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'97 F Super Duty, more questions....

2K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  Bradbilt 
#1 ·
Just bought this truck a couple weeks ago as per my first thread, and I have a couple of new questions.

1. Does anyone have a picture handy of the throttle pedal assembly that they could post up for me? I have an aftermarket throttle system, "Throttle Commander" and it's for idling up the engine to run the PTO for the hydraulic crane on the truck. I'm having problems with the Commander, it's got a bad connection or something inside it's module because I'll be driving along and I will lose all throttle, check engine light comes on, and I just wiggle the module and the CEL goes back off and I have throttle response again. A new module is $425, I'm thinking to take it out and put a stock throttle pedal back in the truck and go with a TS 6 position chip and just use that to get my high idle.

2. If I go with the TS chip, I'd like to run around on the lowest 50HP setting. What kind of EGTs are you guys seeing with a 50-75HP tune with just average driving, not trying to race or run up a long hill? I just can't imagine having EGT troubles with a little 50HP tune with just average driving. My Dodges have no EGT trouble at all with 150HP+ tunes with just average driving. My setup is, and will not change, from a stock intake, stock downpipe, and stock exhaust except I did remove the cat converter as recommended.

3. I see a bunch of these OBS trucks have "saggy bumper syndrome" on the front. It looks like it's happening over time because of no brace that comes out towards the end like the Chevys. Any tricks to fix it or just a new bumper?





 
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#3 ·
I have absolutely no egt issues in my 40tow tune. 60also isn't too bad either... I know ya said it won't change, but might wanna reconsider at least the intake, more air equals lower temps, an open element filter can go a long way. Especially if your adding fuel. If it were me I'd at least do the intake and downpipe as a supporting mod and to aid in keeping egts low, just my .02
 
#7 ·
That is what I am hoping for, if guys can run around on 100HP tunes on stock trucks and use the power here and there, I should be able to run a 50HP and not have to worry. I don't plan to install gauges. I know I know, but I can't hardly imagine melting a piston with a 50HP tune cruising flat land country roads.:blah:

I realize that the factory intake and oval downpipe is not the best for pushing some power, but I am not real interested in spending a bunch of money on this truck. It's a get by truck at the moment, I bought it to get the Dominator body and Crane setup. My plans are to upgrade to a Sterling Bullet or Dodge 4500 in the near future, so dumping a bunch of money on mods for this truck doesn't make a lot of sense, and I probably wouldn't even bother with a power adder, but since I have to have a high idle feature and that 6 way chips looks like the best route, I know I'll find myself using that 50HP setting.

I will watch my local craigslist and maybe I'll get lucky and run across an OBS truck with an exhaust, intake, gauges, etc. that I can pick up on the cheap. I'm seeing a lot of these OBS 7.3's being parted out around here.

For the throttle. Unplug the commander and just plug the ford harness into the throttle pedal
I did that.
 
#4 ·
Oh, and even with the stage 1s when I still had stock turbo, I never had high egts in my 140-aggressive tune just normal driving, only when getting on it hard. And 140 is just a generic name for a stock injectored SD, not sure what it would actually be with bigger injectors
 
#5 ·
The bumper and or bumper brackets are bent. They are really thin metal and pushing a riding mower will bend them.

You best bet for straightening them is loosen the brackets as the frame and let the bumper slide all the way down. Then tighten the bolts. Take a floor jack and 2x4 and jack up the corners till they touch the fender. Then let off the jack. the bumper should be straighter . If not enough, take the bumper off and the brackets off and beat it flat with a sledge or put it in a press, then reassemble


For the throttle. Unplug the commander and just plug the ford harness into the throttle pedal
 
#6 ·
Sounds like the bumper is easy enough, thanks guys.
 
#8 ·
Intake can be done with a 4-5" piece of 4"exhaust pipe and a filter of your choice, the cheapo spectra did fine for a long time before it began dusting the intake. Just lookup diy intake
 
#10 ·
How much more noise is there with an open element filter? When I did that to my '01 Dodge, holy cow it was considerably noisier with a woooooshhh sound. LOL I need it to be quiet, I have a hard enough time hearing and talking on the phone and trying to do 60mph.
 
#9 ·
On a side note, I am really liking this PSD. I always kind of laughed at them being a Cummins guy, but it runs pretty good for 225HP. I will say it doesn't have the low end pull like an equivalent 225HP Cummins, but I think the top end is probably a bit stronger. Kind of wish I had an auto, so that it would stay in that upper powerband sweet spot instead of it trying to have to climb back into it every time I shift with the 5 spd. I definitely wouldn't mind a 50HP tune to get it through the gears just a hair quicker in traffic.
 
#14 ·
Where can I get a downpipe for $100? I'm still trying to figure out how you can get a 3" piece of pipe even in there!:doh:
 
#13 ·
Can't remember how loud stock turbo was, d66 transition was cosiderably quiter though
 
#15 ·
Been reading a bunch of stuff about these engines and trucks with searching through google.

How do I tell if mine is a CA emission engine? All that I see on the sticker on the valve cover is that it's CA legal in vehicles over 11000 gvwr.

One thing I notice is how quiet this 7.3, I remember my grandfather's '95 F250 being so loud compared to this one. His also would do that stutter or rpm jump when it was first started for a few seconds, and then smooth out. This one doesn't do that.
 
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