You betcha they fire up their engines!!! Talk usually centers around how stuck so-and-so got last hunting season and who's truck pulled him out!!! See, until last year, I was the not-so-proud owner of (GULP!!!) a 4-cylinder Toyota!!!! (I know, I know. . . the shame of it all!!!) But I'm in recovery now, and I'm proud to stand and say, "I'm rotorhead, and I get 8 miles per gallon!" at the meetings!

 

I was looking in my Ford pickup truck books for Lightning info and also found the gear ratios on the E4OD.
1st is 2.71
2nd is 1.54
3rd is 1.00
OD is 0.71
Rev is 2.18
and they list a 2.30 ratio for the torque converter. This leads me to believe that you get 2.3 times torque multiplication on take off or about a 6.23 ratio.

Now for the 1993 Lightning. It had a high output engine based on the 351 Windsor, or as another book put it, a "beefed up 351 Windsor." Had GT-40 type heads, (OK I know this is overkill, but I can't resist listing everything in the book) tuned intake manifold, stainless steel tubular headers, larger intake and exhaust valves, high flow ports, high rate fuel pump and injectors, revised combustion chamber design, redesigned high flow air filer, dual exhaust, special high silicon aluminum pistons, and special high lift camshaft. Output was 240 hp@4200 and 340 torque@3200 with a 0-60 time of 7.6 seconds. In contrast, the new Lightning with the 330 cubic inch (5.4) V8 is rated for a 0-60 time of 6.2 seconds and a 1/4-mile of 14.6 seconds. Whew! I could sure have a lot of fun with a truck like that! I really think this is where the late 90s F150 design shines--as a muscle truck. But for a regular all-purpose grunt truck, I'll take the older model or a SuperDuty any time. While I really like pushrods, Ford really did a nice job with the new 330 V8.

While all this has nothing to do with the original question, at least it clears up some of my speculation in previous posts on this thread.

 

I own the exact same truck and i revv mine around 4500 rpm's. I mud bog so i know what you are talking about. My truck has 158,000+ miles on it. I use 10w 40 Valvoline 4x4 Truck synthetic oil and I have never had aproblem!! There's my two cents. Good luck!!

 

Id love to have a 351 in my F150, but like a mother who loves her ugly child, I cannot bear to part with my straight six--it has an inner beauty. Still, I get my V8 kicks with the motorhome. Just love to hear the intake howl when I floor that beastly 460--Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

 

I would go waaaaaa every time i had to feed that beast!

 

Waaaaaaa 8 miles per gallon (65 mph) and gas prices back up--Waaaaaaaaa. Thankfully our daily drivers get about 17 and 20 mpg.

 

Hey Paul,

Thanks for your help. My rear end (on the truck, that is) is a
3 55, which if I understand things correctly, means it's not limited-slip. It's not quite "huntn seezun" yet, so this hasn't yet been a problem.

By the way, on the recommendation of a friend of mine at a parts place, i just tried an additive called "Restore". I've been getting 11-12mpg in mixed/mostly highway driving. Changed the oil yesterday (Castrol 10W40), and decided to add a can of this stuff. I've filled up once since then, after 113 miles of driving, and I got 15mpg!!!!!! I know, I know, it's doubtful that the stuff helped that much, and I'm racking my brain trying to find another reason for the increase, but I can't think of anything else I did differently. I'll definitely trend this situation and let everybody know how it goes, but if this keeps up, I'm gonna have to buy some stock in the stuff!!!!

Rotorhead

 

Aight guys im gonna throw another wrench into this. I was reading in a book at my local Barnes & Noble (car books rule!) that before any kind of performance enhancement was done to the 351W's they had to be converted to mass air as opposed to air density if they werent already. Mine is a 90 and its not mass air. Does this mean that even if I put an intake on it or rigged up some kind of ram air system I would have to get a mass air kit? K&N's intake kit does not change to mass air and they claim a gain of like 20 horsepower I believe. Also could this be the key to extracting 400 ponies from it with some other work of course. I love the motor and I want to make it a capable street machine, but everything Ive heard as far as its ability to be used for high performance is that its a bit lacking in power.
Patrick C.

 

red 351: I plead ignorance on mass air and air density differences. There are several threads on this site that discuss it. I recall that one takes well to modifications and the other doesn't. But which is which? Do a search and you should find a lot of info. --Paul