Okay, so it's not exactly what you'd call a full pull by most standards, but I didn't need a trophy to prove my day was a success or a scoreboard to display my results to be happy. I was now beaming, but we'll get to why in a minute.
I took on the Big Blue 7.3L project truck last fall with plans to take this 2002 Super Duty to a new performance level. My goal was to create a powerful towing beast and prove you could breathe new life into this proven engine.
The latest wave of modifications (see page 48 for the install) includes an upgraded turbo from Bean's Diesel, bigger injectors from Full Force Diesel, high pressure oil pump from Terminator Engineering and a few other key improvements like a custom chip from DP Tuner. To date I've been able to transform and do a lot of other great modifications to this Super Duty, but of all the installments, this was the one I've been waiting for.
The result was a deep rumble from my 7.3L with a boost of power that surprised me at first. I expected to gain power following this install, but it took some time to get used to it as well as develop some self-control.
I had no choice but to ignore my fuel mileage for the first tank following the latest mods because for the first two weeks I couldn't keep my foot out of it. It seems like I was always looking for opportunities to burn a little tread off the tires or just to stand on it between stop lights. In fact, I blew off the boots on the maiden run not 30 yards from the shop. That should have been my first clue that I was slightly addicted to the new power. Frankly, I just wasn't used to having this kind of torque and the more I drove Blue, the more it made me smile.
Now getting back to my version of a full pull. Despite my best efforts to bring it back to life, I finally was ready to give up on the mostly dead tree in my front yard. It had become sort of an eyesore to the neighborhood and it needed to go.
I got out the chainsaw and cut it down, leaving just the stump and was then ready to see how my new found power translated to real world applications. I thought about digging down deep to expose the roots to make it a little easier, but what fun would that be? Instead I was ready to see if I had what I needed to just yank it right out of the ground. I wrapped a chain around the base of the stump, locked the 7.3L into four-low and warned the on-looking neighbors that had now gathered to take a step back.
Feeling the pressure of an audience, I was hoping to have enough torque to pull the old tree out of the ground. But what I didn't expect was to yank the stump out with such force that it shot right out of the hole, knocking sideways what I previously assumed was an impossible-to-budge boulder on its way out. Now that's what I call power!
I hid any expressions of joy as I got out of the truck. I wanted those watching to think I didn't have a single doubt about Blue's new power. Yeah I played it off like I do this every weekend and it's not a big deal, but inside I was ecstatic.
Of course my neighbors seemed to disappear when it came time to load up the stump and branches in the back to haul away, but that's okay. I had given them a good show and in my mind it was greater than any full pull that I could have experience on a track.
[Pull Quote] "Feeling the pressure of an audience, I was hoping to have enough torque to pull the old tree out of the ground. But what I didn't expect was to yank the stump out with such force that it shot right out of the hole."