just picked up this truck couple weeks ago, tthe truck will be drove daily and ocasionally use to haul up to 10k lbs. on a trailer. my question is "what are the first things to break or mess up?" i am a backyard mechanic so i will be doing all the work my self.

also i might have access to all the leaf springs (only) off a 91 f30 4x4. any disadvantages to swapping those to my truck?

thanks

 

That's a tough truck so there's isn't much that will break. The F250HD was essentially an F350 anyway with a full floating 10.25 rear axle and bigger leaf stacks so you may not see any gain from the F350 parts. Typical wear items are brakes and U joints, and the 4x4 shifters always seize up and will break the linkage if you force them, disassemble and libricate it instead.
What you should also know is the truck is way underpowered as delivered, there is a lot of potential under the hood but Ford smothered these early motors badly with a tiny cam and restrictive exhaust. These two issues can be addressed fairly cheaply but you could also just live with it, you just won't be getting anywhere very fast with 10k strapped on behind.

 

well after i do the clutch kit, flywheel and slave cylinder, the brakes are next. the ebrake barely holds on flat ground. i crawled under and saw it was only pulling from the passanger side. drivers side is either rusted or stuck.

from my mustang expirence, i will go with long tubes for that low end, and cam wise i am a little up in the air. Lunati 90351LK - Lunati Truck Avenger Cam and Lifter Kits this is one kit i have looked at. i will definitly do alot of research before that purchase. my top speed will be 45 mph when towing , so every bit of low end power i can get i will take. any other secrets or opinios on that would be helpful

 

4:10s if it already does not have them

 

what is the factory gears?

 

most of them are 4:10's but theres exceptions to every rule

what you need to expect is goin slow.
LOL
they are seriously tough trucks though..
Tie rod ends can be a problem if not replacing them with quality parts.

 

i just cleanedthe id tag on my front axle. it read 354 e8ta tc 610311-1 which is 3.54 gears in the front then that means 355 in rear. the axle housing stamp reads p344 71 41582b 591. help with that would be nice

goin slow is fine and safe.

 

The Crane 444232 produces outstanding gains from this motor when combined with longtubes and it's completely EFI friendly.

 

what about the sterling rear end? are parts easy avilable for it?? are they pretty stout?

 

Sterling is the best diff they came out with in an Fseries light duty pickup until the superduty's made the Dana 80 available.
They are stout, and with a windsor you'd have to be trying REALLY HARD or being REALLY STUPID to break one.

they only forseeable issue you could possibly have is needing to tighten up your yoke on the diff. Thats usually on really high mileage units, or trucks that have done a fair amount of towing.

 

Something to be aware of on these trucks, Make sure your front end is not a solid axle dana 60 like my F350, Because there isn't a long tube header out there that will fit it. As long as it isn't, long tubes should be fine.

 

from the id palte on the front axle, i believe it is the dana 50. also cause mine is a HD (if i am correct) it means i have a dana 50.

lets just say i did something stupid and broke the rear end (i didnt) where woulds i get parts for it? how about getting a rear axle out of a late 90's f250

 

That is such a load of crap. All the companies say that and I have yet to have 1 problem pulling long tubes on a D60 truck

 

well i dont have to worry about the d60 problem but thanks for the info

 

Which ones fit, according to the companies, the only one that says they will fit is flowtech 12504 for the 351w. I'd like to know which ones will fit, because i'd like to put long tubes on my 1990 f350, but i don't want to buy something that i can't make fit. and i'd like to have something with primaries bigger then 1.5"