Anybody own a Ford Power Stroke?

[FooBarr]

What the hell ?, this forum is so slow and with most BRP owners in hibernation, I'd figured I'd poll the boys on what kind of rigs they drive.

So finally...After 4 months of waiting my auto broker bud finally scored me a 97 Ford F-350, Crew Cab, Power Stroke 4x4, with the short bed. Cool, I grew up on a farm and have been around plenty of diesel tractors, but now I finally got a diesel under my hood. Arrr, Arrr!!

I'm planning on this rig lasting me at least the next ten years so I've been scouring the Web trying to get the poop on my new baby. Anybody on this forum have a PS? If so what kind of goodies do you have on it? Lift, chip, exhaust, I'm open to any advice to include the stuff that'd help this thing run for the next 400K miles.

[BajaBoundMoto]

Lot's of people want a fast sports car as their "dream car". I bought my dream vehicle - '02, Chevy, 4WD, crewcab, longbed, duramax/allison, with cool stuff.

It was new 'till a couple days ago when some broad pulled out in front of me. Her minivan is totalled, my baby is pretty hammered.

Enough of that...

The real reason I replied is to tell you to check out TheDieselStop.com

That page is all about PowerStrokes and has a lot of great info. It's worth spending some time at to learn about your rig.

Tim

[FooBarr]

Thanks for the link Tim. Sorry to hear about your rig, that's got to suck.

Lost our Honda Civic about a month ago. Wife loaned it out to a friend and had a drunk driver pull in front of her. Funny think is I told my wife earlier that afternoon that loaning out the car is not a good idea. I was more worried about the friend causing the accident and we being held liable. Well here I am getting a check for blue book less the $500 deductable. What an A$$ pain.

How was the duramax? I heard that the Duramax and the new doge cummins are pretty much the heat.

I can drool over the new shiny rigs all day, but came down to something 5-7 years old since I intended on paying cash. I through with putting everything on credit. Took to long to get out the hole.

Hope you get the Chevy back soon. How you handling the whip-lash?

[BruceWA]

Tim,

Hopefully no one was hurt. Had a new truck almost totaled about 10 years ago, it was never the same.

BTW, have made an inquiry aboout the spring SD business trip and hope to have some news in the near future. What is the status of the River Trip?

[qadsan]

Anybody on this forum have a PS?

I got a couple PSD's and I love'em. They're all tricked out with lift kits, bilstein 5100's, bigger wheels/tires, larger turbo's, hi-po injectors, different intercoolers, stronger driveshafts, better torque converters, chips, pillar pod gauges, etc. Did I mention that I love'em ?

Congrats on your new toy! I hope it brings you many trouble free and enjoyable years of service.

[Rokatt88]

Oh Yeah, PowerStrokin'! I got a 1997 F350 XLT CrewCab 2X4 long bed. 6" lift, Rancho supension, 33" All Terrains w/12.5 X 16.5 American aluminum rims. White with white Stockland camper shell and carpet kit. My kids call it Moby Dick! I (and my kids) LOVE it! Totally worthy to tow der Pig, UHNT! Pigletts! Bought it used about 6 months ago with only 43k miles. Sweet! I did just lose an injector though...OUCH! Oh well, Keep On Truckin'.

Mmmmmmm....Diesel. ?

[qadsan]

My kids call it Moby Dick!

Our PSD Excursion is known as the 'Magic Bus' ?

I wonder if this stems from the music we grew up with (Led Zeppelin - Moby Dick / The Who - Magic Bus)

[John_Lorenz]

No but I have a 1942 Henway though

[Rokatt88]

On the Nose-y! ? Very Cool, Qadsan!

Space Truckin'/Deep Purple

[Chorbelt]

Yep - 97 CC, the mean, green pullin' machine. Just a thought though, Ford didn't make a short-bed in the one-ton, only the 3/4 T, prior to the new superduties.

[FooBarr]

Hey Chorbelt, you're right. It is a regular bed, 8'. Truck is so damn big I had to take a tape measure out and verify it.

Okay, seems to be some PS owners out there. Any recommendations on companies to look for or stay away from? I like performance in moderation and bang for the buck. Hey Qadsan, what brand of stuff you have? I see there's several chip makers out there. Should I just go for the single chip, or the computer programer? I figured I look at the intake exhaust first and then look at power-up with additional instrumentation. Lastly will probably be the lift. Then again not too high or I won't be able to load the bike. ?

Let me know if you have a perfered brand or a good on-line retailer to order from.

I'll check thedieselstop also, but the BRP owner seem like a wiser maturer group and figure there'd be someone worth asking.

