Hello I have a 1992 F150, 4X4, xlt sc sb 5.8L EFI E4OD. auto locking hubs


I want to do a few mods and repairs and would appreciate advise on options, benefits, and what possible adverse effects may come from some of the ideas I have. Also I have some general questions about the truck and engine.


Here is what I want to do:


plugs and wires
headers
CAI/whatever air cleaner upgrade is good for a 351
eventually get manual hubs
After I get the truck to really good shape I plan to get a small suspension lift, maybe ~4 inches so I can fit 35's


Here are some is it worth it? and maybe items:
smog delete
port and polish the heads/get aluminum heads and intake
distributer
throttle body spacer(or is that just on carb engines?)
injectors


some more questions:


back pressure: should I straight pipe my truck? I have (eyeballed measurement) 2 3/4 inch pipe and stock manifolds to flowmasters (don't know which kind of flowmaster) no cats, true dual.


-I basically thought you need back pressure until you have a high compression motor then you need to relieve the excess back pressure with straight pipes like a drag car, for example. is this idea correct?


-I don't care about loosing fuel efficiency or being too loud, I just want a good sound and the louder the better, but NEVER at the loss of power. Power is the most important thing.


Smog delete: does anything good come from the smog stuff besides emissions being cleaner? what are the pros and cons of having or deleting smog.


MSD: the only thing I know about replacing computers is that in jet skis you get the best power from a total loss msd but your battery does not charge from running the motor and you MUST charge it between every ride. Is an ignition upgrade a typical mod?


Repairs:


driver window: it has typical uneasiness rolling down, gets tight and starts to get stuck then pulls through and functions. also does this over and over on the way down causing it to shake when you roll it down, rolls up just fine.


driver mirror: it vibrates insanely. it is tight on the screws on the outside of the door but, loose on the inside of the door and seems like something is broken in the door, the pillar between the vent window and the main window seems loose and maybe connected to the same thing as the mirror. When I put some weight on the mirror it bends the metal of the door where it's attached! I will be opening the door panel soon and inspecting this, its one of the first things I am going to go for along with fixing the window to roll down smoother and tightening some of the door panel trim.


the bed: my bed has a big hole in it and I am planning on removing the bed, welding it up or fabing some kind of hinge to leave the access to the gas tank (seems to be the reason it was cut). luckily whoever cut it only did 3 sides in a rectangle so I can just weld and not have to get sheet metal and have a smooth spot in the bed.
--when I have the bed off ill be checking everything out underneath, any tips on what to look for? my idea is check all the bushing/connections for suspension, exhaust, wires, brake and fuel lines, etc. and a good cleaning.


starter: when I start the engine, the starter seems to be running out of power. I have seen my friends f250 with a 460 do this, and maybe his other 351 did it too. It starts reliably but also is very hard to time it right to not make the starter screech(like when you hold the key in the start position for too long...) my buddy told me to replace the solenoid, and I will start with that I guess, unless you guys tell me not to before I buy one. The battery is physically smaller than the battery plate it sits on, the alternator power gauge reads high (maybe 16 volts), and it seems to not be a battery issue, but my opinion is uneducated in this field so im asking you!


A/C: The PO told me he fixed the a/c with all new components, it blew fairly cold, but nothing like the f350 did before it went out. He told me the a/c would sometimes blow out of random vents (defrost or floor or wherever it felt like going that day). he said he traced the problem to some vacuum lines and fixed it, and it was fine for a few days for me. Now it blows out of defrost only, im going to look this up but help is appreciated as always. My old 00' f150 with the 5.4L did the same thing if you were revving the engine to high it would only blow out of the defrost but when you let off it would return to normal. At first, that was what this truck did too, for a couple days, then a couple days later it only blows out of defrost. sound like a vacuum line issue?


Vacuum lines: this should be easy for me to google so I will but does anyone have a good picture of where the vacuum lines are? what are the functions of the vacuum lines? apparently a lot more than I realized!


Guys I want the truck to last forever and I want all the repairs to be done right. I don't mind having to do some engine work due to supping it up and wearing it out faster, but I want to take good care of the body, interior, frame, and running gear and suspension. and everything! I plan on taking my time and getting another vehicle so I can have the gray truck out of commission for a while if I need to get into something heavy but im not at that point yet.


Most of these upgrades are not happening right now but I want to know what parts I need to be scouting in case a good deal comes along. and time to save more money lulz


any pointers for me as the first time owner of a 92-96 model ford and 1st time 5.8L owner, are appreciated.


I'm devastated to not have the owners manual but I plan to get a shop/service manual for it soon.


Last question I will google once again but input is appreciated cuz you guys share the love of fords google doesn't seem to appreciate!


--OIL! viscosity? I use and can find motorcraft diesel engine oil, but have not seen it for gas burners. is it available? maybe I have to get it from a dealer? is there a better brand anyways?


Thanks guys! Pics will follow




and sorry for the lengthy post but its going to be a lengthy project

 

Got the tool box out and removed the super ugly bed rails.




The angle here is me standing beside the driver door looking back. If that matters




Maybe not the best angle to see the bumper sag but heres the front




This is in addition to the pigtail for 4 pin lights, I will clean this up somehow...




