Well, Hello all. Again.
I was on here some years ago when I owned a
1988 F150XL, reg. cab., long bed 4X4, 300 I6, 5-speed,
3.55 axles. 31x10.50x15 BFG A/T's. Black spoke steelies.
Loved, LOVED that truck! Got rid of it out of stupidity.
Well, over the past several years, and many trucks, I am back into
another 300 I6 Ford.
Traded the Jeep Comanche for a F150 yesterday.
I have a 1998 extended cab longbed 4.6L V8 / Auto sitting in the
scrap yard where I used to work with a blown transmission.
I was in need of a truck that could pull 5,500 lbs around locally
up to 60 MPH. The Jeep had the POWER, but not enough ***
to STOP the load! hahahaha!
So it was sell the Jeep and fix the 98 F150 I have (still have)
-- OR -- sell / trade the Jeep for another truck.
I had my heart set on a RAM with a 360 in it. But every one I found,
within my pork & beans budget, had either WAY over 200,000
miles on them, or were salvage title, or had the absolute T-Total
crap beat out of them. I mean R A G G E D OUT!!!!
So this sweet little Ford came along within my budget.
1994 F150XL extended cab short bed, 300 inline 6, 4 speed auto trans,
2WD, is a 2 owner truck, and has 89,2XX miles on it. Paint is far. Not great, not bad. Tires are fair. Not great, not bad. Interior is fair. Not great, not bad. A/C will cause ice sickles on your nose. Thing runs like a raped ape.
This is my 2nd 300 I-6 Ford. They will pull like a freight train up to about 7,000 lbs. as long as you keep them under 65 MPH, and expect @ 5,000 lbs. up a 4% grade at 1,000 ft. above sea level to go about 45 MPH. This is the only for a fact been there done that testimate I have for hill pulling. Others may know more. I was hauling a 80's Monte Carlo on a tandem axle trailer up Mont Eagle in south eastern Tennessee behind my 1988 F150 and 3RD gear on the floor is where I ended up at the top of the mountain. But the rest of the trip was great.
I will be using this '94 for my Home Restoration busness and pulling a 16 to 20 foot camper if I can ever find a bargain on one I like.
TO DO:
* Repaint front & rear bumpers.
* Replace the P rated tires with LT rated real truck tires. Probably will
stick with the OEM size of 235/75/15. Has 225/75/15 CAR tires on it now.
* Replace wiper motor
* Find out why the front fuel tank does not work. When I flip the switch
the truck dies instantly. And wouldn't you know it, I filled the front tank
plum full today. Dumb me! Should have checked it first!
* put some kind of amplified subwoofer in the back extended cab section.
nothing big. I don't give a crap about people hearing me 100 feet away.
But this truck has a ALPINE head unit that sounds awesome as far as clarity
goes, , , but has nooooooooooooo bass at ALL. I like just a little thump.
about like most factory radios from 2004 and on.
* install side mount tool box on the bed and auxiliary bed / work
lights (already have the lights)

 

Welcome Back, and congrats on the "new"

As far as the sound quality goes the head unit may not be the problem. I would check out the speakers before you do anything else.
If it still has the original speakers...that could cause some pretty crappy sound.

 

Thanks! Again.

Well, I got to pull my 23 foot camper the last few days. 4050 lbs. dry weight.
Throw on 2 of 20# propane cylinders, all our camping gear, food, 2 small dogs, 1 big dog kennel, outside chairs, smoker grill & about 100 lbs of firewood (both in the bed of truck) plus my WIFE, a deep cycle battery, and that would just about equal 5,000 lbs.
Well, I will be the first to admit I was sadly mistaking thinking a 4 speed automatic (with overdrive OFF, so really a 3 speed) and 3.08 rear gears would pull close to the same as my old truck with 3.55 gears and a 5-speed manual.
There was some long, long windy uphill climb before going back down to get to the campground. Yeish!!!!! Dropped to 2nd gear and continued to loose speed all the way down to 30 MPH by the time I got to the top. Posted speed limit on that road was 45, and I was doing right at 50 in 3rd gear at the bottom before the hill climb. As soon as I hit 45 MPH I pulled it into 2nd gear and she was a screaming like a little Detroit there till she slowed to about 40 MPH.
Also, the soft original 21 year old rear shocks and P rated Douglass Xtra-Trac P235/75/15 tires did nothing to help keep it stable to say the least.

SOOOOO, tomorrow I go pick up 2 Monroe Magnum rear shocks, and go have 2 new LT 235/75/15's installed on the rear. (6 ply real truck tires)
I am hunting a full replacement H8 rear axle (3.55 with posi) from the bone yards. But if no luck that route I will at least regear the rear end with 3.55:1 Ring & pinion kit.
QUESTION: Would there be any danger in installing 4.10:1 rear axle and pulling the load with the overdrive on as long as I install a heavy duty transmission cooler? Been tossing that idea around a bit too. Would I need to recalibrate my speedometer when I do swap rear axle or gears.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Maybe I should just throw a built carbed 460 hooked to a C6 in. HAHAHAHA!
CAN'T burn much more fuel! I averaged 9MPG over the last 3 days. 0_0