They're not as fancy and refined as new diesels, they're loud ride rougher ( it's a pre 04 ), and ain't gonna run 12s from the factory, but they are workhorses and make no bones about it. They are highly dependable excellent platforms. It's a working mans truck. Theirs a reason why these trucks ( even pre 00) in nice shape are still selling close to 20k plus.
I love my 04 it's a 6.0 but I've had no issues with it, but if I could've afforded a nice 7.3 outta Texas I'd have done it.
And +1 for Texas trucks