Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Is the 7.3 PSD a better engine than the 6.0 PSD?

Congats Tom

Nice looking rig .Gonna have to bloody that gal in the fall.

Now in the APE family, the 6.0 is an Orangatan and the 7.3 is a silver back Gorilla plainly speaking. The 6.0 makes less noise but the 7.3 can pull a house down in comparison with far less time going into the shop for repairs. I have several friends who pull 30ft trailers going to field trials with their horses loaded in the back and their trucks have spent a lot of time in the shop, mostly minor things but nonetheless it's down time to the owner. They all agree the 7.3's they used to own were much better pulling vehicles.

I have a 2004 6.0 in a F350 Crew Cab and a 2000 5.9 Cummins in a Quad cab. The Cummins is a lot better off the bottom where I need it most, plus it gets better mileage. That may have to do a little with the single rear wheel on the Dodge vs. the Ford dually.

I feel more secure in the Ford when I tow heavy, but the 6.0 is pretty weak compared to what I expected. The 6.0 hasn't given me any trouble, but I do hear of problems for many others. The 7.3 isn't trouble free, but it is compared to the 6.0 as reported. I cannot say how much better the 7.3 pulls first hand, but it would be hard pressed to be as good as the Cummins. There is a lot to be said about an inline diesel engine.

The 7.3 is by far a less troublesome engine than the newer Ford diesels. It is also bigger and better sounding.

The Cummins is like geology in terms of longevity. Unfortunatly the Dodges do have smaller rear seats (except for the newer Mega Cab).

My dad has one in his F350. It has about 70k on it(a bunch of hours feeding cows etc., not many miles). It's been a good engine, beats the hell out of the 460's he used to run.
Not a super puller but does alright.