good morning-  in Sept I bought a 97 F350 (7.3L turbo,  automatic, 171,000 miles) the truck I had before that was a 92 250 w/ the same engine only standard transmission and no turbo.  I"d had the '92 since it was new and most of the miles were towing/hauling hay, etc.  it didn't accelerate very fast but once it got up to speed had plenty of power.   

 I figured the 350 would have even more but thats not the case.  it "clunks" when shifting into higher gears, and when I"m pulling the trailer w/ the overdrive off the rpm's go to over 3500.    it does well with out the trailer but of course the whole point of having the truck is to pull the trailer. normally I"m only hauling 2 horses so it's not that much weight,  I"ve had 3 in the trailer and then the truck really bogs down.    it had a new transmission 30,000 miles ago according to the previous owner.  I've had the transmission checked and the mechanic said everything seems OK.  should I consider a chip?  take it for a 2nd opinion?   or should I consider getting a newer truck? 

I've got the same truck, with lot's of power. I use a Microchips Tunner. You really need to modify your exhaust if you have'nt done so. The turbo down pipe is flat and very restrictive.Change it out and go with a 4 inch exhuast all the way back. Also very important to modify your intake if it's not too late. The factory one leaked and could damage your turbo. Most of us go with an open element type.(Tymar is the best.) Better filtration and way more airflow.  Put a after market transmission cooler on it also, the factory one is too small.Ck out the site below for expert info on these trucks.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php

http://forums.thedieselstop.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=9497gen1

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/_import/pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/index3.html

Ditto what rockyrider has said.  I'm currently runnin' a '96 F-350 like what you're talking about.  The clunking in the higher gears does NOT sound right,  the engine that you had in your '92 was VERY different from the engine that you have in this '97, in fact about the only thing that IS the same is the 7.3L displacement.  Way too much to go into here, but you probably have the 4:10 gear ratio in your rear diff. which means in most cases you will be better off leaving the trans. in overdrive for pulling, not drive.  3400 rpm's is the start of the "caution, watch what yer doin" range, and by about 4000 rpms it's to the "shit-oh-dear back 'er down" range of that engine- not good.  The trans. is made to stay in torque converter lock-up when in overdrive, that was upgraded by the manuf. to keep from T.C. lock-up/non lock-up which caused a lot of heat that would drasticaly shorten the life of the trans. 

  As far as the exhaust and chip and so forth, like I said at the top, rockyrider has it right, and clean out or get that catilytic convertor off there, they are natorious for cloging up and causing tremendous back pressure.  For what it's worth, I too use the Superchips Max Microtuner.  They (the P.S.D.) tend to be "doggish" without soething to "open them up" a bit.

  Hope this helps some, P.S. I've got within a couple of hundred miles of 300,000 on my ole' girl and still runnin' strong!  Talk to y'all later... 

I'm sorry but  I feel way in over my head already.  if we're talking about medicine or horses I"m on solid ground but this engine/transmission stuff is confusing.  my 250 had nothing special on it and when I sold it had  200,000 + miles and towed fine.  I planned to get a larger trailer so wanted a truck w/ more power and got the '97 - price was right and it had had reg. oil changes and maintenance.  the prev. owner had used it pulling a larger trailer and said he hadn't had any problems and I believe him. 

what do you mean I should modify the exhaust and intake if it's not too late?  the factory intake may leak and damage the turbo?  yikes!   dosn't sound good.   sometimes when I turn it off do notice a diesel smell... don't think this is normal- the old one never did that. 

I'm off today - am going RIDING now.. think when I get home will see about taking it in to another mechanic for a 2nd opinion.   I really don't want to spend a lot of $ modifying this truck.  seems like it should run fine with out having to do all that but am I wrong?     if I got something newer like say a 2000-2003 would it be recommended to modify that one too?

I wouldn't say you'll spend lot's of money modifying it,and they really are easy to work on and fun.

You asked about a chip, if you use a chip,(or tuner) you will be producing higher Exhaust Gas Temps, thus the need for better exhaust system and intake. As far as factory intake,there was a recall on those I believe (at least a factory service bulletin) your mech should be able to tell you what's going on with yours.

The thing about the PSD is it produces way more torque than drive shafts,trannys,and rear ends can handle so they are de tuned at Ford. All it take is a little moding and you can wake her up, or go all out and achieve massive HP gains. It's up to you.

My three horse LQ trailer weighs in around 12K and I can run up and down the Missouri Ozark no problems.

A friend of mine has the same truck with no mods and has no problems either.

Make sure you mech is familiar with PSD's. You can get all the help you want,including recomendations for mech in your area from the websites I posted.