Hey guys, picking up this '86 F250 tomorrow. 460 automatic, 2WD, 148k miles, original owner. Has some rust, but overall in pretty good shape. It's going to need tires soon, does anyone have any suggestions? I forgot to look and see what size are currently on it...

Also, any suggestions for what I should replace while doing a general tune-up?

Overall, I'm super excited. Primary use as a boat hauler and stuff mover. Also, I'm figuring sub 10MPG, does that sound about right?

Great to be here!

 

Nice truck man, do you plan on doing any serious work or anything?

 

I haven't decided how into it I want to get. Will not get driven much, but I want it to be reliable enough to drive a few hours away if need be. Going to do a pretty extensive tune-up, and tires, then go from there. Looking to buy a boat to go with it, so not going to put too much money into it right now.

 

Nice truck. For tires I like my 30 x 9.50's. Starfires. Good load rating, track true, and run quietly.

And, from what others have said, the 10 MPG area is about right.

 

Nice indeed. My 85 F-350 "Camper Special", 146k miles, 460 auto, 2x4 gets between 8-10 mpg w/ 3.55 gears. Do you know what gears are in yours, if you don't post the Axel Code from the sticker in the door jam. It does make a nice 'hauler'. Never had any problems pulling a 4horse trailer and it handles better w/ a load on the rear.

 

Not sure on the gears, I'll check tomorrow when I pick it up, and take some more pictures.

Also, guy said it has a towing package, but it does not have a receiver hitch. Is the bumper rated at towing a decent load?

 

If it is factory towing package, it should have the oil and tranny fluid coolers and the wiring harness for the trailer. My "Camper Special" also came w/ a higher output Alternator, but not sure if that as part of the towing package or Camper Special package. Cannot comment on the bumper capacity for towing since I only tow w/ a frame mounted hitch. Maybe someone here can chime in on the factory bumper towing capacity.

 

Nice hub caps . The bumpers were rated to pull a load, and this rating depended on the bumper (there are different kinds). But if you intend to pull a boat, you will probably want or need a Class III receiver hitch. For safety and better handling.

 

Good find Chris! From what I can see that rust should be easily taken care of with some effective, buy ugly, body work. It could be my truck's beefier brother.

Get some pictures of the door jamb sticker, the under side, and the interior tomorrow. Take the dist. cap off and see how everything looks. Pull the plugs and read them. How does it idle? What speed? Does it return to idle smoothly when coasting or stopping? Does it stumble or knock on acceleration? Has she been sitting?

For the tires: what do you plan to do (max weight in the bed I mean) and do you want stock size.

I'd toss on the bumper hitch. Around here I see a mid level Class III hitch and receiver can be had under $200. The bumper is always iffy IMO. Va recently changed some of their trailer laws, mostly related to the chains and backup locations. But, most of the places that rent equipment, trailers, etc around here no longer okay a bumper hitch.

Take a look at the back of your alternator and see what connection it has. Two plugs, 3 plugs, or 3 wires bolted onto studs.

To add onto what Coney says about the towing package, the level of options in these trucks was great. I've got a F250 that was set up for towing (purchased solely for it). 4.10 rear, no AC, stripped interior, 4spd with granny 1st, 235 load tires. Has a 2G alternator and trailer wiring. Bed mounted spare tire as well. But no trans cooler (it is a manual) or oil cooler. Really the only sure way, especially after 30 years, it to roll up your sleeves.

 

I don't know where you are located, but here is a receiver for $50

Plenty of them on CL.

 

For tires, the skinny, highway tires will get you better gas mileage than the fat, offroad things. Look at the sticker on your driver's door jamb for recommended sizes. Load Range E can handle the most weight.

Yeah, your gas mileage will be approaching double-digits....

 

Well a bit frustrated with my new purchase. Went to pick it up and the brake light was on. Guy was nice and helped troubleshoot, but couldn't find anything wrong. Put more fluid in it, and he bled the rear, and they worked fine...for a while. Until I was almost home, doing 45MPH coming up on a turn...nothing. Thankfully no one was in front of me, and I made it to the shoulder fine (onto what looked like hundreds of screws!!). Called AAA and they towed it to the shop, beyond pads and rotors I let others deal with it. Once on the rollback, noticed what looked like brake fluid dripping down the inside of both rear tires. Figure while it's there I'll get a tune-up, maybe some used front tires if they have any, and a front end alignment. Also a leak at the exhaust manifold I'll probably get a quote for.

It's overall a little rougher than I thought, but not bad for $900. I'll have to see how long I can take the big block...already thinking I would rather have a 300ci 4-speed...

Thanks for all the great info so far guys!

 

I'll put money on it has been sitting and someone just put the emergency brake on - hard. I did that myself and Rogue-Wulff explained that the wheel cylinders rust up while the truck is sitting. Then, when you put the park brake on hard you move the shoes out into territory they've not been in for a long time, which allows the pistons to move out over the rust, thereby cutting the rubber pistons. Now you have a leak - on both wheels in both your case and mine.

 

That looks like a pretty good truck. I also know how picking up a truck that's been sitting is, but for the price I bet you still come out pretty good on it. The guys on here really seem to know there stuff, and depending on your mechanical inclination, you can probably do a lot more of the work yourself than you might think.

 

Yeah, still waiting on the mechanic to call be back, so we shall see. I plan to do some future stuff to it myself. I know enough to get into some trouble.