550HP POWERSTROKE F350 Review! Tasteful or Diesel Brodozer

The Evolution of Pickup Trucks: A Conversation with James

As we sat down to talk about pickup trucks, I couldn't help but think back to our previous conversation about wheels. It's amazing how far technology has come since the old days, where you'd barely turn the wheel and work on a flip-over. Now, modern pickup trucks are like cars, with features that make them both functional and comfortable.

The 8th Generation IDI Trucks: A Brief History

When we talked about the wheels, I mentioned that the 69 IDI was essentially a non-turbo diesel, similar to a gas motor. This was followed by the 7-3 IDI in the mid-80s, which also didn't have a turbocharger. However, in 1994, they introduced a turbocharged engine, and by 1995, it became the Power Stroke, which marked a significant shift in the industry. James's first truck was an F-250 from 1995 to 1997, affectionately known as the OBS (Old Body Style). This period saw the introduction of various body styles, including the 1999 model year onwards, which ran until 2016.

The Modern F-250: A Love-Hate Relationship

James's current truck is a typical F-250, with some notable features. He mentioned that he's not set up for heavy-duty work, but it can handle everyday tasks like hauling equipment or working on job sites. However, James also expressed his disdain for the "over-the-top" trucks that have become popular in recent years. These trucks often feature exaggerated modifications, such as lifted suspensions and oversized tires, which can make them look more like cars than trucks.

A Glimpse into High-Performance Diesel Engines

James's conversation about diesel engines took a fascinating turn when he mentioned the 2019 GMC Denali with the L5P Duramax engine. This beast of an engine produces over 600 horsepower and features advanced technology, including tunable performance capabilities. However, James also noted that these high-performance setups come with a hefty price tag, ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 or more, depending on the level of tuning.

Suspension Upgrades: A Key Factor in Truck Performance

James's truck is equipped with a 3.5-inch leveling kit, which includes Fox RS4 shocks up front and standard Fox 2 Quintos Jonin in the back. This setup provides improved stability and ride comfort, while also allowing for more aggressive suspension tuning. James was particularly pleased with the radius arm drop-down bracket that came with this kit, as it enabled him to maintain a level stance despite the dropped radius arms.

The Front End Conundrum: A Case of Too Much Aggression

James couldn't help but express his disappointment with the front end of his truck, which he felt was too aggressive and "shirt-up" on the ground. He preferred a more subtle approach to lowering, where the focus is on fitting decent-sized tires rather than creating an over-the-top appearance. In contrast, many drag trucks have adopted this style, where the goal is to create an aggressive stance that emphasizes power and performance.

