I apologize in advance if i am making this post incorrect. I have never done anything like this before and it is my first day. A friend told me I should join and ask the questions of everyone so that I may get some good advice.

1st question the 94 F150 4x4 I just purchased from a 93 year old gentleman has been sitting for a while. I need new tires and shocks. The truck only has 63000 original miles. I do commute up and down and the interstate so I am not looking for coop mudders but i would like to do a small lift and such and put some decent all terrain tires on. It has the INLINE 6 and I dont want to get to much lift and tires that I cause mechanical issues on u-joints and driveshaft or strain the motor or 5 speed transmission. Also I will be pulling from time to time a 16' Cattle stock trailer. Any advice on lift kits and shocks and tires would be greatly appreciated.

2. As stated before it has been sitting and the front tank was left full. I finally got the front tank empty and have just began running fresh gas and added seafoam. The rear tank I did this twice and the truck starts and runs great off of rear tank. On the front tank it is sputtering when trying to crank and misses a bit while driving. I do need to do a good tune up and was waiting until I ran a couple tanks of fresh gas through the front tank. I will replace the fuel filter and such. Just asking for advice on action that i may need to do like types of plugs and wires and anything else beside oil change and air filter to make sure I have done prevenitive maintenance and such.

Thank in advance for all advice and information.

 

Congratulations and welcome. First always use Motorcraft parts. The overseas stuff is really iffy now and not worth the small savings. The first thing I do when I get one is change ALL fluids. Radiator to the differential. I would not replace anything other than the ATF when doing the transmission the first time. That will give you a baseline for further maintenance times. There are grease fittings on my ujoints and front end. Do those also. Then the new plugs, wires and distributor cap and rotor. Some 96 models were OBD 2. All earlier were OBD 1. If you have an inside port you are 2. If you're obd1 you will have a EEC test cap on the driver side fender. See which one you have and do a scan and see what is going on with the system. There is a built in code reader in the system with OBD 1 and you read it from the dash with your clutch depressed all the time of the test. Check youtube for good videos on how to do it. Of course alignment and timing should be checked. I recommend a haynes manual and/or Disc from Ebay that are Ford manuals for your year. Either will help you in the garage or here when discussing issues. Check all your vacuum lines for cracks or crumbling lines, and there is a chart on the hood. I would start with the Key on engine off KOEO test to see if any issues are there before doing anything else. Then also learn how to do the Key On Engine running, KOER test for further knowledge of what is or has been going on. keep us informed or if you have any questions. There is a wealth of knowledge within the forum and great people that will help you. Good luck and let us know what you find out about your codes if any. How bout a pic of that truck also. I leveled my front end by putting pads under the front springs. About 1 1/2" or 2.0" usually levels it out nice. Others replace their springs in front to level. For your application I think you will be happy with how it looks and you will maintain ride quality. If you decide to raise it, do a suspension lift and not a body lift. Sandy

 

Sandy thank you so much. I did pick up a Haynes on the way home when I bought the truck. I have already started on all the fluids as you have stated. Mine is the manual transmission 4 speed with over drive. I guess I need to get one of those code readers and my wife is trying to find the manuals cd from ebay like you stated. I had a 90 f150 with the inline 6 back in 1990 that truck wa beat to death by my older brothe me and then my younger brother. I think when it was wrecked it was like 385k we never did nothing but maintenance. So when I found this jewel I told my wife I couldn't pass it up. I will try and figure out how to post a pic. The fenders are not even rusty for a southeastern truck this amazed me. Thank you again.

 

Inside in great shape a bit dirty but no torn seats

 

You are welcome. The code readers for OBD 1 and 2 are different. 96 is when OBD 2 became standard. As I stated the 96 F150 being a change year can be mixed on some things. If you are OBD 1 the reader that is most popular is the INNOVA 3145 Ford Digital OBD1 Code Reader 23.00 on Amazon. Also get the extension so you can read the codes from inside the truck since you have to have the clutch depressed when testing. I have the M5OD tranny also. I love it. Word of caution. DO NOT rest your hand on the shift lever while driving. It saves wear on your shift forks. At long lights put it in neutral to save the throw out bearing from wearing. Just saw your pics. That baby is sweet. Great find in that condition with that low mileage.

