I bought my 86 F150 V8 efi 4spd manual 2x4 truck from a chap returning to the USA .. because the vehicle was in this country for less than 12 months I have to pay tax on its value.

Its a fairly rair vehicle over here and prices are hard to establish .

So fellas how much would i be expected to pay for a good condition F150 with 70000 miles, air con, alloy wheels and bed liner.

there is minimal rust spots on the door bottoms (not rusted through) and the roof needs repainted being burned from the florida sun.. cruise control doesnt work, tailgate skin is split from frame, and only a few minor dents .

overall a good ole truck that i use daily .. thanks for your help ..

 

Wow, that sounds like a sweet truck you got.
Are the roads big enough over there for it?
I bet it is very rare indeed over there. How much is gas over there?
As far as the price. That is very subjective. A picture would help a lot. Tell the tax man you bought it for a thousand bucks.
zanny

 

lol, roads are plenty big enough... folks just move over, lol..I think you might be surprised just how good it is .. no rips or tears in the interior nothing chopped from the dash no extra holes etc. roof lining is loose and the opening rear sreccn locking clip is broke .. (tsk).. I eventualy paid £2500 for it with the pro built and fitted aluminium tool box ("betterbuilt" company, Florida) . Thats probably about $4000... I recon its market value is less, but i was looking for a truck.. this one was local and the price was in my range.. also mucho better than any Japanese offering despite being nearly 20 years old .. Its a tough ole truck that i have loaded with 1 1/2 ton of concrete block, and it still pulled like a train.. the clutch also felt better when the truck was under load ..
Running unloaded with the tail dropped I can easily get 30+ mpg . I thought the truck topped out at 75 -80 mph.. but it turns out my friend was stugling to keep up at 95 !!! My speedo was only reading 75... and ive still had it up to 85 on my clock ... Holly cow.. that would equate to over 100 miles per hour ... Oh forgot to mention it had all new tyres and all new shox. + Air shox to rear ... Zane gas is about $6 per gallon ( 5 litres UK)

 

Holy cow!!! 30mpg??? How can that be?

 

Four thousand is a good price, for a truck in that good of shape, and that low in mileage.
Don't you guys, drive on the wrong side of the road?
Or do we drive on the wrong side of the road?
I bet it is real cool to drive that truck over there. Which side is your steering wheel on? It must be challenging to drive a vehicle with the steering and controls on the wrong side.
zanny

 

Zanny its no problem driving on the wrong side The steering wheel is on the left , just as it was when it left the USA. I dont think the truck is realy that big .. its a good size .. very usefull..

I wondered about the gas milage too but i have checked it now about 4 or 5 times and it keeps returning the same .. unless fully laden, or hammered everywhere..4th gear @ 1500 rpm = 50mph

i can still here the lope of the motor almost like its just idleing.

I think it has something to do with the size of the tyres fited out back.. they are very tall which reduces the revs, but the truck sits nice, the take off may be sacraficed but thats small change for the added gas milage..

 

With the weight of that truck, and the frontal area, there is no way it could get 30 mpg EVER without running down a steep hill ALL the time!
And if the engine is at 1500 rpm at road speed, it is not near it's most efficient part of the power band!
A smaller more efficient engine would be working it's *** off to pull that weight and push all that wind resistance.
A bigger one that could pull efficiently at such a low rpm would be HUGE and suck fuel big time!

Are you counting miles per gallon, or kilometers per gallon?
And are your gallons the same volume as our gallons (231 cid)?
There is a mistake somewhere in the mpg equation.

Also not that if the tire size was changed without correcting the speedo gear you will get an incorrect speed and distance reading, and it will cause the mpg reading to be off.

I once went from a 4.09 to a 2.50 rear axle gear and it effecivly changed the trans from a 4 speed with a granny first into a 4 speed with a HUGE overdrive.

First was like second.
Second was like third.
Third was like fourth.
And fourth was too friggin tall to hit the max rpm at top speed like it could do with the 4.09 gears.
And the speedo was WAY OFF.

 

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe he's comparing kilometers to gallons?
zanny

 

I thought i mentioned our gallons are 5 litres wheras i understand yours are 4 litres !!

Since finding out the speedo was way off I then took the milage into the equation also .. Ive checked again with tanks empty fill one tank with fuel drove it over a known distance of 50 miles and refilled the tank, it took 7.5 litres to cut off at the pump.

So perhaps i am ever so slightly out but this was not particularly scientific..

In tis country we are bread on manual trans, autos are a big dull no no .. so you could say that we know how to handle a stick shift and pay particular attention to shift points .. and ensure that the motor doesnt have to labour .. at 30 to 35 in third the truck is almost idleing and it pulls along pretty nice and easy at 45 i usualy shift into 4th (OD) and cruise along between 45 and 50 just resting my foot on the gas pedal.

Its the truth fellas if it was more expensive to run i would have sold it again .. It realy doesnt cost any more than my old 2.5 turbo diesel. nice n steady its a diffrent matter when i give it some hard accelaration .. then at highway speed its also realy efficient ..

call it a fluke .. call it good tuning.. call me a liar... I can tell you thats what i get .. fact!!!

what gas milage would you fellas expect from the truck .. as a matter of interest .. thanks

 

7.5 L is 1.984 american gallons and 50 miles divided by 1.984 gallons is still 25.2 mpg.
Is that known distance measured by the speedo in your truck or some other way that might also not be accurate due to the kilometer being the primary unit of measurement there?
How much does your truck weigh?
It should be at least 4000 lbs or so with the aerodynamics of a brick.
My 2002 Hyundai with a 2.0 L engine driven the way you describe gets around 30 mpg and it weighs a heck of a lot less and is smoother than a ford truck.

If the distance is off a little, and the speed was a little less (45 is really 35), and the amount of fuel used were off as well, then all the little mistakes can add up to incredible seeming mileage, but trust us, the laws of physics will not allow you to get a V8 ford truck to get that kind of mileage, if it were, we would have done it by now.
I have an F250 with a 460 and it gets 9 mpg on the freeway!
I think you would be lucky to get 15 or so.

 

I have a 86 F150 fi 302 4wd. I get about 13 to 15 mpg.
As long as your happy with the truck, thats all that matters.
There are too many variables in figuring gas mileage.
I've never really did the math on mine. I'm just estimating.
Your wallet will determine your gas mileage.
I think the truck is happy to be out of that hot Florida sun.
zanny

 

Zanny your spot on my wallet does determine the gas milage and vehicle useage.. and i can tell you this I would know if it was crap economy especially given the cost of gas here at $6 per gallon.

Zanny you loose some economy being a 4 wd i am 2 wd

Arch angel the measure of distance in the UK is in miles we have to go to the continent to measure in KM

I take it on board what you say about the speedo inacuracies and i have taken this into account.

Like you i wouldnt expect much more gas milage from a 460, and i can tell you as mentioned above if it was less that 15 mpg believe me i would know it ..

I am surprised at the frugal gas usage but you will have to accept that in thias case the laws of physics are wrong .. lol We will have to dig up ole issac and get him to do the math .. There may be a number of other things that make this truck so economical such as my locatiopn above sea level and the ambient temperature of the air .. its much cooler and damper here. who knows .. all i know is this truck is returning as near as dammit 30 MPG thats MILES PER GALLON not KILOMETRES.
Ive had Japanese trucks in the past and they were less economical than this truck. Also had other Ford trucks UK P100 ( built in Soth africa) with a 2 litre petrol and i could not keep that truck in gas .. as you are aware if you have to keep fuweling up you soon feel the pinch . I can say hand on heart that i am still surprised re the fuel consumtion and am more than delighted with the trucks performance. I will forgive its bump steer characteristics its a truck after all but that would be its only downside as an everyday useable and afordable vehicle .. I think its great and the one of the best Americam motors i have ever run in tis country .. I have ran 50s, 60s 70s and 80s americam V8s and V6s I am aware that the love gas .. thats why i can also draw a comparison,, Yep they were all thirsty but i recall the V6 camaro and Buick Turbo were not too bad considering .. the previous V8 consumption.. butthis truck blows em all clean out of the water ..

 

what part of the UK are you in?

I was in suffolk and norfolk for 3 years (military)

the american gallon is 3.8L, which is probably why everyone thinks your nuts for pulling 30mpg

You should probably start hitting up the junkyards for a replacement motor, because if you wait until your current one blows then your in for a long wait for an GI to wreck his car

 

Hello Hungry, I think that could be the problem... By the way im close to an EX US military base In Scotland .. The base is called EDZELL about 20 miles north from me .. It used to be ace getting parts from the local breakers, they were full of accident damaged stateside metal, but at that time we never realy knew what we had .. If only i gathered rear ends and motors /trans at that time..The base sprung up in the 50s and grew from there.. there were cars of all eras in the local breakers who collected them for weight more than spares .. Imagine .. the breakers were used to anglias etc.. one good 60s ford would = 10 anglias for weight..