A Parting Shot: Driving James's Big Truck

As our conversation drew to a close, James invited me to take his big truck for a spin. I was thrilled at the opportunity and eagerly accepted. The drive was exhilarating, with plenty of torque and responsiveness that made it feel like a beast on wheels. It was clear that this truck had been well-loved by its owner and had become an extension of himself. As we parted ways, James and I shared a laugh about our shared love for trucks – an unlikely but genuine enthusiasm for these vehicles that continue to captivate us all.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey you want clean wheels spray on our wheel cleaner let's sit for 30 seconds and boom clean wheels so get all of these products and so much more when you visit Paterson car care today and get 25% off using the code Friday and if you aren't ready to commit we also have samples so wash your car your own way this is a six seven power stroke not just any six seven power stroke this power stroke belongs to my buddy Griffin who is a huge truck enthusiasts I am more of a car person but I'm always willing to try and learn more about different platforms and the different sides of the automotive culture so I brought Griffin along to talk all about the lifted truck scene and the diesel seen all together and also asking the question what is tasteful and what is a bro dozer what is pop ladies and gentlemen i with special guests James and mr. Griffin I bet you had streetcar take over and you were kind enough to be like hey you should review my truck and I hadn't seen it yet and then I saw it I was like holy crap I should review your truck you tell the audience all about your truck what is it it's power stroke but what's all done to it before I sound like it or try to sound like an expert about trucks which I'm not he will be our enlightenment today so what is it all done to this thing so it's just it's a 2019 Ford f-350 plot now six seven powers it's bully attend deleted 5-inch blowpro exhaust custom Tunes three easy link software it's got an SMB cold air intake you had a truck previously what was your last truck I had a 2013 67 power stroke and it was again just didn't delete it I had what they call box tunes on that truck essentially they're just Tunes that come on the programmer that you just plug in and it already loads where these someone actually took the time rest and I put certain boost points here and you know just like really like customer tunes to where it's a good power level right rather than because you have one for to--we you know because a lot of the times people tune their truck and then they go towing with their tune truck and then everything's all out of whack we have the hot tunes they can be they can be fun really fun sometimes but the hot tunes can also be kind of scary sometimes like this hot tune it's a safe hot tune like you can leave it in tune five and drive around and not really worry about anything but if you're like back-to-back beating on it then you may run into some things but it these tunes are really really safe it's only got a three and a half inch level on him but Ford really made these trucks sit up yeah they already said hi and especially with your wheel and tire seconds ooh I've got 24.1 the biggest and widest but just a little boy I feel like what's really funny is it have you been to SEMA yet oh yeah okay okay so what's interesting is I think your truck is right on that nice fine line of sorry everyone being the bro dozer you know like going way out there have you feel like if you go to SEMA if anybody is watching that you haven't been to SEMA you see these trucks that have almost like way too much stuff on them yeah and they're really tacky and like the wheels are deep dish and they kitten tow it with stretched tires like I know American force the coming that made the wheels that I have this past year they released their newest biggest wheel size which is a thirty inch in diameter by 16 inch wide wheels I've seen some people running around with the American forces like 18 inch wide wheels police oh yeah I mean what's so funny about when you try one of these you're pretty much I level with a dump truck like you look over like subdued years ago in late 2013 I drove this old like f-350 is practically a monster truck it was my first time driving something that was that old and tall at the same time he had so much play in the wheel I didn't really know how much input to put in you know but this the steering is fine you were worried that I was gonna hate the steering honestly I think it's fine that was 20 years ago 30 years ago I would be like trying to feel out where the tire is you know one of my favorite things about the new Ford trucks is hey James you know the room back there is nice isn't it towing I have a room from phaz but here is what people don't realize is I did a 500 plus horsepower Raptor about six months ago oh yeah yeah James was in the back basically sleeping yeah sleep like nobody doing it was so funny because I had that camera came towards me but he had tagged along because he came yeah you're just like his leg sprawl all the way out across the bench awesome I would never think that a tall truck like this would be a good like road trip vehicle you know to me but it's very smooth like really comfortable I got this up like five or six months ago and it only had eight miles on the clock when I officially took him home whoa and right now it's about to cross over 12,000 miles I've driven this thing to Daytona Panama City Beach and it's awesome like it's really comfortable so we're pushing a little bit over 500 horsepower and at the same time that foot-pounds of torque he said I remember when I first started to learn about diesel stuff and somebody was like yeah I met somebody their day like 80 pounds of booze I look what are you saying to me a diesel drag race in the NRDA Association like it's basically the same thing as NHRA with brains I know a lot of those guys are running in compounds and triple turbos that are well pushing over 100 pounds of used old Smokey's run event you