Even though the 7.3L Power Strokes faded from the front lines of diesel performance long ago, they can still be spotted on job sites, hooked to campers, in event parking lots, and even racing or pulling on occasion—sometimes competitively. Despite being more than 16 years removed from production, they’re far from extinct. Regardless of what outsiders think, gearheads, power junkies, and trueblue believers continue to tinker with these prehistoric,
444ci Heui-injected V-8’s and in doing so, continue to push the outdated 7.3L to new heights. As a way to bring the most powerful 7.3Ls in the nation to one centralized location, the 7.3 Jamboree was established in 2016 as an invite-only affair. For 2019, the event was made public and the invitation was extended to all 7.3L-powered trucks in North America.
The response? A few hundred passionate 7.3L enthusiasts
7.3 JAMBOREE 2019
descended upon Middle Tennessee for the three-day gathering. Some of the most powerful 7.3L-powered ’94.5’03 Fords in existence took to the drag strip, dyno, dirt drags, and sled pull. Big name 7.3L vendors Irate Diesel Performance, KC Turbos, Unlimited Diesel Performance, and Bean Machine were on hand, and several top-tier 7.3L tuners were also onsite for customer support, including Brian Jelich of Jelibuilt Performance, Dan Kropinak of
7.3 JAMBOREE 2019
SDK Performance, and Dusty Hogate and Vaughn Nugent of 1023 Diesel & Fleet. Over the weekend, countless six-, seven-, and eight-second eighth-mile passes would be made, a new fuel-only dyno record would be set, and dozens of trucks would claw their way through the dirt.
OVER THE WEEKEND, COUNTLESS SIX-, SEVEN-, AND EIGHT-SECOND EIGHTH-MILE PASSES WOULD BE MADE, A NEW FUEL-ONLY DYNO RECORD WOULD BE SET, AND DOZENS OF TRUCKS WOULD CLAW THEIR WAY THROUGH THE DIRT.
Things kicked off at Buffalo Valley Dragway, a beautiful eighth-mile track in the hills of Middle Tennessee, on Friday afternoon. E.T. Bracket, 8.0 Index, and Run What Ya Brung classes were part of the fun along with Test-n-tune. The following day things moved to Bean Machine in Woodbury, Tennessee, where the vendors had set up shop, the swap meet and Show ’n Shine were held, trucks were dyno’d, and the dirt drags took place. The action concluded on Sunday with the sled pull, also held at Bean Machine.
For a quick lesson in how to build a sleeper, event organizer Matt Maier put his daily driven ’97 through the 660 in 7.79 seconds. Full Force dual HPOPS and 350/200 injectors, an Irate Diesel fuel system, a Stage 4 Dorsey Diesel transmission, a box S467.7 bolted to an Irate Diesel T4 mount, and Gearhead tuning helped get him there.
Prior to any trucks hitting the drag strip, track rules and proper drag racing etiquette was explained to all competitors at a mandatory driver’s meeting. For first-timers, plenty of well-versed drag racers offered advice on how to best stage their trucks, when to leave on the tree, and where to pick up their time slip after each pass.
Despite battling a few traction issues, Full Force Diesel’s 4,800-pound 6.70 Index creation clicked off a 6.94 at 101 mph. Later, driver Steve Constable would also collect 7.02 and 7.07-second time slips. With the truck making the quarter finals at Rudy’s ODSS Season Opener a few weeks prior, Constable and team definitely have what it takes to run 6.70s consistently.
For those that had never seen an inline 8 pump before, Unlimited Diesel Performance allowed 7.3 Jamboree patrons to check out the 13 mm P-pump that once fueled their one-off, 7.3L-powered pulling truck. In addition to the mechanical monster on display, the company also had a booth full of brand-new sets of HEUI injectors for sale.
The folks at KC Turbos traveled all the way from their Apache Junction, Arizona, headquarters to be a part of this year’s 7.3 Jamboree. The drop-in turbo experts have become a household name in 7.3L performance in recent years, and their products proved more than capable of competing at the Jamboree—especially through the eighth-mile and at the dirt drags.
Daniel Klunk lugged his two-wheel drive, 11-second OBS some 700 miles from Pennsylvania to play with all of his 7.3L friends. His F-250 would also take a wild ride down the dirt drag track and even hook to the sled.
One of the quicker full-weight 7.3Ls to hit the track belonged to Mike Satkowski. Right off the trailer, his ’97 F-250 went 7.64 at 89 mph. His setup revolves around a built engine with Carrillo rods, 300/200 hybrid injectors, and a 5-blade S468 from Stainless Diesel.
Good friends David Beach (Super Duty) and Hastings Foote (OBS) had a bit of a rivalry brewing during this year’s Jamboree. After David put up low 8s to Hastings’ mid 8s at the drag strip, Hastings was able to grab a win during the dirt drags. But as the dirt drags involved double eliminations, David was able to regroup with back-to-back wins and steal the trophy from Hastings. The next day, the tide would shift again with Hastings pulling the sled 20 feet further.
For the ultimate display of power, Nate Vegh, his father Ferenc X Vegh Jr., and Will Hardesty brought the Jumpin’ Jack Flash Pro Stock truck (a P-pumped 7.3L) down from Shelbyville, Kentucky. For their exhibition pass, a massive 4.1-inch charger fed the engine, and Nate left the line at 5,800 rpm. All told, the mechanical monster would drag the sled 323 feet and build more than 27-mph worth of ground speed.
As Day 2 of the festivities wore down, the pulling track at Bean Machine was opened up to dirt drags put on by KOI Drag Racing. Austin Seals of KC Turbos (shown here) would take first place in the Street Class.
Making the trip up from Liberty, North Carolina, Dustin Lowe put his clean Super Cab Super Duty through its paces in the dirt drags. On top of competing in the two-wheel drive class, he would also run in the Open/modified category.
After Slaton’s second hook, however, his 7.3L sent coolant out the degas bottle cap. Not to worry—he pulled the truck back around into the pits to cool off. Following a short cool down it would make two additional (and trouble-free) hooks.
After trekking 650 miles down from southern Wisconsin, Dan Gilbertson put this impeccably clean Super Duty to work against the sled. The ’02 F-350 conceals a built engine with massive 500/400 Full Force Diesel injectors, a Gen3 over an Adrenaline, an S482 by way of an Irate Diesel T4 mount, and a BTS 4R100.
Damon Warren’s dual rear-wheeled F-350 crew cab showed up hanging weights and didn’t disappoint for our cameras. Despite the 7.3L under the hood having a cracked block, Damon still took two stabs at the sled.