Not a close up but heres the powa source



Based on what I read from another thread this seems to be speed density as opposed to mass air flow. I guess mass air flow is self explanatory and ill google the definition just in case, but WTH is speed density? ill try to research that too.


Another thing that hopefully shouldn't be too hard to figure out is how to fix the bumper sag, as always advice and pointers are much appreciated!










By the way I will be selling my bed rails on craigslist or to you if you want them. Selling the plastic decent condition bedliner too, I will take pictures of these if anyone is interested just pm me and ill send you some pics. the rails are cut for a toolbox (they didn't come that way but its not a complete hack job the cuts look alright).

 

plugs and wires Good
headers Longtubes are best


CAI/whatever air cleaner upgrade is good for a 351, The stock intake is a real CAI, most everything you buy aftermarket is Hot air intake. Keep the stock airbox and add the snorkle from a big block truck.

eventually get manual hubs Yes the auto will let you down sooner or later.

After I get the truck to really good shape I plan to get a small suspension lift, maybe ~4 inches so I can fit 35's You will need gears then.. 4.10 to 4.56.


Here are some is it worth it? and maybe items:
smog delete No power to be gained just a little cleaner engine bay.

port and polish the heads/get aluminum heads and intake, Port yes, polish.. waste of time. Aftermarket heads and intake are good but you can only do so much before you need fuel and EFI system upgrades.

distributer Complete waste of money.

throttle body spacer(or is that just on carb engines?) More $$ down the toilet.

injectors Not unless you do a MAF conversion and get a tuner.


some more questions:


true dual. 2.5" max if you're doing duals.


-I basically thought you need back pressure until you have a high compression motor then you need to relieve the excess back pressure with straight pipes like a drag car, for example. is this idea correct? Forget you ever heard the term backpressure, an internal combustion engine needs none of it but the exhaust system does have to be sized correct for the engines airflow capacity. See previous answer.


Smog delete: does anything good come from the smog stuff besides emissions being cleaner? what are the pros and cons of having or deleting smog. The factory smog(air injection) system exists only to help the stock cats heat up faster at cold starts, so if factory cats are gone the air injection system can go too. But there is no good reason not to use aftermarket cats on your custom system, they will not restrict power in any way but they will still clean up your tailpipe emissions.

EGR actually helps reduce the engines sensitivity to detonation and that system cannot be deleted without setting codes so don't bother


MSD: Is an ignition upgrade a typical mod? There is a mod that produces good results called the 6Liter tunup, it uncludes a high output coil and wires with stock copper plugs(don't waste you time with fancy plugs) and this allows a couple degrees more ignition advance and produces better throttle response.


Repairs:


driver window: it has typical uneasiness rolling down, gets tight and starts to get stuck then pulls through and functions. also does this over and over on the way down causing it to shake when you roll it down, rolls up just fine.


driver mirror: it vibrates insanely. it is tight on the screws on the outside of the door but, loose on the inside of the door and seems like something is broken in the door, the pillar between the vent window and the main window seems loose and maybe connected to the same thing as the mirror. When I put some weight on the mirror it bends the metal of the door where it's attached! I will be opening the door panel soon and inspecting this, its one of the first things I am going to go for along with fixing the window to roll down smoother and tightening some of the door panel trim. Yes once you remove the inner door panel that will expose the problem, I suspect the support post for the mirror is broken or the screw fell out. You can then check out the window..the glass may have come out of the regulator


the bed: my bed has a big hole in it and I am planning on removing the bed, welding it up or fabing some kind of hinge to leave the access to the gas tank (seems to be the reason it was cut). luckily whoever cut it only did 3 sides in a rectangle so I can just weld and not have to get sheet metal and have a smooth spot in the bed.
--when I have the bed off ill be checking everything out underneath, any tips on what to look for? my idea is check all the bushing/connections for suspension, exhaust, wires, brake and fuel lines, etc. and a good cleaning. Lazy *******s.. removing the bed isn't that hard and dropping the tank from underneath is even easier.


starter: when I start the engine, the starter seems to be running out of power. I have seen my friends f250 with a 460 do this, and maybe his other 351 did it too. It starts reliably but also is very hard to time it right to not make the starter screech(like when you hold the key in the start position for too long...) my buddy told me to replace the solenoid, and I will start with that I guess, unless you guys tell me not to before I buy one. The battery is physically smaller than the battery plate it sits on, the alternator power gauge reads high (maybe 16 volts), and it seems to not be a battery issue, but my opinion is uneducated in this field so im asking you! Check and clean all heavy gauge wires and grounds on the battery and engine and starter.


A/C: The PO told me he fixed the a/c with all new components, it blew fairly cold, but nothing like the f350 did before it went out. He told me the a/c would sometimes blow out of random vents (defrost or floor or wherever it felt like going that day). he said he traced the problem to some vacuum lines and fixed it, and it was fine for a few days for me. Now it blows out of defrost only, im going to look this up but help is appreciated as always. My old 00' f150 with the 5.4L did the same thing if you were revving the engine to high it would only blow out of the defrost but when you let off it would return to normal. At first, that was what this truck did too, for a couple days, then a couple days later it only blows out of defrost. sound like a vacuum line issue? Truck has a vacuum leak inside the dash or the vacuum resovoir on the pass side inner fender has a leak, the metal cans always rust out along the bottom.


