I currently am running a 1997 f450 7.3, This truck will be unusable in CA Jan 1st 2017, due to CA emissions.
I found a 2006 f550 6.0 auto with 42000miles, bone stock for $8500
I will be using this truck to tow a concrete pump that weighs about 10000 Lbs, with about 2500Lbs in the bed.
My goal is to invest in as much preventative maintenance as I can, without opening up the motor to do head studs, coolant crossover, etc.
My plan so far is to put on a
coolant bypass kit
coolant flush with elc coolant
oil filter bypass kit
either a blue spring regulator kit ,or a fuel crossover kit
either a bulletproof egr, or egr delete( I would prefer to delete the egr but don't want the expense of an sct to get rid of the CEL)
Hutch mod for fuel tank
Pre pump Fuel filter
A four pod gauge pillar with EGT, oil temp, coolant temp, and fuel pressure gauges.

This truck has a steel tank and I expect it is or will be delaminating, Should I run just a pre pump fuel filter with stock HFCM or get an air dog? Will the stock HFCM be able to pull fuel through a 20 micron filter? If I get an air dog, do I still need a pre pump filter to take out the chunkage or will the air dog handle that?
I believe the HFCM also has a fuel heater, will removing the stock HFCM throw a CEL?

I scanned the truck with AE, and did koeo, koer, glow plug, power contribution test, all came up clear, no DTC's.
oil temp/coolant temp delta was within 1 or 2 degrees.
Any opinions are welcome This truck will buy me 5 and a half years from today, so I don't want to get super crazy on it, as I will be selling in about 4 or 5 years with about 65 k to 70k miles.
The price I am getting it for is a steal, and hopefully I can use it and still be able to recoup most of my money.
Thanks

 

I'd start knocking out the items you listed on the plan. Drop the tank or do some sort of inspection to check it's condition.

Using an AirDog 100 or 150 will supply the OEM pump with clean healthy fuel. Most people will say not to use the AirDog II unit.

 

I've cleaned the tube/sock screen filters on sending unit/pickup on plenty of 7.3's with the steel tanks, whatever ford laminated the tanks with turns into a nasty slimy silver mess.
I've never put a pre pump filter just cleaning them fixed problem.(loss of power, fuel press drop to zero on an extended grade)
The truck I'm getting has a contractors body with wood slats on the bed, for now I am going to just cut a small opening, so I don't have to drop tank.
I just figured a pre pump filter with a see through canister, I would visually be able to drain/clean as needed.As for using an airdog with stock pump, would there be any issues of the two pumps "fighting" each other? The hfcm takes returned fuel from top of motor and sends unneeded fuel back to the tank, the airdog most likely outflows the stock pump, so it would(in my mind) just be circulating lots of fuel from tank, to hfcm, back to tank, until it was needed (big load or wot)

1st pic is what came out of one tube, second is of debris removed from two tubes in sending unit. Out of a 2000 f550

 

Since the AirDog 100/150 supply low PSI fuel at 100 or 150 GPH there isn't any real issue. It's a "add on" lift pump, not a high PSI supply pump.

Look here for some other ideas for filter/separator units.
Baldwin Filters | DAHL Filters

 

got it, thanks for the info as well.
As far as deleting the egr, if I bought an SCT, could I program the egr off without putting in a power tune?
Also does the SCT cover different year powerstrokes or just the 6.0?
Reason I ask is my 2000 7.3 has an edge attitude that has just gone blank on me last night, gonna call edge to see how I can get my truck to stock tune, I figure if I can use it on my 7.3 I may bite the bullet, besides I know a lot of guys talk smack about the edge programmers, I had been thinking of trying a different programmer.

 

I picked up truck today and my oil and coolant temp delta was 6 degrees at most.
Looking at paperwork that I got from previous owner, a lot of warranty work was done.
# 4 and 6 injectors replaced, turbo housing and unison ring, new turbo, vgt solenoid, turbo drain pipe, up pipe and y pipe, degas reservoir and cap, oil cooler and egr cooler, coolant flush, egr valve, stc fitting, right stand tube and dummy plug.
oil cooler, egr cooler, degas reservoir, and turbo replaced at 36000 miles.
I'm going to get an oasis report to see if I can find out if the stc fitting is now a one piece design, and if the egr cooler is an updated design as well. I hope the stc fitting and egr cooler are newer versions that are less prone to problems.
Going to get started on flushing coolant ,oil filters ,fuel filters, coolant filter, and oil bypass filter this week.

 

I had airdog II and it went out 3times. . . :-/ . . They always warranty it but . . I think I'm going to get a fuelab pump to feed thru the airdog II. . .

 

well, I've been knocking out stuff on the list so far I've flushed coolant completely, fuel filters, new brass water drain for hfcm, blue spring upgrade, sent ficm out for bullet proofing and flashed to original tune, and am in the process of oringing the injectors and oil rails. I originally was only going to replace left standpipe and dummy plug as the right side had already been done, I figured since im in there, to rering all injectors and oil plugs.
I have the drivers bank wrapped up just need to install pass bank.
What I found when I opened right side is the engine still has factory 10mm stand pipe and dummy plug, The dummy plug was on the verge of failure with only 42000 miles! It would have screwed me eventually.
I had kicked around the idea of injector orings ,and decided to do it since I would be under the valve cover anyways I am glad I did, the oasis report shows that the stand pipe and dummy plug have been replaced .So now I am questioning all the other work that was done as per the oasis report.
My main concern is if the STC fitting has been upgraded, I actually went to my local ford dealer to verify that the STC fitting installed was the current version, and they said it was, but to put it bluntly, I have no confidence, If they can lie once they probably will lie again. Also the truck has an oil leak on the back of the engine, I know when the original stc fitting lets loose it can crack the rear cover, so was the STC bad and replaced and the cracked rear cover left in place? or is it original and loose that caused the crack? I have yet to verify that is where the leak is coming from, but have it narrowed down to cracked rear cover, and rear main seal, as the front of the motor is dry on both sides, the camshaft sensor and crankshaft sensor appear to be dry.
Looks like I am going to pull turbo and hpop cover to verify new fitting and may remove hpop to try to seal cracked rear cover if that is the case.
Has any one had luck sealing a cracked rear case when that original stc fitting lets loose?
I was thinking of using the ford grey diesel silicone , its pretty thick and nasty and diesel oil resistant.