My sister in law moved to Montana and needs to replace her 2002 Corolla. She came across this truck and I need some advice. I only have experience with GM vehicles, so I figured I'd come here and ask the experts.

She will tow a two-horse trailer on occasion, but she needs 4x4 and a decent ground clearance. This has been for sale for 2 months, and they keep dropping the price. She might be able to persuade them with cash, but it looks well maintained.

1987 Ford F250 single cab long bed 4x4, auto, 351.

Ford F250 1987 4WD

Thoughts? What does she need to look out for? She really doesn't drive very far or often, so gas mileage isn't a huge issue, but I'd like to be able to give her some areas to look at for potential issues.

many thanks!

 

Rust, especially above the rear tires, is pretty common. Western trucks often are a lot better there because they don't see salt, but they usually get beat up a ranch trucks. When you find one that wasn't it's pretty rare. If that's a clean as it looks it'd be worth a lot more than that if you were selling it in the salt belt.

For towing the 351 is OK, but not exciting. Especially in the mountains towing 2 horses she'd better not be in too much of a hurry. Not that I think it's a bad choice, just don't expect to keep up with the BMWs.

I'm not sure what auto trans an '87 would have. If it's a 3 speed it's probably a C6. Strong, solid trans along the lines of a Chev Turbo 400 (since you're a GM guy), but like the 400, no OD and no lockup torque converter means poor mileage. And if it really does get 13 mpg it probably has a pretty tall axle ratio, which will hurt towing capability. On the other hand if it's a 4 speed it's probably an AOD, which will get better mileage, but isn't as tough. Should be OK but she'll probably want to make sure she doesn't tow in OD. Either way she should probably have a good trans cooler installed.

The old-school simplicity of a carb is pretty attractive to a lot of inexperienced shade tree mechanics, but EFI works really well. Carbs, at their best, can be finicky when starting cold, starting hot or going through big changes in altitude. Almost 30 years later they usually haven't got better. Carbs are OK still for some people, but if she wants something that she doesn't need to think about a carb might not be the best choice. And '87 was about the last year for carbed Fords.

Overall it looks pretty good. The main questions are whether she wants an old truck. They are inexpensive to buy, and can be reliable and inexpensive to operate. But they do take more attention than new trucks.

 

She's always wanted an older Ford of that exact body style. It's been a dream of hers, I guess you could say. She tried a Ford ranger at one point and it just ended up being a pile, then I got her into the Corolla she drives now which is reliable but isn't going to get her around on unplowed roads.

Given the mileage, this one looks like it was driven by some guy to town and back on occasion and well maintained. The body looks very clean.

Thank you for your input, it is greatly appreciated. I'm all the way out in Indiana or I'd go out and look at it for her. Sounds like it's exactly what she's looking for.