hey i got a 91 F150 4x4 with a 5.0L. its been good to me for everything but towing. it does good towing but i tow more than i probably should. like a 2800lb trailer with a jacked up f250 mud truck. so my idea is to put a diesel in my truck cuz the fuel economy but yet i want the pullin power and still have room to work under the hood when i need to. so does anybody know of a good SMALL diesel engine?
im think a 4 or 6 banger. and i dont want a cummins cuz everyone does it and well to many people here would give me crap for putting it in a good ford.

 

Actually the 4BT Cummins is a somewhat popular swap, as it came in a Ford under the guise of UPS/Fedex/panel trucks on a ford chassis. do a few google searches, youll find the info.

 

I agree with the 4BT swap, it is simple and straight forward, which is why its so popular. I dont think too many people here should give you grief over putting a cummins in a Ford, its not like your putting a hemi in a Ford. Plus, Ford didnt have any claim to its diesel engine until this year.

 

dont git me wrong the 4bt is probably what ill do is like you said straight forward and easy but where im from you dont mix fords with dodge. even tho cummins is not dodge its the main engine other than the hemi. which isnt a bad engine itself. does anyone that did the swap to a 4bt kno what mpg you git? and which transmission is better for pulling

 

The 4BT is a TERRIABLE engine. It is very noisy, it is one of the noisest engines around, has no balance shaft so is a very rough running shaking everything around it loose. I would not put it in a daily driver plus it is around 80 hp in its stock form.
It is reliable but having to live with it could be a problem.
Most of the 6BT also sound like a hammer mill running.
My 3 cyl farmall D-179 diesel is quieter than either engine of the family.
Neither of the baby cummins are anywhere as smooth as any of the diesels ford has used in the US in the light truck line.
Ford had a 3 ltr VW turbo-diesel engine inline 6 smooth as silk and very quit running.
It was used in the Lincoln MKX so you know it was good. It could be too rare to use.
Do you intend to pay for the cost of the transplant in fuel savings?

 

 

A diesel is not gonna help you tow a mud truck and heavy trailer. Your brakes, axles and suspension isnt designed to do it and you will have issues with stopping, axles possibly breaking, and suspension being maxed out.

You need a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck.

 

Lincoln used a BMW 6 cylinder turbo diesel engine in the early 80's. It was very popular with RV swaps. They're getting hard to find, but not impossible. This engine was also used by BMW in the 524TDi in the same era, which are still fairly easy to find for cheap sometimes. Then all you'd need is to find the adapters from a Lincoln.

 

I think I would do a 12v 5.9 cummins rather than the 4BT if your going to be towing.. The 4BT is kinda a dog unless you do some pump mods and like an HX35 turbo. The 12v 5.9 isn't a very tough swap either. It only takes a few wires to run(mechanical pumped engine) and parts are out there to convert it to mount a ZF5 behind it(gas or diesel models).

 

The 6BT is a great engine but it would be an expensive swap. Plus any fuel economy gains would be lost due to the extra cost of diesel unless you run an SVO conversion.
An F250/350 with a 460 or even a V10 SD would be the best option.

 

It wouldn't be too terribly expensive. My buddy is dropping an 800hp 12v cummins in his 1999 F-250 and the parts to get the engine in the truck aren't too terribly expensive. There are some parts where you have to get creative, but not too bad. If the OP puts a stock cummins in the truck, it won't cost too terribly much and would run OK. If he puts a 4BT in there, i'm not sure how well it would tow. I know stock they aren't much to write home about..

a 460 or a V10 would be wayyyy worse on fuel than a diesel despite the extra cost of diesel... 21mpg vs 10-12... hmmmm

 

I was lucky to even see 15 mpgs with the 97 Dudge Clodcab 4X4 Cummins I had. It wasn't completely stock but the mods were necessary for the truck to move decently. Even stock, it got about the same because I always needed to keep my foot in it.

 

Huh, sounds like yours had something wrong with it. My stepdad's '97 cummins runs nice. I did a BHAF intake, advanced timing, and an 8 plate and it runs really good. Very cheap mods too. It dyno'd 250hp with the plate slid back less than normal. His gets 15mpg also, but it has 4.10's. with 3.55's it would get way better.

 

Engine was great but the rest of the truck was so-so. I don't remember the gearing it had, but I think it had 3.55's. It was also an automatic.
If it was a stick I might probably still have it.

 

it would be much cheaper,much easier,and you would much further ahead if you simply sold your light duty and got a hold of a nice f250hd/350 with an idi to start with for what you want to do.