see an old the quakes become yeah old f1 from the seventies or whatever run these they're running a a compound set up I think with two Darren's compounds that you use a small one to feed everyone and his small one was Stillman something look and the man and the big one was a really big when you're higher up speed is so daubed it's just pretty weird it is a weird feeling because like I've been just cruising on the air state yeah I'm like kind of starting to have to weave in and out of traffic right well like is everyone just going slow and I look down I'm doing 95 yeah you have no idea it feels way better than skrt skrt feel like I'm putting a little bit of steering input in it it's it's going around the corners just fine it's not like the old trucks are you're like going like this to get to come around we uh we can talk about Co I'm not talking about the wonderful Bluetooth driveshaft room oh my gosh chefs for president no it's so true though again there's a lot of people don't realize if you've never been to that show the reason we're mentioning C was so much because it it is a massive truck show too they have a whole top floor for offroad and you'll see these trucks come out and you're like wait can they even drive and you know with the setups they have it's sad though because like they're spending all this money underneath their trucks and you can't you tell me right now you can spend I know like Plan B fabrications Plan B fab they are a wonderful shop they build these extra like you've an amazing lift kids with all these details I don't but your tummy someone god it's been 30 40 K on there's a special you can't throw an extra few grand for a driveshaft that's measured correctly you've seen it multiple gears when one of them tries to dry out for SEMA ignited and they get stuck deal with this trick please out of curiosity I think it's a MIDI thousands on but that's from the that's stock that's not including my wheels my Tigers right those wheels have got to be heavy they are there I mean they're a full forged billet aluminum wheel they also have like I have the concave series kind of the wheels are concave in and then they do have a multi-piece serious okay you know what's interesting though back there when we have the conversation about the wheels I wonder on a corner and a decent speed you know it's it's not like the old days you're like you know what I'm just gonna barely turn the wheel and work on a flip over you know I know like occasionally my mom take this thing up around at the store around the corner to a plant like the bikes there's right and it's no big deal for her like she jumps on singing drives linked no issue they really do drive like cars now for any of this back and I believe the the eighties there was the 69 IDI which was just a non turbo diesel essentially was a gas motor than your buddies got it and then they came out the 7/3 IDI which was the same thing as a non turbo diesel and then in the middle of 94 they put a turbo on that and then in 95 started the power stroke and that was actually my first truck okay I've f250 so they're from 95 to 97 was what they called the OBS 7-3 like okay whole body style I don't know if they did anything in 98 but I know in 99 they started like the body that ran from own I I mean 99 to 2016 like okay you're a typical f250 I haven't set up I mean I could go right on a job site a cup a bobcat jobs right but like these some of these trucks are just going with these obnoxious live kids and stuff like granite light I'll give the credit where it's due there is a lot of work that goes into some of these trucks of course some of them do look really good but if there is that there's I like that fine line you can get to where it's just like like you did that you did that line words like too much right yeah I love how this review turned into just like a PSA for people building trucks like the first traction would look that was a brand new 2019 GMC Denali okay yeah the new variant of the Duramax the l5p which those things are monsters they're making way over 600 horsepower just off tunes right like safe safe tunes I was like that's awesome and then I found out it's ten thousand dollars to delete tune those yeah now I'm good up affords good she make my dad had a 2014 six seven that's right sadly got towed yeah bald tires and rain don't mix I will say though is really weird when you're driving something like this with a nice auto but it shifts so much earlier than you think it should because I'm used to gas stuff so when it's shifting where it is at 4,000 something rpm rather than say six seven whatever it's like oh is the transmission broken or something gets shifted early and then it was I was like right diesel oh let's talk about your suspension sentence so the I don't have a full-on lift kid on this truck right three and a half inch wicked customs leveling kit so it's just a three and a half inch cool spacer that goes on top of the cool spring like I mentioned now the trucks it's perfectly love what I did they're leveling kids 3 1/2 inch premium level with Fox rs4 shocks up front and then I in the back I have the standard Fox 2 Quintos Jonin and then with a what that leveling kit actually included the radius arm drop down bracket so my radius arms they drop down a few inches so that everything's still level and stuff like that it's just that one thing I noticed about this truck that I really didn't like when I got it was it was just Bulldog like the front end was like shirt up on the ground I just he just looked brand polished right like I can't do this seeing a car is the other way around you got that like drag stand so the house is low at the backside put on a truck it looks really strange well I don't know even like on the drag trucks most of the people there just like lowering just the rear to where the rider sits as low as the front I want it to be able to like still fit a decent sized tire under here of course I'm not running rubber bands on that note James what do you think oh sorry all right on that note makes so much for let me drive your big big truck it was an amazing time James you had a good time Oh hope you guys enjoyed it I know it's not a car but trucks can be fun too and I do know that people who do love trucks man do they love trucks so on that note I upload every Tuesday Thursday and Saturday and I will see you guys next time and have a wonderful day goodbye youhey you want clean wheels spray on our wheel cleaner let's sit for 30 seconds and boom clean wheels so get all of these products and so much more when you visit Paterson car care today and get 25% off using the code Friday and if you aren't ready to commit we also have samples so wash your car your own way this is a six seven power stroke not just any six seven power stroke this power stroke belongs to my buddy Griffin who is a huge truck enthusiasts I am more of a car person but I'm always willing to try and learn more about different platforms and the different sides of the automotive culture so I brought Griffin along to talk all about the lifted truck scene and the diesel seen all together and also asking the question what is tasteful and what is a bro dozer what is pop ladies and gentlemen i with special guests James and mr. Griffin I bet you had streetcar take over and you were kind enough to be like hey you should review my truck and I hadn't seen it yet and then I saw it I was like holy crap I should review your truck you tell the audience all about your truck what is it it's power stroke but what's all done to it before I sound like it or try to sound like an expert about trucks which I'm not he will be our enlightenment today so what is it all done to this thing so it's just it's a 2019 Ford f-350 plot now six seven powers it's bully attend deleted 5-inch blowpro exhaust custom Tunes three easy link software it's got an SMB cold air intake you had a truck previously what was your last truck I had a 2013 67 power stroke and it was again just didn't delete it I had what they call box tunes on that truck essentially they're just Tunes that come on the programmer that you just plug in and it already loads where these someone actually took the time rest and I put certain boost points here and you know just like really like customer tunes to where it's a good power level right rather than because you have one for to--we you know because a lot of the times people tune their truck and then they go towing with their tune truck and then everything's all out of whack we have the hot tunes they can be they can be fun really fun sometimes but the hot tunes can also be kind of scary sometimes like this hot tune it's a safe hot tune like you can leave it in tune five and drive around and not really worry about anything but if you're like back-to-back beating on it then you may run into some things but it these tunes are really really safe it's only got a three and a half inch level on him but Ford really made these trucks sit up yeah they already said hi and especially with your wheel and tire seconds ooh I've got 24.1 the biggest and widest but just a little boy I feel like what's really funny is it have you been to SEMA yet oh yeah okay okay so what's interesting is I think your truck is right on that nice fine line of sorry everyone being the bro dozer you know like going way out there have you feel like if you go to SEMA if anybody is watching that you haven't been to SEMA you see these trucks that have almost like way too much stuff on them yeah and they're really tacky and like the wheels are deep dish and they kitten tow it with stretched tires like I know American force the coming that made the wheels that I have this past year they released their newest biggest wheel size which is a thirty inch in diameter by 16 inch wide wheels I've seen some people running around with the American forces like 18 inch wide wheels police oh yeah I mean what's so funny about when you try one of these you're pretty much I level with a dump truck like you look over like subdued years ago in late 2013 I drove this old like f-350 is practically a monster truck it was my first time driving something that was that old and tall at the same time he had so much play in the wheel I didn't really know how much input to put in you know but this the steering is fine you were worried that I was gonna hate the steering honestly I think it's fine that was 20 years ago 30 years ago I would be like trying to feel out where the tire is you know one of my favorite things about the new Ford trucks is hey James you know the room back there is nice isn't it towing I have a room from phaz but here is what people don't realize is I did a 500 plus horsepower Raptor about six months ago oh yeah yeah James was in the back basically sleeping yeah sleep like nobody doing it was so funny because I had that camera came towards me but he had tagged along because he came yeah you're just like his leg sprawl all the way out across the bench awesome I would never think that a tall truck like this would be a good like road trip vehicle you know to me but it's very smooth like really comfortable I got this up like five or six months ago and it only had eight miles on the clock when I officially took him home whoa and right now it's about to cross over 12,000 miles I've driven this thing to Daytona Panama City Beach and it's awesome like it's really comfortable so we're pushing a little bit over 500 horsepower and at the same time that foot-pounds of torque he said I remember when I first started to learn about diesel stuff and somebody was like yeah I met somebody their day like 80 pounds of booze I look what are you saying to me a diesel drag race in the NRDA Association like it's basically the same thing as NHRA with brains I know a lot of those guys are running in compounds and triple turbos that are well pushing over 100 pounds of used old Smokey's run event you see an old the quakes become yeah old f1 from the seventies or whatever run these they're running a a compound set up I think with two Darren's compounds that you use a small one to feed everyone and his small one was Stillman something look and the man and the big one was a really big when you're higher up