Vacuum lines: this should be easy for me to google so I will but does anyone have a good picture of where the vacuum lines are? what are the functions of the vacuum lines? apparently a lot more than I realized!


any pointers for me as the first time owner of a 92-96 model ford and 1st time 5.8L owner, are appreciated.The U-joints in the front axle(all 3) almost always dry out and seize so plan on replacing them sooner or later, I always install greasable joints when doing this and never have the problem again


I'm devastated to not have the owners manual but I plan to get a shop/service manual for it soon. You're not missing much so don't sweat it, a proper service manual will help you more.


-OIL! viscosity? I use and can find motorcraft diesel engine oil, but have not seen it for gas burners. is it available? What? This motor needs nothing other than 10w30, if you can't get sufficient oil pressure with that the motor needs a rebuild.

 

Thanks a lot, I have a lot to work on, I am planning on starting with oil change and bumper sag this week/end and plugs and wires and check/clean air filter or replace if needed. Once I get started ill take pics and post progress on anything that's not super typical jobs like air filter cleaning appreciate the feedback!

 

The only factory gear ratios available were 3.55 or higher(3.27, 3.08), find the axle code on the calibration decal on the drivers door pillar near the latch, that will translate to the axle code. Installing larger tires reduces the effective gear ratio making the truck slower to accelerate and harder on gas, installing lower(numerically higher) gearing corrects that.

 

here is the one that would tell the tire size and pressure and gvwr and stuff, at least I think this is the one because there aren't any others except calibration and the warning in red letters for something like not converting it into an ambulance or drunk driving or something.


ok cool gottcha, here is my sticker tho its not legible and my diff is stamped 3.08, says my buddy, but ill look and see if I can find that myself, I believe it tho because the mpg isn't very good ~12.8 mpg and it doesn't feel as fast as other people's trucks I have driven but I do use it for highway driving so I will be hesitant to swap it out unless I get bigger tires.


I did a bit of googling and found a site for mustang diff's that explained 4.10 gears means your axel turns 4.1 times to make your wheels turn 1 revolution. makes sense, now I am going to try to find out what a dana 60 or 44 means lol im working on my 4-by-literacy and I know im ignant but im learning so its not all bad, thanks for the insight.




something I thought was really cool if I had 3k extra for another truck is this guy has a lowered 2wd 95 f150 with the 300 i6 and a 5 speed, he put 2.73 rear in it like a mustang sounds fun but I'd want a v8!

 

Ok I found a little info about Dana but their website I think expects you to have a certain level of understanding which I do not have. if I wanted to put a dana 44 in my truck what parts would I replace?




So I finally stumbled on some useful info. Looks like The Spicer axles site dana 44 crate axle product has a great chart to answer some of my questions.

 

You already have a dana 44 front differential. The rear is a Ford 8.8". 2.73:1 gearing you mentioned in the lowered truck is pretty worthless if you ask me. Fine for slowly getting groceries maybe.

Has the speedometer been corrected for over sized tires (change a constant with the PSOM)? You can check by seeing if your speedometer is accurate; use a gps or mile markers. They look larger than stock, and your odometer will then register fewer miles than actually traveled, artificially deflating your fuel economy.

 

From the factory, your front and rear will always be the same ratio, right?

 

Not necessarily. Very common for the front to have a slightly numerically lower ratio than the rear. Example: Front 3.45 Rear 3.55

Effectively they are the same, but I wanted to point out there usually is a very small difference.

 

Yeah, the stock D44 is 3.54:1 while the stock 8.8" is 3.55:1 on my truck. Makes no difference though. If they're off much you'll have problems; 3.08:1 and 4.10:1 would be bad.

 

Pull the spout connector out and advance the base timing a few degrees. That one is free, easy and noticeable, by the seat-of-the-pants dyno.

 

The front is always higher than the rear. This is done so that the vehicle isn't "pushed" and screws up the handling. Since 4wd is used on mud,gravel,snow, there is a slip when things bind. My bronco II was very unhappy even on wet asphalt. My F-250 squawks on the gravel.

 

so my truck has 3.08:1 (rear) and if I get 4.10:1 (rear) then I guess I would need to update the front as well...


any reason to swap the gears inside the diff VS. just swap the whole thing out?

 

whats the spout connector? I wont mess with timing until I read a book about it or something because no one has ever even began to explain to me what it is, except my Dad telling me its a pain and don't mess with it. (he doesn't like wrenching)


with my limited and only general knowledge of timing and engines, I would think changing the timing would have a down side to it? maybe you are talking about a small enough change to be safe though?


thanks for the tip tho and ill see what I can learn about timing because I want to learn to rebuild an engine even if I don't advance my base


im planning on grabbing an as cheap as possible f150 in need of motor swap and maybe tranny swap just to learn about these things, but I don't want to make my baby my guinea pig