Whats next? Ramblings...You'll learn nothing new here...

[cleatus12r]

Originally Posted by fifity

This and I am starting to get used to the power my truck has...So whats next? Either drive it and love it or spend some money .

I have just a pretty plain truck. 2002 7.3 with an intake, turbo back exhaust and the upgraded Injector controller thingy..oh and of course my 6 pos chip

Will bolting on a 38r do me any good without retuning? or would I have to get it retuned? No tuning necessary for that. It will run great (and likely better) with the programming you have now.

Would I find more juice with an Adrenaline for half the money? Need retuning? You MAY run into a "rolling idle" by installing an aftermarket HPOP, but it won't hurt anything. By "rolling idle", I mean that the engine RPM may fluctuate 50-75 RPM every 4-6 seconds. Usually, it's not enough to move the tachometer needle, but you can hear it.

Injectors are pricey...but I can always save up and get something in December...

Its either some go faster parts or converting my dually to a srw...new wheels and tires, and a bit of body work on the bed...That might save me a mpg though? Maybe not, cause I would try to go with 35's...or 37's....how much of a lift would I need. I have a couple of issues with this question/statement. You want more power, but you are thinking of going to a larger/heavier tire. Also, you are concerned about MPG, but you are thinking of going to a far less aerodynamic setup.

This is a story I have told a lot of people. My brother and I had identical trucks (he still has his, but my ex took mine). The only differences were the interior, lift, and tire size. I was running 255/85-16 at stock height and he has 315/75-16 and a 4" lift. Same tuning, same driver (me), I could consistently break 18-19 MPG while his truck struggles to get better than 14.

How would I convert the speedo for the bigger wheels...
Either have Ford reflash your ABS module, use something like AutoEnginuity to do the same thing. Or you can go with the hard-wire route and the TrueSpeed as Dave suggested.

Bored at home...this is what two days off in a row will do to me...plans and plans...

See red.

[fifity]

Cody,

Thanks for Chiming in. I have been busy. I was invited to the San Bruno incident to observe.

The whole DRW to SRW thing as posted above...I would really like to make my truck skinnier...and have a few extra inches of suspension travel...Probably 35's to fill what ever lift I would end up getting to run fill the extra suspension.

I can't really imagine that going from dually rears to 35's would add any weight. I can see the added 4-6 inches with the tire/lift combo eating up some mpg though. But getting rid of the fender flares will help as well...I think that if I break even and end up skinnier, I will be happy. Remember I live in bay area where all roads, parking spots, driveways etc are made for prius width cars. My wifes element is not considered compact by any means.

Soooo back to dreaming. A 38 r or an adrenaline in your opinion?

[Colt]

Your going to think I'm nuts when I mention this..

I've got a 07 F-450 with a service body.. It's loaded heavy, I drive it almost daily back and forth to work, when I get tired of driving it I switch to something else ( either the '00 F-250 or the '05 F-350 ).. Even then, I'm typically in that truck working 12-14 hrs a day. Often times I use it to pull one of the cars to the track because it has 99% of my tools in it.

It's bone stock other than the Edge W/Attitude. Runs 245/55 19.5's ( I might be off a little on the size ). The wheels are crazy heavy, steel 10 lug wheels. Has 4.88's gears..

If you keep the truck a tad under 65 MPH, I've seen this truck get 20 MPG many times.. But if you go over 65, or your driving in the city, idling and what not, typically I see 12 MPG, it's even been in the single digits a few times.

When I bought this truck, I figured it would get horrible fuel mileage, and it would only be used when I have to work at railyards and such. A 1 ton wouldnt have been truck "enough" for what I needed to do, so I was screwed basicly. After a while, I started driving it daily because it did better than my "daily drivers".

It sounds nuts, even more so when ya look at the size of this thing...




My 05 F-350 4 door SRW is lucky to get 15, it's got exhaust, Edge Platinum and EGR delete.. I was towing today, hauling round bales. 14K LBS load, plus trailer, plus truck, it got 10 MPG driving 60 MPH. I hauled 50 bales, 10 at a time, 50 miles round trip.. It's averaged 14-15 it's entire life.

My '00 F-250, I used to get 18 out of it ( I've seen 20 a few times, it got 22 one time ), before I tore it down to do a BUNCH of maintaince ( including injectors and such ), I only got 12 on a good day. If I can get it back up to 14-15 I'll be happy. The odd thing, I could hook up to my 35ft enclosed G/N race car trailer, with car and supplies for a weekend, on a 800 mile round trip, it got 11 both ways. Yet only got 12 empty before I tore it down. It's got a 4 inch lift, running 35's.

A pic of the F-250 and the trailer I was talking about.. Truck getting 12 empty, but 11 with this trailer Obviously has ( or should I say had? I hope ) problems..



So what am I saying here? Mileage from one truck to another is a total crap shoot. A F-450 should NOT get that kind of mileage weighting what it weights ( best guess is 14K ), but it does.. A slightly older truck, same engine, weighting much less, gets worse mileage ( running close to the same RPM at the highway speeds I run them ).

Swapping over to SRW, I really dont see you gaining a single thing from it.. In all honesty, by the time you swap that out, have the body work done so it looks right, your better off finding a different truck. Your truck is worth more now ( to the right person ) than it would be if you modify it like that..

I'd look into a different solution, but even then, that might be what your stuck with. Toss all kinds of parts and money at it, it could get worse, you just never know..

[fifity]

Well, the really only reason to convert it is to make it easier to drive around. It is my primary mod of transportation right now...as for ever selling it...heck, I plan on running this thing into the ground...

My heart is not set on 35's...I wouldnt mind a set of those new 20's that are coming on the newer superduties though. I have no idea what their size is.

I do want a bit more suspension travel for my...well...more spirited driving days...

[Colt]

Ah, I gotcha.. I know what you mean about making it easier to drive around. Dont know how many times I've got myself into a situation with the F-450 that took quite a bit of thought to get out of.. It's so easy to get into a situation ( parking spots for one ), and how hard it is to get out HAHA..

Browse around at some of the lifted DRW trucks out there.. I really like the looks of some of them. There is a F-350 that runs around town that makes my jaw drop every time I see it.. If I actually had a use for something like that, I'd have to own one.. Granted, you cant really get the width with DRW's, but if done right they look good and it's something you dont see everyday. Around here there are so many lifted big tire SD's and Dodge's it gets to the point that once you've seen one, you've seen them all. You know what really looks good? A bombed diesel, running a BIG slick in the back, and need that big of a tire. That might be a bit out of your price range though ( buying that much power to need a slick that size I know I sure couldnt afford it, I'd lift it instead HAHAHA)..

I dont think I've noticed the new wheels on the 2011's, I'm always too distracted looking at that ugly grill and headlight package. It is much better than the '08's though I like the way the 19.5's look on my F-450, they fit really well, so I'd imagine another 1/2 inch would probably look decent.