1995-1997 Ford F-350-Gas Or Diesel ??

1206SWMO

Well-known Member
If you were going to buy one of these trucks which one would you get? It would see maybe 3-4000 miles per
year pulling a 25 ft gooseneck with 6000-10,000 lbs on it...I'm mostly looking at manual transmissions but
might consider an automatic but do know that they are very expensive to rebuild....

From experience I know that a 1988 460 will get 7 MPG and that a gutless 1991 7.3 non turbo IDI will get
about the same MPG at the very best.....I had thought about a 1994 factory turbo 7.3 IDI but don't really
know what they will do....I recently looked at a nice local 180,000 mile 1994 7.3 turbo for $6500 but didn't
make an offer and it sold..

I have never really been around a 1995-97 Ford Power-stroke so don't know what they will do for mileage
pulling an empty or loaded trailer....I'm getting ready to go look at a nice 1997 F-350 PS manual tranny with
160,000 miles but its priced plenty high at near $9,000...Some in the area with more miles and both
automatics or manuals are priced around $4000-6000...I looked on ebay and see that 8 new injectors are
around $1,000 but would hope that a 160,000 mile truck wouldn't need them..

Diesel is from 30 to 50 cents a gallon higher than gas in my area...
 
the 95 7.3 ps will be manual only.

At work we had a f250, 94 with the 7.3 idi/ats turbo. good truck, no real complaints.

I have both a 99 f350 and f450 both with auto and 7.3 psd's.

the 350 trans gets a drip if parked nose down, and once in a blue moon it shifts funny.. but not often. engine, fine.. well over 200K on it. starts good if the bats are good. no smoke. Not a speed demon, but also can actually get unloaded milage in the 15's and unloaded w/gooseneck flatbed trailer milage around 11 easy. 411 rear end. No exp with gassers of this era.

the 450 has no drips, shifts fine, starts easy, and 170k miles. 4.88 rear end, but 19.5" tires. with that rear, she's top ending rpms to do interstate speeds. similar milage as above unloaded / unloaded trailer... however if loaded to full hilt and pulling interstate speed, I have had milage get pretty dismal... .. I'd bet 7 is a real possible #.. again.. fully loaded 14k trailer plus , plus, etc, pulling interstate speeds.
 
Years ago I was assigned a new 1997 F-350 dually 2WD, 5-sp manual, 4.10 geared, standard cab, 8-ft utility box service truck for my work. "Empty" weight was about 8500 lbs with the normal payload of tools, welder, gas bottles, etc. Running with no trailer I'd average around 16 mpg and when pulling a gooseneck and loaded down to 20-23k GCW it would get around 10 mpg. When loaded this heavy I hardly ever exceeded 65 mph but due to the low gearing even when running empty I normally kept it at 70 or under. Some of my co-workers had the same basic trucks but with 460 gassers and they'd get 10 and 5, empty and trailering, respectively. Power between the 460 and early Powerstrokes was similar. The gassers were sure a lot quieter - diesels of that vintage make a real ruckus in the cab.
 
Hey Soundguy, 95's were available with auto's, I have a 1995 F-350 7.3 PSD with E4OD auto, I've pulled 10,000-12,000 on my gooseneck many times, I get approx 9-12 loaded on flat ground, 7-9 around town and hills.

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Heres the 1997 F-350 PS that I went and looked at this afternoon....It needs a rear bumper...The inside of the bed and the cab interoir are only average but the outside looks pretty nice......If a 460 gas will get 7 mpg and a 7.3 PS only gets 10 mpg loaded then the diesel won't save me any money...There doesn't seem to be very many 1995-97 460 powered F-350's for sale in my area..
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No more miles than you are expecting to put on it; I would look hard at the big engine gas. The gas will not pull with the diesel; nor get the fuel mileage; but is a good bit less expensive to purchase. (usually) Will be hard to recover your initial cost only using it a few miles a year. I had a '95 1 ton a few years back (true 1-ton; not a dually) ; it handled the loads I pulled very well. (generally 20,000-25,000#). That EFI engine did not get as good of mileage as the older carburetor engines, though. Really depends on what you can get the best deal on, I guess. Not a lot of difference in power between the early PSD and gas; most difference in fuel mileage. If you crunch the numbers; 2-3 mpg can offset the 30-50 cent per gallon fuel cost difference. ( gas @ 2.00/gal. and 7 mpg is .285 cpm to operate; diesel @2.50 and 10 mpg is $0.25 cpm to operate.) take a long time on 3 and a half cents a mile to cover the diesel cost on 5000 mi/yr. the above scenario means the diesel would cost $175 per year less in fuel costs. something to think about.
 
