First time Ford owner
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First time Ford owner
I meant first time Ford truck owner... I've had a 92 Explorer and an 86 Taurus before. *smacks self* Doh!
First off. A big hello to everyone out there in Ford land. I am most certainly a newb here.
I'm sure I will be asking a lot of seemingly stupid simple questions to all those that have grown up around Fords.
I grew up surrounded by, well, another make. Not that there weren't any Fords around. Mom and dad had twin 67 Mustangs. Dad had a really sweet 65 Ranchero. But all of our hauling/towing was done with the other make, and we did a LOT. Horses, race horses, snowmobiles, hay, motorcycles, camp trailers, car haulers, race cars, boats, cows, sheep, pigs, pretty much name it, I've towed it, as long as it didn't require a CDL.
On to the fun stuff. I ran across a deal too good to pass up. I found a 1988 Ford F250 that is in fairly good shape and in driveable condition for $800. I called the owner and he said the truck was given to him by a friend that moved out of the country and he "Wasn't a Ford guy, didn't want a Ford, didn't want to work on a Ford", so he was just selling it cheap. He let me know that reverse was not working and that he knew it was a big block, but not sure of the size. Maybe 429 or something. This got my interest up, so I decided to make the 140 mile trip to look it over. As soon as I started it, I wanted it. The 460 started right up and was smooth. Reverse did nothing with the truck parked facing downhill, but I have a place to park where I don't need it, so I thought that would be OK until I could rebuild the trans. The test drive showed the rest of the gears to be nice and smooth and the truck except for the bed, to be almost rattle free even. Interior was nice and did not have any tears. All controls worked but the wiper motors were very weak. Even had a working CD player in it. That was it, I was sold. I bought it and drove it the 140 miles home after only having to inflate one low tire and fill the rear tank.
Once home, I ran the VIN to find the truck is a workhorse. 460, Dana 50 front end (4" hubs"), 12 bolt full floater rear, ZF5 trans. By far the heaviest duty truck I've ever owned. Found 12 quarts, yeah, you read that right, 12 quarts of oil in it. 3 quarts ATF in the trans. Emptied both of those and refilled to the correct levels. 5 quarts Mobil 1 10/40 + 1 quart Lucas oil stabilizer in the 460, and 3.5 quarts Valvoline max life ATF in the trans (+4 ounces from parking on a side hill so I could squeeze a little extra in). Fired her up, threw it in reverse and off I went. Reverse worked! It was just low on fluid. I found that the ignition starter switch on the column was the culprit of electrical issues I had found after getting it home. Replaced that, the turn signal switch module, and did the key tumbler while I was in there.
So in short, I'm into the truck $1000 and all that it needs is a rear window (only one side of the slider is broken) and the bed welded back together to stop the rattles. The original owner broke them both hauling wood. Wiper motors and blades. Both gas tanks could use new sending units, one needs new pump. Odometer showing 70K. The guy I bought it from is pretty sure from the use the original owner gave it, that it is 170k, not 270k. He also informed me that the original owner told him he rebuilt the motor not long ago. From the feel of it, I'd believe it. That is a nice strong 460. No ticks, clicks, snaps, crackles, or pops.
I look forward to learning about this truck, and yours too along the way. I hope I can offer some help here and there. I will for sure be asking more questions than answering them while I learn how Ford engineers brains work(ed).
First off. A big hello to everyone out there in Ford land. I am most certainly a newb here.
I'm sure I will be asking a lot of seemingly stupid simple questions to all those that have grown up around Fords.
I grew up surrounded by, well, another make. Not that there weren't any Fords around. Mom and dad had twin 67 Mustangs. Dad had a really sweet 65 Ranchero. But all of our hauling/towing was done with the other make, and we did a LOT. Horses, race horses, snowmobiles, hay, motorcycles, camp trailers, car haulers, race cars, boats, cows, sheep, pigs, pretty much name it, I've towed it, as long as it didn't require a CDL.
On to the fun stuff. I ran across a deal too good to pass up. I found a 1988 Ford F250 that is in fairly good shape and in driveable condition for $800. I called the owner and he said the truck was given to him by a friend that moved out of the country and he "Wasn't a Ford guy, didn't want a Ford, didn't want to work on a Ford", so he was just selling it cheap. He let me know that reverse was not working and that he knew it was a big block, but not sure of the size. Maybe 429 or something. This got my interest up, so I decided to make the 140 mile trip to look it over. As soon as I started it, I wanted it. The 460 started right up and was smooth. Reverse did nothing with the truck parked facing downhill, but I have a place to park where I don't need it, so I thought that would be OK until I could rebuild the trans. The test drive showed the rest of the gears to be nice and smooth and the truck except for the bed, to be almost rattle free even. Interior was nice and did not have any tears. All controls worked but the wiper motors were very weak. Even had a working CD player in it. That was it, I was sold. I bought it and drove it the 140 miles home after only having to inflate one low tire and fill the rear tank.
Once home, I ran the VIN to find the truck is a workhorse. 460, Dana 50 front end (4" hubs"), 12 bolt full floater rear, ZF5 trans. By far the heaviest duty truck I've ever owned. Found 12 quarts, yeah, you read that right, 12 quarts of oil in it. 3 quarts ATF in the trans. Emptied both of those and refilled to the correct levels. 5 quarts Mobil 1 10/40 + 1 quart Lucas oil stabilizer in the 460, and 3.5 quarts Valvoline max life ATF in the trans (+4 ounces from parking on a side hill so I could squeeze a little extra in). Fired her up, threw it in reverse and off I went. Reverse worked! It was just low on fluid. I found that the ignition starter switch on the column was the culprit of electrical issues I had found after getting it home. Replaced that, the turn signal switch module, and did the key tumbler while I was in there.
So in short, I'm into the truck $1000 and all that it needs is a rear window (only one side of the slider is broken) and the bed welded back together to stop the rattles. The original owner broke them both hauling wood. Wiper motors and blades. Both gas tanks could use new sending units, one needs new pump. Odometer showing 70K. The guy I bought it from is pretty sure from the use the original owner gave it, that it is 170k, not 270k. He also informed me that the original owner told him he rebuilt the motor not long ago. From the feel of it, I'd believe it. That is a nice strong 460. No ticks, clicks, snaps, crackles, or pops.
I look forward to learning about this truck, and yours too along the way. I hope I can offer some help here and there. I will for sure be asking more questions than answering them while I learn how Ford engineers brains work(ed).
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,504
Likes: 8
From: Indian Falls, New York
Pics aren't too hard to post. Just upload them to a hosting site like photobucket. It's free. Get the direct link to an image, and use image tags, one on each end. Like this.
[IMG] link here [ /IMG]
Don't put the space in the second tag before the slash mark.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,348
Likes: 6
From: Edmonton, AB
Hi Curtiswick. That was quite the intro and history of Fords in the family! The ranchero story takes me a ways back. You have come to the right place if you have any questions or problems, but from your intro looks like you have things well in hand, but you never know you may be able to help someone else with an anwser.
Lord knows there is a lot of knowledgeable folks here and we can always use one more. Dont forget to post some of your Fords pics to your garage and share em with the community and join your local chapter. Have fun and see you in the forums!
Lord knows there is a lot of knowledgeable folks here and we can always use one more. Dont forget to post some of your Fords pics to your garage and share em with the community and join your local chapter. Have fun and see you in the forums!
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