Also from looking at it I think the level will give you a much better look as you can see it is raked in front now. Check out the front tire to fender space height on yours and mine

 

Here is how mine looks with a level and it started like yours. Should give you some idea of how you want to proceed. I also put a new set of stock KYB gas shocks on mine and it rides good.

 

So my title sais 1996 but thats from fat thumbs it is a 1994. Yes the truck was well taken care of for sure. The gentleman I bought it from was 93 years old handed me a oil filter new with title and said please change the oil its been 3 months. Although he had not driven it in a year he still had maintained it regardless just the bad gas so far. I see you were airborn. Well thank you for your service. Me USMC . Semper Fi! Thank you again so much.

 

Wow that paint job looks awesome. Mine has mold and moss growing from sitting so i been slowly washing it and such hope to rub compound it down and wax to see how good the paint really is. I did a small spot and it really came to life. Maybe after i get her all cleaned up and the mechanics tested and all straightened out I will get around to a new paint job.

 

Wash it with Dawn liquid dish soap and then clay bar it first. Then compound, polish and then wax. My truck was owned by an older gent that had a stroke and couldn't shift any more. One owner. I thought it was grey when I bought it and then I washed it and it was black. I was shocked. Then I repainted it. Glad we could clear the way for you USMC guys. Both great organizations. Glad we were part of them. Sandy

 

I will most definitely try all that. I have never heard of clay bar before all the others yes but never clay bar. Yes I love my country my fellow Marines and brothers and sisters of all branches. Even though we all give each other a hard time we still have great comradery for sure. Thanks again. Atleast I have learned how to upload a photo and reply today as well as getting that code checker and extention and all your other recommendations. Thank you again so much.

 

I wouldn't suggest bigger tires unless you get 3.55 or 4.10 gears, unless it is already equipped. Bigger tires make it work harder, and the 6 needs all he help it can get to keep up with modern speed limits, especially while towing. 55-60 mph is what these were designed for, and work the best at. Tow ratings with stick shift is pretty small. Might want to check into it before you hitch up and find out it is too much.

As for tires, I have 235-75-15XL on mine, BfG All-Terrain KO2 on the back, and Michelin X LT on the front (I have a 2wd). Goes down the road nice and quiet. The front tires seem to have a little deeper tread, which is fine as the front end is known to scrub the tires off.

If you go off-road at all, I suggest going for manual locking hubs. The automatic ones like to self-unlock at the most inopportune times...

 

The specs on my 95 with 4.9 Manual say GCVW 6450 to 7800lbs, max tow 1600 to 3300lbs.

Max tow on the Auto is better.

 

Welcome to the forum ROOster. I have the exact same vehicle as yours except mine is the Eddie Bauer edition. When I got mine, I put this leveling kit on it so that the truck sat level: JBG 1.5 - 2 Leveling Kit-Broncograveyard.com
I also bought Doetsch tech shocks from the same company, but just because they were on sale. I then bought a set of BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A tires 31X10.50. It gave the truck an awesome stance without making it look like one of those mud-boggers you see driving around. Here is a pic of what it looks like:

 

Thanks for the heads up on the autolocking hubs. I am fairly confident that I have the 3:55 gears according to the tag on door codebut When I go through all the fluids I am going to pull the cover off the front and rear chunk to inspect both thoroughly just for peace of mind. Yes on the manual shift vs automatic. I remember the sales men back in the mid 80's to early 90's telling us that automatic would pull more but on the farm reality was opposite. I really think it boils down to clutch and operator. But again I am no expert. I know we hauled a lot more weight then we should have back then but the manual transmissions always outlasted the automatic. But I will watch the tires size and such for sure that will change my ratio for sure. Thanks all for the help.

 

Oh yeah - forgot to add the service manual section for front suspension: