Go back to 1994 for a minute. At that time, when the Navistar-built 7.3L Power Stroke debuted as the replacement for the 7.3L turbo IDI, it sported a crankshaft with larger mains, beefier connecting rods, direct injection, six head bolts per cylinder, and a fully electronic injection system. Though it displaced the same, 444 cubic inches, virtually nothing else was the same.
From the factory, Navistar made sure the 7.3L’s crankshaft would hold up for the long-haul. Made of forged-steel, its main and rod journals, as well as its fillets, were hardened to resist wear. The crankshaft’s 4.18-inch stroke is the second longest ever offered in a V-8 diesel (second only to the 6.7L Power Stroke’s 4.25- inch stroke), which aided the engine’s various instances of class-leading torque figures throughout its nine-year production run.