call I was pretty set on the truck. I ran a carfax just to make sure and nothing odd came up. I then jumped in my Mazda2 and drove the 6 hours out to his place. I took the truck for a short test drive and looked it over. It was exactly as he described and what I expected. We went up to uhaul and got the trailer, went back to his house loaded my Mazda2 and I headed out for a slow, but uneventful trip home.

So now to get some basic maintenance done, some truck nutz, a confederate flag, and a yeti cooler sticker. Then I will be a proper southern boy ready to go muddin.

TLDR: Was looking for plush SUV tow vechicle, ended up with the most badass 'MURICAN manual diesel duelly on the planet.

Arca_ex

iTrader: (2)

Right on, welcome to the club.

Good thing you got a late '99. Also are you sure you don't have a 6 speed in there? Transmission should be a ZF6. The 5 speeds I thought were in the OBS trucks. On mine, one gear is labeled "L" for low but it's got 6 forward gears total plus reverse.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

You are correct. It is a 6 speed, with a L gear, 1-4, then D.

bahurd

iTrader: (8)

Personally, I think a Diesel 2WD, manual, dually with crew cab is a pretty trouble free tow rig. My dad had the exact truck and put 500K miles on it before trading.

Congratulations.

Roda

Big engine, big, heavy flywheel and gears... lots of inertia. No speed shifting here!

Baselining the maintenance is the same as for anything else, really. Fluids, filters, and make sure any scheduled maintenance is up to date. Rotella T6 for the engine, and I've had good luck with synthetics in the trans and diff. Probably worthwhile to take a look at the turbo for shaft wear, unless it's been recently replaced. There's a 'NAPA filter mod' that replaces the tiny stock airbox with a big Wix filter that's a direct fit for the intake hose... don't remember the number, but it should be easy to find.

I always carry a spare fuel filter with a diesel just in case **** happens and the installed filter gets clogged somehow. Unlikely, but it has happened. It's an easy fix if you have one on hand, and they're cheap. The fuel filter cover on the Ford 7.3 is kind of a PITA. I made a wrench for mine by welding some bits together... it'll be obvious to you how that works when you take a look.

If the truck doesn't already have them, a set of gauges is a really good idea... exhaust temp and boost at least. That'll tell you a lot about what's going on.

Congrats on joining the diesel club!

codrus

Bah, with that truck you could have set the cruise control at 80 and gone over much taller mountains than those.

--Ian

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

Is it cool with the engine sitting at nearly 3000rpms consistently? I did not go much above 70mph because I was not sure if it was fine or not. With the 3.5k redline it felt a bit wrong to go that high and hold it.

Roda

1800-2100 rpm on highway for best efficiency. These motors are not meant to rev...