I am looking at getting a four wheel drive to pull a trailer with along with a few other things. The trailer is heavy duty and 16 ft long. I have towed it with my 6 cylinder Chevy s10 without a big load. I will be towing a small tractor, ford 8n, and implements. The truck will be used for that about half the time. I have found 2 trucks in my area that I am interested in, a 78 with a 300 and a 69 with a 460. I would also use the truck as a back up to drive to work which is 120 miles round trip. My question is will the 300 have the power to tow what I want it to or should I get the 460 and eat the gas cost when I have to drive it to work? Thanks in advance.

 

Either engine could do the job... a lot depends on the specs of the truck it is in. The 300 in a 3/4 ton with 4 speed and 4.10's would handle a heavy tandem trailer just fine as long as you aren't trying to break hill climb speed records.

 

I forgot to mention they are both 4 speeds and I think half tons.

 

The 4 speed is good. How about the rest of the truck? Rear gear? You know the 460 in the '69 is a transplant. Is it well done? History?

 

The engine is done well with lots of aftermarket parts. The owner believes the rear end in the 69 is 4.10. The owner of the 300 doesn't know. I haven't has a chance to drive either and I am hoping to today or tomorrow.

 

The 460 one will do it with no problems. I pulled an 18 ft. trailer loaded with a Ferguson 35 , about same size as the 8n. It had a heavy duty front loader on front , a scraper blade on back and a 200 lb. roll cage above the seat area. It was a 79 F-150 super cab with the 460 , C6 trany and 3.50 rear gears. You should not have any problems with the 4sp and 4.10 gears.

P.S it had a set of tool boxes and ladder rack that added at least 800 lbs more with the construction tools in it .



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I think the 300 and the 460 will both do the job, the 460 will just do it faster.

A couple other things to look into is braking and steering. The 78 should have power brakes with disk up front and power steering. I would check and see what the 69 is running. While all this could be done with manual drum brakes and manual steering, it would definately be more of a chore.

 

Go with the 300 six. Way better gas mileage either way. I love my 460 but she sucks the fuel towing, loaded or not.

You can still put power into a 300 and keep most of the mileage as well.

 

A stock 300 will pull that no problems. I used a 300 powered F150 to pull my 20 foot trailer. It may slow down some on big hills, but it will get the job done. With some simple modifications the 300 would be ever stronger.

And as far as gas mileage goes. I've owned trucks with both engines. The 300 will probably get about the same or just slightly better mileage then the 460 while towing heavy loads. But while running empty /just driving the 300 should get around double the mileage the 460 would.

 

I'm a 460 driver, a 1979 150, its my daily driver. If you can get way with the smaller truck take it. Thats all i have to say.

 

A 460 is a gas hog, but will never let you down when it comes to torque/towing. The 300 is also a fantastic motor and will get much better mileage while you aren't towing.

Basically, either will do. I would suggest the cheaper of the 2 options.