:-X2Hey everybody, I'm in the process of buying a new to me truck pretty soon. At first I was considering a super duty with a 5.4 or v10. I've been driving my dad's old 99 f250 with the 7.3, and he actually offered to give it to me, but I want to pay for my own vehicle.
Anyways, I've always loved the classic look of the obs trucks, 92-96, and have a few questions about the different motors. I'm mainly considering an f250 or f350. I don't tow that much, but I'd rather have too much truck than not enough when I do tow. I haven't totally ruled out an f150 though. As far as the motors go, should I stay far away from the 302 because of its lack of low end torque and look for the straight 6 or 351? And in an f250 or f350, is a 351 enough or should I look for a 460? I'd prefer a 5 speed, especially in a f250 or 350, but I'd be fine with an auto also.
Lastly, how many miles is too many for these motors? I'm thinking probably around 200k is when they start showing their age, but I might be wrong.
Thanks for any advice/thoughts/comments.

 

I have a 97 with 134,000 miles that shows it age, except the body. I've seen some with 200,000 that looks great and others like mine that are a bit rougher. Mine was bought cheap to use as a farm truck, it had a snow plow on it for the last few years. I don't think it was plowed with much but I would say there was a lack of maintenance and whoever worked on it was a cheapskate. That being said the truck isn't horrible because I was able to fix alot of the stuff, it just needed time and some parts.
So how the truck was maintained means more than the mileage, you're looking at a 20+ year old truck.

I never cared for the 302, I've had three truck with 300 6's and the engines are great. They aren't a master of speed and performance, they aren't to brag about on gas mileage but they are dependable, last a long time with maintenance and they are hard to kill if abused. They will lug a load well depending on your transmission and gearing.
The 460 is a brute, a guy I used to work for a long time ago had one and when he pulled his camper (35' bumper pull) he said the truck never noticed it and it got the same gas mileage. The engine never knew its own strength.
I don't know what others thoughts are on the 351 but I like it. Sacrilege I know but I'd rather have a 350 Chevy, the F250 I bought for farm truck use age has a 351 and for what I'm using it for it does the job very well. Mostly I wanted this truck to load it down and pull trailers approaching the 10,000 lbs mark as well as a 2-3 horse trailer with anywhere from 1-3 horses. So far the truck has done what I want it to do. I got it in February, it is a 1997 F 250 heavy duty 4wd with a 351 auto with a 3.55 ls rear end and so far it has hauled up to 15,000 lbs worth of trailer, bobcat and attachments. I had to go about 10 miles and I couldn't have gone over 40 on that road without a trailer anyway. Another day I hauled about 2800 lbs worth of fence posts and material about 30 miles, the engine didn't know it was carrying a load.

So far the best fuel mileage I have had with that truck is 14 mpg alot of it on the highway, my normal mileage includes farm type work which isn't great for gas mileage.

 

It sounds like the 351 will do what I need. I too work on a farm and a lot of my towing is short distance. This truck will also be my daily driver and the mpg that you stated doesn't sound bad at all to me for what the truck is. I just don't want to buy a 351 and then think "I wonder if a 460 is a lot better" the whole time I'm driving it. Thanks for the report

 

In stock form.............
302: Great in a Mustang or a 2wd F-150, has to work too hard in a 4x4 F-150 or F-250.
351w: Probably the best all around motor in these years, plenty of power/ not horrible on gas.
460: TONS of brute power for towing, but 10mpg uphill/downhill, loaded/unloaded, city/hwy. Not a daily driver engine.

 

I got a 351 efi in my 90 f150 4x4 plenty of power guy I got it from said it has 456 gears in it cause he had 47's on it he said had on problem tuning them over it has 38.5's now and she'll spin them over no problem plenty of power and torque

 

The 302 is a reliable motor, but it never should have been put in a truck.

We haul 4-5,000lbs with our 351 4-5 days a week. It can handle whatever we throw at it, but it just won't do it fast. Empty it has about 12-14 mpg but with a load it's down to around 10 mpg, so if you plan on hauling a lot don't get a 351 for the mpg, because it's really not much better then a 460.

Now my 460 is a beast, I've had 3,000 lbs in the bed and it just climbs the mountains of PA without a problem. The only time I even know the weight is there is when braking down a steep grade. Which you'll have with any truck obviously.

 

I've had a 91 250 4x4 with 351 & 5spd. If memory is correct it had 3.73 gears, it always seemed underpowered. Going up longer 6% hills I'd end up in 3rd gear with pretty light loads, 2-3k. Much rather drive the 7.3 or 460.
Why not give your dad a reasonable amount for his truck? Sounds like you like it, you know what you're getting.

 

I have no issues pulling stuff with my 302..

but yes unless u tow every day, the 351 is fine.


whatever u do stay the hell away from 5.4 triton motors, they are problematic.

 

The good thing about a 351 is how easy and cheap it is to add lots of hp via head swap and exhaust work.

302s are miserable, but you'll only find them in older light duty 3/4 tons (since you are talking 3/4+ ton)

460s are awesome truck engines, period.

 

yea, the 5.4's suck with proper maintenance, they will only last 600,000+ miles.

302's are best left to cars.
the 300 six cylinder is an animal that will tow anything anywhere any day of the week. just not do it very fast.
the 351 is a good engine.
same with the 460, do anything you want it to except pass a gas station without having to pull in to top off the tank.

 

5.4L Modular is garbage -- have two right now on engine stands getting rebuilds. Ditto V-10. Go with the F350 (look under the trucks and compare the 250 and 350 frames -- obvious differences). 460 truck motors generally won't produce much (I've owned plenty along with predecessors in dump trucks (370's) -- gas hogs and they don't produce the required torque. Build yourself a 351C or a 302-- no limit on torque and parts for the latter are relatively inexpensive.

200k is the upper limit on any gas engine.

 

wait...what?!

 

That needs clarification.

F150 & F250LD share the same frame.

F250HD & F350 SRW & DRW pickups share the same frame.

F350 cab and chassis has it's own frame.

So it's not that your statement is wrong,though it can be misleading.

 

Personally I'm not a big fan of the modular motors myself. We have one in an f350 service truck that's loaded down with tools and various other equipment. As far as acceleration, it does decent for what it is. I just don't like it cause you have to rev it a lot to get any power...kinda like a 302 haha. I would prefer an f350 since they have the Dana 60 up front. However, from what I'm finding, I think f350s only came in single cab long bed and crew cab long bed. Is this right or not?

 

I disagree with so many things in this post, that I don't even know where to start.

I believe all OBS F-350's were long beds. But I have seen them in regular cab, super cab, and crew cab.