Hey guys..

Yesterday, I bought my first ford. Normally I am a chevy guy, but I needed another truck to tow my racecar and just get myself around over the summer. April 8 I rolled a nearly mint 1994 chevy stepside (it was a really bad day, I'm going to update my website with details/pictures tonight and ill post the link) which I am now in the process of rebuilding.

Anyway, my father and I took a freind to work last night and decided we needed to look for a cheap truck. We saw a very nice 88 chevy stepside even nicer then mine, but didnt have the 3 grand on hand. I saw a older ford with a cap on it for 750, so we called on it and waited for the guy. The body is fairly rough but I will fix it up enought to last a couple years. This truck is a f-250 2wd, regular cab longbox. It runs a 4 speed with a dana 60, and 33 inch tires all around. It is geared pretty low, I havent ran option codes but I am guessing its in the 4.10 range. The engine in this is a 302, it does not have much power (I would go as far as saying my 4.3 in the stepside is a touch stronger, but the saving grace will be towing with the ultra low gears in my new ford!) but it runs solid. I am a bit more accustomed to 400 horse 350 chevrolets so I am a touch biased. The truck only has 77,xxx miles. We paid all of 750 bucks for this, so it will pay for itself over the summer as I plan on using it to tow an enduro car and whatever else i do. Anyway, on to some questions....

I know the 302 made about 150 horsepower and 250-275lbs of torque. This is the efi (i believe 87 was the first year on the 302, correct me if im wrong...not a ford guy just guessing). Anything other then the rear main seal I should be watching for? Also, what are some free mods I can do in an attempt to open it up? The brakes are dragging slightly in the rear which I will fix tonight, but my TBI 4.3 runs as strong if not stronger then this engine (and most other stock 302's)...I know I'll get flamed for my love of the gm product but I grew up with them. Once I get my stepside redone I'm going to buy a longbox regular cab and turn it into a truly formidable truck. Enough about the gm's though...

I am not certain what model this transmission is, but it is a 4 speed. It is also geared quite low. I don't particularly like how it shifts coming from the nv3500's nice neat and tidy shifts and gear ratios, but I think i'll get used to it. It is obvious this truck was meant for hauling stuff around rather then your everyday truck (thats just a 1/2 ton to 3/4 ton comparo of course). Did the 3/4 ton of this era also use the I-beam 4wd system or did they run a solid dana 60? I know the 1 ton was running solid still, but have never worked on anything except 1/2 ton fords unless they were either the new style or the old style. Sorry for all the questions...like I said i'm a gm fanatic and don't pay as much attention to the fords.

 

You didn't say what year the truck is, but '85 (maybe '84) was the first year for optional EFI on the 5.0L. '87 was the first standard year.

A Haynes manual will help a lot, and these sites, too:
http://www.motivegear.com/tech_info/...nny_guide.html

 

sorry, thought i mentioned it. The truck is a 1987. I will post some pictures on my website of the vehicle tonight or tommorow probably.

 

These 5.0's in stock form are indeed a weak link. An easy mod is to open up the exhaust, it will help a little. I used mine for a couple years towing the racecar as you will plus my 16' ski boat. The car and boat are VERY light but the 5.0 IMO is just too small for towing. Getting up to speed on an onramp going up a slight upgrade, I had to wind it out pretty good.
On flat roads it did okay.
When making upgrades be carefull of the speed density. With a cam change, stay on the conservative side, but don't be fooled, you CAN make a number of (minor) changes before switching to MAF.
If you do have low gears, this will help a LOT!
Also consider a tire size change, like a 275/60/15.
Just keep a good tune on it and it should last you awhile.
Good luck!

 

I played with the truck some today after getting my 4.3 running (had oil in the cyls from the rollover) and did some looking around at it. I don't plan on putting too much money into this rig, but it will be hopped up a little in the interest of just playing with the 302 to see what i can get out of it with a minimal investment.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the I-beam suspension was also used on the 3/4 ton 4wd? I know the 1 ton ran a solid 60 up front. I am wondering if perhaps I could set the truck up as a 4wd? I am aware of needing to probably fab up mounts for the t-case and probably a tailshaft adaptor on the tranny along with much of the other fabrication involved...but is it basically a straightfoward conversion? common at all? The biggest reason I would like to do this is becuase the truck is what I need (other then the fact its not a gm, i can get around that though) for a project vehicle to build up. I love offroading, and it is not uncommon to get over 2 feet of snow overnight during winter. 4wd trucks are a must up here..but I don't want to have a whole 'nother truck here(as it stands now the Chevy is getting a brand new big brother and a older but bigger brother as well).