[Chorbelt]

Foobar - I like the look of the short bed better, but when I started shopping for one, found out I would have to get the 3/4 ton with the IFS. Take a look over at Thedieselstop.com, as mentioned earlier. There are some great folks over there in the 94 -97 forum, who will give you the straight scoop on the best bang for the buck.

FWW, I have a SuperChip, Stan's headers DP, a homemade cat-delete pipe, shimmed and a 10k mod.

[FooBarr]

Chorbelt,

Yeah, its a good forum, but damn! There so much to read and you have to sort through a lot to find what you need. That forum is on steriods! I've been spoiled by this BRP forum, it's nice and slow, laid back posting with good gouge.

I did just stumble on the F-350 holy grail-of-mods site.

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/index.html

This guy has info on everything! It will probably take me a few days to read it all.

So was the fuel-reg shim and 10K mods worth it (more that the 50 cents)? Did you have the rough idle like they say? I'll probably keep the cat since I move around with the AF lot and never know where I'll be registering my truck next.

[stucknbaja]

I've got a '99 F-250, extended cab, full size bed, 4x4. I had National Spring lift it slightly and level it with springs arched to carry just the weight of the truck. I then installed Firestone airbag springs for carrying capacity. I run Bilsteins and the engine is stock except for a K&N filter. If you are looking for performance AND dependability and longevity, go with intake and exhaust mods, but think twice about any mods that increase horsepower by over-fueling. Banks has some great products, but they are expensive. I'm a firm believer in changing the oil and filter often and keeping the air filter clean. I also like to let the engine warm up good before taking off (it's a pretty good size chunk of metal) and letting the engine idle a little before shutting it off (the engine driven oil pump is the oil source for the turbo, so you want the turbo spinning as slow as possible before you kill the engine and take away that oil source).

Feed it clean fuel and love it like a member of the family.

[Chorbelt]

Foobar - Seat of the pants, when I first did them I could notice the difference, they have been in for about a year now. I didn't have the rough idle, but I pulled the no. 9 fuse overnight when I did them. You can make a cat-delete pipe by using a stock downpipe flange from a 99+ superduty (find someone is replacing their dp) and having it expanded up to 3.5" id and welding it to a stick of 3.5" straight pipe. I got my flange for free, except shipping, and the straight pipe cost $20 from Summit. This let me keep the stock cat unmolested, although I had to take it through emissions the week after I did it and still passed at only 6% opacity. ? This was the best mod for the engine, b/c I can really feel it spool up quicker. Like Stuckinbaja said, if you plan on doing a chip, watch your egt's and buy your chip from a reputable company. Baz has got a bunch of stuff, and his homepage is a great one-stop resource!

[Rokatt88]

How about trannys with the chip? I have only done a little research on the chips so far but one thing that keeps being brought up (to me at least) is that the engines are rock solid and can handle the increased power. It's the transmission that can grenade itself. I am refering to the auto trans. Other than the K&N air cleaner my engine is stock so far...

[qadsan]

How about trannys with the chip? I

Yep...that's a big concern. If you care about any kind of warranty, then forget about adding a chip, lift kit, etc. If you're going to be running a lot of power with an automatic tranny, then look at getting a better torque converter as that will go a long ways for tranny life if you boost your engine. Keep the max boost under 26psi and pre-turbo EGT's as low as possible (good exhaust, downtube, etc.). I don't put my foot into it very often, but its there if I need to.

Simply put...If you want to play, then you've got to pay, otherwise keep it as stock as possible.

[Rokatt88]

Stock! Me Likie!

[Chorbelt]

I have a 5-speed, so I'm not all that up to speed on what to do with a auto, but the biggest enemy of any tranny is heat. Most chips will also alter your shift points and lock-up. If you're going to tow anything like a 5th-wheel or TT, definitely look at getting a auxialary cooler. I don't agree with keeping it stock - Ford's engineers gave me a good starting point, but there is always room for improvment, just make sure you do the research. (Beware of chips that claim +100hp) As a further note, the stock injectors are the limiting factor with 444, so that 100 horse chip isn't going to do anything but overfuel and raise your egt's to the point of scarfing a valve. Get a good pyrometer and mount it preturbo to watch for yourself.

[rockdodger]

hey guys ?

just my $.02...

love the banks stuff

their trans-command module helps the tranny out

(still the weak link...but stays cooler...heat kills)

they make a cool exhaust brake also... (sounds wicked )

did i mention i love banks stuff??????

also got a gear vendors overdrive

22% over......4.10 gears...2000 rpm is 82 mph ( oops )

love it

later rock