So, I just moved into a service truck and I'm still trying to get her all figured out. She's a 2001 f-550 w/ 7.3l and low-hole 6 speed overdrive. All dressed out and ready to fix stuff she ways bout 15,500 lbs. When cruising in the highway when you get to 65 mph the engine is turning 2500 rpms. It will run 70, but 65 just seems smoother like that is the sweet spot. I got past the other day by a tire truck that seemed identical, just different bed, he had to have been doin 70+. A guy from one of our other stores said in his old truck (set up pretty much the same) he just held it to the redline (governor) and let it fly. He claims his held up a long time, but I'm pretty skeptical. So... my question is, how many r's are too many and how fast will these trucks (sanely) cruise at?
How fast? At 15,500 lbs, I think the question is- how does she climb hills? Enjoy the ride
I've got a 2002 F-550 set up the same way, it's got a 4.86 rear. I usually run mine about 45mph, 55 on the highway because I don't like to hear the engine turning so fast. Fuel economy drops dramatically above 2300 rpm as well. I don't think I'd run over 3000 rpm for extended periods.
Honestly they will run for 200,000 miles+ pinned to the wood with proper maintenance. The powerstokes HEUI system is hard on the oil and running them pinned to the wood takes an oil with a heavy anti foam additive package. I would run your OCI under 5K with that kind of RPM usage. The F-550 was also available with 5.30 gears if you really want to go nowhere fast. I have a 93 F-450 with the Naturally aspirated 7.3L IDI diesel in it. It light weights out at 12K with the tools on board. ITS painfully slow on hills and takes forever to get up to speed on the highway but gets the job done. with only 77K on it and is in MINT condition! i get compliments all the time on what good shape its in for being a 15 year old work truck. That and the way the economy is i don't think its going to get replaced anytime soon.
:iagree I really think the sweet spot with a 7.3l is about 2K rpm, that being said, i know F550's are pretty low geared, so i would say don't rev it over 3500 and you should be good to go.
with my 2000 F-350 i have driven for 5+ hours at 2300-2600 rpms with the 6 horse in tow combined weight of the combo is 27,975 Lbs. Truck now has 353,000 miles. In summation the truck wont take it, sell it to me immediately and cut your losses. i have $5,000 cash in my hand right now:cool2
Absolutely, Dualie's right, cut your losses... :cool2 But I have $6,000... :naughty OCR...
my 2006 F650 gets up at about 70+.......but she does not like those hills.....lol
back in 1999 i had a f550. 7.2 powerstroke drove to Keywest FL. from houston tx for a service call...made ther in just over a day.....do the math....
I wouldn't wind the truck up to much 65 is good. I have 2 7.3s same service trucks with the IMT bodies and when business was good the trucks were quite heavy. I drive a Ford F-550 IMT body with a 6.0 diesel in it she'll do 90 if you want, but I don't want to 65-70 is fine for me. THe 7.3s all went to 230,000 miles, the trannys didnt they went maybe a 100-120K. But like I said the trucks were probably overweight with tools, a welder, compressor, steel, parts, you know the drill.
I really appreciate the input. Dad always taught me not to just keep winding on an engine. I just don't like to hear a mill having its guts twisted out, but then I wasn't raised around diesels . One of the guys at a sister store drives his hard and tells me its ok. His is an '06 F-550 with a 6.0L, but his ways in excess of 19,000 and I saw a trip summary on his GPS that I saw him take out of his truck. Top attained speed said 89.2 MPH and I know for a fact the speedo on his GPS is 1 MPH slow....
On the Big Dig, my Ford F Superduty which is an F-450 weighed 20,900 lbs. We had no where to store parts but had to have everything on the truck so if something broke down we could get it going right away. After the dig was over we took a lot of stuff out to make it legal.