The 33's will stay on it and I don't really want to go with a smaller tire as I like doing some offroading (of course nothing drastic with a open diff 2wd!). The 302 seems to pull it around alright, its just no stock hotrod like everyone I know that has 302's says (I knew better, but it is now set in stone).

 

Yes, converting to 4X4 can be done "fairly easily". The transfer cases actually mounted to the transmission on 4X4's, so you'd either need to do some custom fab work and use a divorced transfer case, or get a 4X4 tranny. You may be able to just change the tail end of the existing transmission, but I'm not sure. Then you would of course need front axle, front driveshaft, new or modified rear driveshaft, steering components. Other minor things like cutting a hole in the floor for the t-case shifter, etc...

I don't know many people around here that ever said the 302 was a stock hotrod, except maybe in a Mustang which was a totally different setup. Maybe the people you know that said that had too much "chevy on the brain".

 

Chevy on the brain? are you picking on me? For smallblock and bigblock v8's chevy has a comparable and could be considered better then some of the fords. Yeah, i'm a gm guy..but I got a ford for now.

dont wanna turn this into a debate or anything, but I think both ford and chevy make great gas powerplants. Deisel is a different story thoguh the 6.2 and newer models are all fairly good in certain respects. For gas engines, I think theyre all pretty comparable between years (not including lightnings)..351 about = to the 350, 302 to the 305, 454 the the 460...5.4 and 5.3...etc etc. I'm personally a fan of the 4.3...I think i might keep the one in my stepside and build it up nicely but I dont know. Right now I gotta do some fairly major bodywork to this ford i just bought as it is rotty in the usual ford places (wheelwells and under door).

so my next little question..Is there a page with any details or just storys and some pictures on a buildup of a 87 2wd converted to a 4wd? I dont think it would be too bad but are there any major setbacks? Like i said, I have the i-beam suspension and I know 1/2 ton 4wds used the same thing. 3/4 tons too? I still havent found a real solid info source for many specs on fords (or other makes for that matter)

 

The 1/2-ton 4WD axle is the Dana 44 IFS "Twin Traction Beam" (TTB), and the 3/4-ton is the D50IFS TTB. The 50 is slightly heavier and has 8 lugs. On older 3/4-tons, some used the D44IFSHD, but I've never seen one.

Whatever you do, DON'T get an '87-88 TTB - they use flange-type hub locks that are expen$ive to replace, and are considered weak. You can use any '80-96 TTB, but the '93-96 Bronco TTB is set up for 4WABS. All auto hub locks are considered weak.

A good resource for general Ford truck info is http://www.broncodata.com/ , which is run by a friend of mine. Here are some more useful sites: (some repeats from first list)

http://tellico.off-road.com/ubbthrea...roadfordtrucks
http://bbs.off-road.com/ubbthreads/s...5&o=186&fpart=
http://howstuffworks.lycos.com/category.htm?cat=Impr
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/yr.html
http://autos.msn.com/vip/usedovervie...co&src=LeftNav
http://www2.dana.com/Expert/wc.dll?DSD~demenu~DEMENUA~
http://www.mustangcentral.net/tech/part.html
http://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenanc...ls/default.asp
http://www.classictrucksweb.com/tech...t_alternative/
http://pages.prodigy.net/kennethl6/_wsn/page8.html
http://www.motivegear.com/tech_info/...nny_guide.html
http://www.truckpulls.com/Transferca...mage_Index.htm
http://www.visteon.com/technology/au...xle_spec.shtml[/url]
http://www.bgsoflex.com/auto.html
http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/gearing.htm
http://www.off-road.com/ford/bigbron...lug/index.html
http://www.woodyg.com/fairlane/finfo...nTechTip5.html
http://www.superford.org/registry/ve...s18=&s19=&s20=
http://www.users.bigpond.com/ergoff/vac1.htm
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...523#post624523
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=112295

 

i've got a 302.. would like a hot rod, but its probably better if I keep it below 90mph. *BUT* i'm *really* interested in making it a 4x4. Its a 96 xlt style side red & white. Really sharp looking as far as I'm concerned. I could spend forever trying to track down a 150/250 w/ 4wheel drive that is in as good of shape as mine is, so I pose the question as: How much would a conversion cost me? I'm ok w/ a wrench, just not good enough to do this I don't think..