1999 Ford F250

Most of us involved with diesels know it doesn't take long for budget-oriented buildups to spiral out of control. The diesel addiction is unique when compared to other forms of motorsports in that a lot of trucks you see at dragstrips and sled pulls used to work for a living and most can still tow or haul on a daily basis.

Mike McSpadden's '99 Ford F-250 started life as a mild-mannered work truck on his ranch, but when he got tired of towing his horse trailer and pulling out tree stumps with a stock rig, he decided to turn it into the ultimate tow vehicle. But after trying the first few power adders, which were intended to help him tow easier, he decided to take the truck in a completely different direction. "Somewhere along the way, I hit the dragstrip-and I got the bug," Mike says.

Heading straight for the power, Mike added a set of Stage II single-shot injectors and a new turbo, which he's since replaced with Stage III injectors from Dynomite Diesel Performance, and a Garrett GTP38R turbo. To get adequate fuel flow to the fuel rails and ultimately the injectors, he also installed a regulated fuel return system from ITP Diesel and deleted the factory fuel filter housing for optimum fuel delivery. Then he installed an AirDog fuel system with a pre and post fuel pump fuel filter setup. The ball-bearing turbo's 88mm-diameter compressor exducer combined with its 1.0 A/R exhaust housing makes it a popular choice for modified 7.3L's and provides Mike's truck plenty of air. The exhaust makes its escape via dual Grand Rock Aussie stacks.

With that much fuel, Mike needed to make sure the HEUI high-pressure oil system was up to the task of delivering enough oil to maintain plenty of power. So he upgraded the 7.3L's high-pressure oil system with dual high-pressure oil pumps from Terminator Engineering. The high-pressure pumps sit in line in the engine valley. Then, to balance out oil rail pressure on both sides of the Power Stroke's cylinder heads, Mike added ITP Diesel's HPX crossover line.

After burning up two 4R100 automatic transmissions, Mike had John Wood Automotive build him a stout, race-ready unit. Some hard parts included in the build were a modified billet torque converter originally designed for a 6.0L Power Stroke, an upgraded valvebody, transmission pump, and a billet input shaft. To tie all of his power adders together, Mike had Jody Tipton of DP-Tuner calibrate the truck electronically at a live-tune session.