I've got just over 300,000 fairly trouble-free miles on my '96 F-250 4wd 5-speed PSD. I did brakes, new LUK clutch around 240,000-250,000 miles.

Towing 10,000-12,000# you'll want at least 4.11 or maybe slightly higher gears. I've towed just over 10,000# trailer & load with my 3.55 geared truck and I thought it did real good. Won't be real fast, it's a 210 or 215 HP engine. Not the 350-400+ HP beasts made today.

Check the underside of any truck you look at with intentions of buying. Rusty power steering lines, rusty fuel lines, rusty brake lines all add up repair costs. My 19 year old truck has survived about 17 Wisconsin winters, spent two winters parked in the shop.

A 460 powered truck would tow as well as a PSD, be cheaper to fix if something goes wrong, but they are harder to find than a low mileage PSD. A good truck will be priced accordingly, a cheap high mileage truck will quickly become a money pit!
 
I know its not a PSD but I tow my gooseneck trailer, often weighing 15k to and from tractor pulls with my 97 Ram 2500 Cummins. At least with that truck, I prefer 3.54 gears in the rear. With the 5 speed manual, I can maintain highway speeds in 4th gear, which is easier on the tranny. I do use 5th gear but not if I have to pull a decent grade.
 
I guess I forgot to throw in:
Gas vs Diesel. Well the diesel should tow the load better. Depending on where you live, and how far you tow will determine if that will matter at all. If you live in Florida, then your tows will be easy. But if you live in a mountainous area, and you have long hard hauls, then you may learn to appreciate the low end torque that a diesel offers.
If you get the 460 gas, you'll get there every time. With the diesel, you wont have to drop to low gear to do it.
 
I live in western MO where its pretty flat..Most of my towing is done in Kansas where its also flat but often quite
windy....Some days its like towing in the mountains....I'm looking to replace a 460 powered 1988 Ford F-350
with electrical issues and a 1991 F-350 with the underpowered 7.3 IDI diesel that often struggles to pull a load
in 5th..Both of these trucks were in the 6-7 mpg range loaded..There was no power issues with the
460...Several times with 10,000 lbs on the trailer I was easily running 80 mph and didn't realize it..

If its still available I'm going to go look at a nice 150,000 mile 1999 Dodge 3500 dually with the 5.9 and 5
speed..Isnt that the one where the nut comes off 5th gear?? What loaded mileage does your 1997 Dodge 2500
get? I had a friend that had one and he sure regrets selling it...
 
I just bought a MM "U" puller to pull the Division 3 5500 and 6000 classes so my trailer will weigh 11,000 total..
 
They are like any other vehicle: Regular maintenance equals longevity. I traded a mint 97 pws. 250 (with automatic) because I wanted to move to a a350. This truck pulled 11-13,000 without complaint and got right around 12 mpg. I put a much larger tranny cooler on it. This would not be an issue with a stick shift. You may, with a stick shift, get a lower ratio differential, which is very important in towing heavy. This needs to be verified.
 
either truck will do the job, the big thing is how the previous owner cared for the truck, thats going to me much more important than which engine for that few miles a year towing
 
I have a 91 Dodge 5.9. With that trans. I was told to not pull it hard in 5th. Kind of hard not to do. Put synthetic 5x30 oil in, and no trouble. But have not pulled for long distances with it. To loud and to rough. Use a F250 gas.6.2.
 
(quoted from post at 14:54:17 11/20/15) I live in western MO where its pretty flat..Most of my towing is done in Kansas where its also flat but often quite
windy....Some days its like towing in the mountains....I'm looking to replace a 460 powered 1988 Ford F-350
with electrical issues and a 1991 F-350 with the underpowered 7.3 IDI diesel that often struggles to pull a load
in 5th..Both of these trucks were in the 6-7 mpg range loaded..There was no power issues with the
460...Several times with 10,000 lbs on the trailer I was easily running 80 mph and didn't realize it..

If its still available I'm going to go look at a nice 150,000 mile 1999 Dodge 3500 dually with the 5.9 and 5
speed..Isnt that the one where the nut comes off 5th gear?? What loaded mileage does your 1997 Dodge 2500
get? I had a friend that had one and he sure regrets selling it...

