As the title states, I just picked up a 1985 F250 Explorer 4x4 with the 460 carbureted engine. Truck is in pretty good condition despite its age.. Given that most are in the scrapyard by now, someone must have taken reasonably good care of it to last this long.

Odometer reads 99k, and truck was advertised that way, but I'm still on the fence regarding a rollover. A VIN check shows the truck at 82k in 2002, but that's the only recorded mileage.. It's hard to believe it'd only racked up 15k in 11 years, but who knows. The factory upholstered seat is in great condition, the interior is near mint (aside from some sun damage to the top of the passenger door panel), so perhaps it does have less than 100k. Truck runs like a top, but does leak oil slowly, which I suspect is the rear main. The only other oddity was that someone has bypassed the heater core. Coolant temp on the gauge reads on the high side of normal, but never above that. 4 speed transmission and clutch are butter smooth like a new truck. When I drove it, I couldn't pass it up, and offered $1,800 despite the $2,200 asking price. Any ideas if this was a good deal or not, or the approximate value of the truck?

Body is in so-so shape, good for a 28 year old truck, but a couple rust spots that bother me, and a few large chips in the paint. I know diddly-squat about body work, so it's unknown to me if any of this stuff is repairable.

I'm curious what transmission and what gear ratios might be in this particular truck. 1st feels like a granny gear, and 4th gear is way to low IMO, because despite not having a tachometer, I can tell 70mph is running 3k RPM or close. Any info about front & rear axles? This is my first older Ford truck if you can't tell. Under the hood reads 1985 heavy duty emissions standards, non-catalyst, so I assume there's no catalytic converter?

Anyways, here's the pics. Open to info, suggestions, comments, etc.!

 

Looks & sounds a good truck/deal.

Probably the heater core began to leak, so the hoses were disconnected; but trucks with air-con are easy to replace the cores on.

The temp/oil/fuel gauges are dependably unreliable on these models, & also will fluctuate in unison slightly, due to a voltage regulator in the dash - not a big deal but just one idiosyncrasy of the model line.

You have a good tough drive line right through - the rear axle has full float hubs which are the most durable design option.
Your tires don't look very tall, so with your 3000 rpm estimate, you may have 3.73 axles.
If the transmission has an aluminum lid it's a New Process 435; if a cast iron lid, it will be a Borg Warner T18 or T19. All three are very durable.
The transmission & axle #'s on the door sticker can be decoded to confirm (if everything is still stock).

Yes, non-catalyst = no converter, usually with less other emission gear too (due to higher GVWR).

ANY body issues are repairable, but your truck looks pretty good.....how are the cab/chassis underneath?

Congrats - a great working/towing truck

 

You need to get the codes off the door tag, and we can narrow down what you have. The diesels and the 460's usually came with the t19 4 speed. And 4.10's where a common axle for a 4x4, 3.55 was the other. I bet you have 4.10's.

 

Yes, post a picture of the certification label on the driver's side door jamb.

 

Nice truck, looks like you got a good deal on it.

 

Hell yeah, awesome truck. If I had it, I'd take the running boards off and then just drive the heck out of it.

 

Here's the sticker off the door pillar. Any helpful info that can be deciphered from the codes or VIN would be most appreciated.

 

"P" should be a Borg Warner T-19, and being it is a 4x4 460 you have the granny 6.32 ratio.

Look underneath the drivers side.
Does it have a PTO cover (window) on both sides?
If yes, then definitely T-19

 

Axle code 35 says 4.10 ratio open differential

 

My 77 f250 4x4 had 4.10/c6 combo, and low gear would snap your neck. 55 on the highway was as much as I wanted to do, it was wound up pretty tight. I think that truck was a good buy.

 

I bet your 77 would pull just about anything you hooked it to as well lol

 

Forgot to comment on that one. The underbody looks like a 10 year old truck, quite literally. A little surface rust in places, but nothing major. The only significant rust spots are the front quarter panel, down by where the front fender meets the drivers side door, and above the wheel well on one side of the bed. Both areas are about a 8" x 4" rectangle, but could be repaired I suppose.

Fortunately the truck stayed in Colorado nearly it's entire life (except for 1-2 years in Kansas, according to the VIN records), as Colorado does not salt their roads in winter except for some very remote, rural areas. A few times a year they'll spray magnesium chloride as a de-icer before major storms, but in my experience, it's not nearly as corrosive as the alternatives.

 

You've done well!

Along with the fluctuating gauges, there are a few other things all these trucks suffer from, but nothing serious.
You'll have (or get) dim dash lights, whistling/rattling window channels, a sagging head liner, & wonderful spare wheel access ........but the fixes are common & pretty easy.

It's fortunate you have air-con; non-air trucks take around 5 hours to change the heater core......I've still got that pleasure ahead

 

I definitely have the fluctuating gauges. The fuel gauge wanders slowly, but the coolant temp & especially oil pressure gauges both read on the very high side of normal at operating temp, which have me questioning their accuracy.

Also the dash lights are indeed very dim. Any how-to's and such that will help me correct these issues?

Thanks all for the wealth of information. It will be fun digging into this truck and making it better than it already is!

Oh and why are the non/AC trucks so much worse than A/C equipped trucks regarding replacement of the heater core? I noticed that Rockauto shows two different parts, non A/C and A/C.

 

There are options with the dash lights. In the dash cluster there are 5 or 6 bulbs for the various gauges, with transparent blue domes over each bulb. The domes darken with age until the instruments are virtually unreadable.

A lot of owners just remove the domes, which makes a big difference, but gives yellow light; others remove both the domes & bulbs, replacing them with new colored bulbs. Some have used LEDs. I first just removed the domes & installed new white bulbs, but have since put transparent blue silicon sleeves on them.

The instrument cluster has to come out with any of these options, which means first removing your wiper & headlight switch ***** - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ht-switch.html

The speedo cable has a plastic tab (maybe two, I can't remember) that need to be squeezed to release the cable from the cluster.

Gary really got into the issue in this thread -https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...sh-lights.html


The heater core in A/C trucks is accessed by removing the glove box. I've done one of these.....they are quick & easy to change.
Non-A/C units are housed differently, in the engine bay; my F250 is non-air but I haven't needed to replace it's core yet......threads on the topic usually sound VERY frustrated, & involve a lot of time.