I've read these board for a while and have learned a lot; thanks for the great advice. Here is my situation: My daily driver is a 91' f150 lariat with the 302. I'm very happy with this truck except that it is 2wd so I can't take it through the Jersey pinelands and it is awful in the snow.

I'm thinking of looking for a 1980-1986 4x4 with the inline 6. I would like to spend under a $1000. It would not be a daily driver. I would use it in the snow and for fishing, canoeing, and exploring the pinelands.

I have learned a lot from my current f150 and I would have a mechanic friend look a truck over before a buy it. What do you guys think? Am I likely to end up dumping thousands into an old truck or is it likely that I could find an old truck that will not need tons of work? Thanks...

 

if you find a good running, not rusted to the max, plow capable 4x4 for under $1000. you will be very, very lucky.

if by any chance you do, it will probably have to have some work done to it even for occasional use.

 

You could fine a 4x4 for under 1000 dollars but its almost most certainly going to need word. New Jersey Pine Barrens now your in my stomping grounds. I got a 88 f150 4x4 for free but it needed a transmission. Now I use the 88 for my beater/ offroader in the pine barrens and keep my 05 nice and clean. As for finding a non-rusted out one good luck because we are located to close to the jersey shore so everything rusts. Good luck

 

There's a couple of ways of doing this.

Finding a 4x4 in good condition in NJ that's reasonably priced is going to be tough.

If the body/frame is good on your truck, you could maybe find a similar truck that's a rustbucket, with a good tranny and differential, front end parts, and swap them over.

Another option is to put extra weight in the back of the bed, which will help you with traction. I have an F350 2wd crewcab, so it's heavy enough I don't need to load her down for driving in the snow. I've never been stuck in general snow, with the exception of this past winter where we got about 2' at one shot (northern NJ) and I decided to back out into it before it was plowed. I ended up sitting the truck on the rear axle and the front suspension, tires not on the ground

 

Frederic, I've been stuck that exact same way. It really sucks. Usually a dodge will come along and pull you out, too.

A couple hundred pounds of weight in the back and good snow tires will do wonders for your traction in the snow. Unless you venture out into 2' of snow, it'll be tough to get stuck.

 

3 or 4 feet is no problem for me


It's fun when you can stop in 3-4' of snow and take off without a hint of traction problems...hehe

 

As I get older, I'm more realistic. If it's snowing like that, I should just stay the funk home and not deal with it.

I need new tires for my CC, but I need a job first to pay for them.

Long time ago I had an 81 crewcab wtih 48" tires, and it didn't get stuck in anything. Rain, snow, mud. That truck even crossed the delaware river at low tide (and not across a bridge, either).

But my days of high adventure and constantly fixing things that break hopefully are long over. I'd rather make neat things than fix old annoying things.

 

Right on frederic...


I tow a snowmobile trailer and need 4wd...but I like the added security of the go-anywhere capability. I know I can go through a snowstorm with my trailer and not need to be worried.

 

Have you NJ guys ever seen the Jersey Devil??

 

plenty around here for less then 1000 bucks, of course they're all beat to hell, and bairly run.

of course you could always find one with a real bad body or a blown motor and steal the 4x4 parts and convert your 2wd to a 4x4

 

Yeah do a conversion. The front axle will bolt right up to the 2wd mounts. I've done it before. You'll need to swap the tranny as well as the transfercase because the transmissions are different. Atleast the E4OD was, I don't know about yours.

 

I do have a friend down South and I was thinking of flying down there and trying to find a truck down there and drive it back up to Jersey. Wouldn't it have less rust than trucks up here in jersey?

 

less rust and about two or three times more expensive.

 

Look on Ebay for some old trucks around $1000 bucks if you'd be willing to fly somewhere to get one. I've searching for a while for a 4wd 5.8 shortbed F-150 and I've found like 2. Must be rare.

 

Mgdemarco,

I would follow biggreentank's advice as he said:
I just did a 4x4 conversion on my 88 F-150 earlier this year, which was the third one I have done. I think it's easy to convert one over since Ford made it SO SIMPLE to do it. If you have the doner parts, you really won't have much fabrication to do at all. It all depends on what year your donor parts came from vs what you are putting them on.
80-96 Ford frames are set up from the factory to accept 2wd or 4wd components. The TTB pivot points are the same, the coil buckets are the same, they even drilled two sets of holes on the frame for the tranny cross-member for both 2wd (the front set of holes) or 4wd (the rear set of holes). They even have a 4X4 light socket on the dashboard on the 2wd trucks, there's just no light in it. I hooked all of that up on mine, and the biggest fabrication I had to do for mine was cut the hole in the floor where the transfer case shift lever comes up, which I then covered with a shift boot from the local parts store. Mine looks factory all the way around and 4wd is the best way to go for Ohio winters.
Whatever you decide to do, keep a postive attitude and have a little patience. Deals are out there, sometimes well hidden, but I'm sure you can find one. Good luck!