bought a 94' f150, straight 6 5 speed. havin a few problems but nothin you wouldnt expect from an older truck. power loss at high rpms being the most notable and most recent. needs a thermostat (i removed mine yesterday cuz she was stuck closed)
little history on the truck - guy i bought it from used it as a plow truck in his yard only for the last 3 years. pretty good shape. 160,000 miles. i put a whole new front end in it. changed the spark plugs cap rotor and wires. changed the oil (added lucas motor oil treatment) cleaned the air filter..... my catalytic coverter(s) is/are gone. removed off the truck prior to me buying it, so everything involved is also gone. i ran a piece of hose from the air pump since it was open and made an annoying gurgling noise. i know i need a valve cover gasket. no cracked or warped head. doesnt smoke. front fuel tank doesnt work (so ive been told, never tested it out) solid truck minimal rust great find but shes an old girl and i need to fix her up.
ok. so, why the hell does it buck me in first and second sometimes. why does it bog down going up hills and why does it seem like im losing power at high rpms. sometimes i lose power and i can feel it in the accelerator and through the truck, sometimes it surges back for a second and goes away and just bogs down. putts around town fine but doesnt like the highway. my guess is fuel filter or something fuel related. pump, pump regulator. idk. i recently almost ran it out of gas. any suggestions? id really like to get this old girl runnin right clean her up and keep her for another 150,000 miles

 

"... my catalytic coverter(s) is/are gone. removed off the truck prior to me buying it, so everything involved is also gone. i ran a piece of hose from the air pump since it was open and made an annoying gurgling noise."

You have some work to do. It is an EFI computer controlled engine. ALL systems that the truck originally came with have to be in place and operating properly otherwise you end up with what you have as enumerated in your last paragraph.

 

so my truck will never run right without buying and installing a cat? I feel like that's not the reason it bogs down and loses power...

 

Did you drive her much prior to making any changes ? If so were the issues mentioned experienced then?
I would think the thermostat would impact performance if the truck is not getting to proper running temperature.
Not sure if no catalyst exhaust is impacting it.
Running on a flat open road does she seem ok once at speed?

 

The problems you have described with your truck go beyond the cat.

1. Pull the diagnostic codes or have them pulled...some auto parts stores will do it at no charge to you.

2. The ECMs go bad (leaking capacitors, etc.) and needs to be checked out.

3. Again: "It is an EFI computer controlled engine. ALL systems that the truck originally came with have to be in place and operating properly otherwise you end up with what you have as enumerated in your last paragraph."