Yes it's the NV4500 and fifth gear has been known to have the retaining nut fall off. It's kind of a brain fart design. If you don't lug fifth below 1700rpm especially while towing you'll probably never have a problem. Most peoe have rebuilt there's with an improved main shaft that eliminates the problem for the most part. Otherwise the NV4500 is generally bullet proof unless you try to push huge power, like 700+ friends-lbs consistently.
Loaded I have never clocked mileage. But it seems acceptable to me.
 

Stupid auto correct. Ft-lbs

I forgot to say that I believe in 99 they started using the improved fully splined main shaft so the nut issue is rare with them.
 
(quoted from post at 09:14:37 11/21/15) either truck will do the job, the big thing is how the previous owner cared for the truck, thats going to me much more important than which engine for that few miles a year towing
INGO. For the 4-5000 miles you plan to run this truck a year the diesel just doesn't make any sense. You can probably find a gasser that is in way nicer shape for way less money than a diesel.
 
I have the 460 5spd truck. 410 gears. It seems fine in our mountains,not like the diesels, but good enough. At sea level, the 460 is probably impressive, at our 6000 elevation, the 460 is noticeably less than diesel. I like the 460, good heater, good power, always starts, cheap maintenance, quiet, and easy to work on. The diesels are noisy, expensive oil change, expensive starters and batterys, but good trucks. A forced induction diesel will lose way less power from elevation than a naturally aspirated gas.
 
Someone swapped it then, as 89-93 used the g56 getrag.
The advantage of the 24 valve is it leaves the factory governed to 3200 instead of 2500 like the 12 valve was. Though a governor spring kit can fix that. 5th gear isn't as much an issue at higher rpm.
Basically, with the nv4500, if you can be in 4th gear at your speed, don't be in 5th.
65 up against the governor in 4th will get better fuel mileage than 70 at a lower rpm with the 24 valve.
 
Know a guy who bought a newer 6.2 and liked it.
Then bought an early powerstroke and really likes it.

Noise in the cab can be dealt with fairly cheaply if you have some time. There are several types of matting available that can cut down on noise and heat coming through the floorboards and firewall.
 
I bought a 99 F350 4x4 dually crew cab power stroke auto with around 170,000 for around $10,500 a couple years ago. It had Banks exhaust, transmission controller, gauges, and a 60 hp chip. Supposedly hadn't seen only one NY winter but after blowing brake lines and finding rot in the cab and bed corners and pretty rough cross members on the bed, I think it had seen a little more salt than the previous owner disclosed. Doesn't look too bad with the truck being black. I got a slide in camper for it and also pull a flatbed sometimes at the same time. Also pull a 25 ft. bumpee camper too. It pulled pretty good but for $240 I put a TJ Performance chip in it with the knob on the dash. It really wakes up the truck. I get around 10mph. Doesn't seem to vary a whole lot when loaded. I did end up doing tires and brakes all the way around. I also rebuilt the tranny myself when it started slipping. I maybe will put 5000 miles on it a year. Does what I need it to. I wouldn't buy any of the newer diesels from Ford. You have to pull the cab to remove a valve cover.
 
(quoted from post at 15:34:55 01/03/16) Someone swapped it then, as 89-93 used the g56 getrag.
The advantage of the 24 valve is it leaves the factory governed to 3200 instead of 2500 like the 12 valve was. Though a governor spring kit can fix that. 5th gear isn't as much an issue at higher rpm.
Basically, with the nv4500, if you can be in 4th gear at your speed, don't be in 5th.
65 up against the governor in 4th will get better fuel mileage than 70 at a lower rpm with the 24 valve.

So I assume you have a 24 valve? As mentioned I used 5th gear while hauling but not if Im pushing it hard. I consider over 20psi of boost to be pushing it.
Aside from being mindful of that, I consider it a robust transmission considering what Dodge intended the truck to do. In 97 they did not intend this truck to tow 15,000 lbs and some people often tow more. I think the NV4500 has a GVW of 19,000 lbs. I am regularly pushing more than that, and more power than it was rated for. With my mods it should be pushing 600 ft-lbs through a trans intended to take 460ft-lbs.
So that's why I use 20PSI as the limit for sustained power in 5th because that's "stock" power. I've pushed 35psi in 5th for brief moments. Sustained high power in overdrive is bad because of the heat it will generate in the transmission.
 

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