speed is so daubed it's just pretty weird it is a weird feeling because like I've been just cruising on the air state yeah I'm like kind of starting to have to weave in and out of traffic right well like is everyone just going slow and I look down I'm doing 95 yeah you have no idea it feels way better than skrt skrt feel like I'm putting a little bit of steering input in it it's it's going around the corners just fine it's not like the old trucks are you're like going like this to get to come around we uh we can talk about Co I'm not talking about the wonderful Bluetooth driveshaft room oh my gosh chefs for president no it's so true though again there's a lot of people don't realize if you've never been to that show the reason we're mentioning C was so much because it it is a massive truck show too they have a whole top floor for offroad and you'll see these trucks come out and you're like wait can they even drive and you know with the setups they have it's sad though because like they're spending all this money underneath their trucks and you can't you tell me right now you can spend I know like Plan B fabrications Plan B fab they are a wonderful shop they build these extra like you've an amazing lift kids with all these details I don't but your tummy someone god it's been 30 40 K on there's a special you can't throw an extra few grand for a driveshaft that's measured correctly you've seen it multiple gears when one of them tries to dry out for SEMA ignited and they get stuck deal with this trick please out of curiosity I think it's a MIDI thousands on but that's from the that's stock that's not including my wheels my Tigers right those wheels have got to be heavy they are there I mean they're a full forged billet aluminum wheel they also have like I have the concave series kind of the wheels are concave in and then they do have a multi-piece serious okay you know what's interesting though back there when we have the conversation about the wheels I wonder on a corner and a decent speed you know it's it's not like the old days you're like you know what I'm just gonna barely turn the wheel and work on a flip over you know I know like occasionally my mom take this thing up around at the store around the corner to a plant like the bikes there's right and it's no big deal for her like she jumps on singing drives linked no issue they really do drive like cars now for any of this back and I believe the the eighties there was the 69 IDI which was just a non turbo diesel essentially was a gas motor than your buddies got it and then they came out the 7/3 IDI which was the same thing as a non turbo diesel and then in the middle of 94 they put a turbo on that and then in 95 started the power stroke and that was actually my first truck okay I've f250 so they're from 95 to 97 was what they called the OBS 7-3 like okay whole body style I don't know if they did anything in 98 but I know in 99 they started like the body that ran from own I I mean 99 to 2016 like okay you're a typical f250 I haven't set up I mean I could go right on a job site a cup a bobcat jobs right but like these some of these trucks are just going with these obnoxious live kids and stuff like granite light I'll give the credit where it's due there is a lot of work that goes into some of these trucks of course some of them do look really good but if there is that there's I like that fine line you can get to where it's just like like you did that you did that line words like too much right yeah I love how this review turned into just like a PSA for people building trucks like the first traction would look that was a brand new 2019 GMC Denali okay yeah the new variant of the Duramax the l5p which those things are monsters they're making way over 600 horsepower just off tunes right like safe safe tunes I was like that's awesome and then I found out it's ten thousand dollars to delete tune those yeah now I'm good up affords good she make my dad had a 2014 six seven that's right sadly got towed yeah bald tires and rain don't mix I will say though is really weird when you're driving something like this with a nice auto but it shifts so much earlier than you think it should because I'm used to gas stuff so when it's shifting where it is at 4,000 something rpm rather than say six seven whatever it's like oh is the transmission broken or something gets shifted early and then it was I was like right diesel oh let's talk about your suspension sentence so the I don't have a full-on lift kid on this truck right three and a half inch wicked customs leveling kit so it's just a three and a half inch cool spacer that goes on top of the cool spring like I mentioned now the trucks it's perfectly love what I did they're leveling kids 3 1/2 inch premium level with Fox rs4 shocks up front and then I in the back I have the standard Fox 2 Quintos Jonin and then with a what that leveling kit actually included the radius arm drop down bracket so my radius arms they drop down a few inches so that everything's still level and stuff like that it's just that one thing I noticed about this truck that I really didn't like when I got it was it was just Bulldog like the front end was like shirt up on the ground I just he just looked brand polished right like I can't do this seeing a car is the other way around you got that like drag stand so the house is low at the backside put on a truck it looks really strange well I don't know even like on the drag trucks most of the people there just like lowering just the rear to where the rider sits as low as the front I want it to be able to like still fit a decent sized tire under here of course I'm not running rubber bands on that note James what do you think oh sorry all right on that note makes so much for let me drive your big big truck it was an amazing time James you had a good time Oh hope you guys enjoyed it I know it's not a car but trucks can be fun too and I do know that people who do love trucks man do they love trucks so on that note I upload every Tuesday Thursday and Saturday and I will see you guys next time and have a wonderful day goodbye you\n"