Hey Guys, I'm in the market for a truck to replace my beloved '87 Flareside. Diesels are too expensive and 460s use too much gas, so I am thinking that an early 90s F-250 with a 351, five speed, and four wheel drive is what I need. It will be used for basic transportation, but also to haul heavy loads in the bed. (I am a concrete finisher, so I haul lots of broken cement, sand, and dirt.) Any feedback from owners of similar trucks would be greatly appreciated. Longevity, problem areas, power, max payload, popular mods and gas mileage are all of interest to me. Please advise, and thanks for a great website.

Chris
1987 F-150 Flareside
I-6, SROD
4x4

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-Aug-01 AT 11:47 PM (EST)[/font][p]The F250 you described would be a good choice, except for the five speed trans. The C6 automatic is a much better choice for hauling or pulling heavy loads. You will apreciate this if you have to back a fully loaded truck up a steep driveway or drive slowly over rough terrain.

As for 4wd, most of the F250's built in the '80's and early '90's have an IFS front axle Ford calls 'Twin Traction Beam', or TTB. It's a good axle, don't get me wrong. But it doesn't lend itself to suspention lifts too well. So if you are planning putting on 33" tires and a lift kit, an F350 with a solid front axle would be less hassle.

For fuel milage, my 351w gets 10-11 mpg, but it's carburated. EFI models get a little better, I think.

Supercabs are really great too. The back seat can't really seat adults comfortably, but folded down it gives you a lot of room to carry your tools and gear securely and out of the rain. I also find the longer 155" wheelbase to be a much better tow vehicle and it has a more comfortable ride than the 133" wheelbase regular cab.

GVWR will probably be between #8200 to no more than #8800. My F250 supercab 4x4 weighs #5400 empty.

Good luck with your search!

 

With the work you do, I suggest you budget in an hydraulic dump bed. You'll save a lot of time and backache.

 

300 six!! can't go wrong with that engine. it will haul till ya pass out and get good gas mileage to boot!

 

My daily driver is a 92' F-250, 351 v8, c6 trans. Great running truck. I have had it since new. I have hauled skids of Thoro stucco and portland cement. Hauls well when loaded, fly's down the road when empty. I plow with it in the winter. Approx 10 mpg on a normal basis. I am very happy with this setup.

The 300 six is a very good engine but I am not sure how well it pulls in an F-250. I have had many f-150's with 300 engines that pulled and lasted for years but to me there is nothing like a V8.
Food for thought. Good luck. Jake.

Jakegypsum // Ford fleet, soup to nuts.

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-Aug-01 AT 11:50 PM (EST)[/font][p]And I would have to say the efi engine get worse gas mileage than the carbed, dont get me wrong I love efi and think carbs kinda suck but just look what they did to the poor 300 6 in 87 I got 20 mpg in my 83 swb f-150 with srod tranny and 3.08's and still walked past aod 5 liters, man I hammed that truck to the max and I still miss it to this day

 

BTW, the 83 f-150 I had hauled roof tear-offs its whole life when I got it for all of 400 bux it had 230k on it and sold it runnin good with 290k on the clock and settled for a nice looking (xlt) and running at the time 86 F-150 lwb (gay) 5 liter injected aod

 

well i have an f-140 4x4 I-6 with the towing package.........can't kill the engine but personally im experiencing terrible gas mileage.......maybe 10-13 miles to the gallon if im lucky....Id say it's a good engine for work though. cus i have 140,000 miles on it and no probs

 

Thanks for the info everybody. I agree that the 300 is a very dependable mill, but I have one now and have been crippled by poor power and gas mileage. I figured that if I was going to have lousy mileage I might as well have some power to make up for it. I have about 200K on my truck now and very few problems, but a 351 will last that long if cared for and have more power to haul. Exhaust mods, a K&N, and a Jacobs ignition will help the gas mileage too, maybe get 15-17 with the manual and regular cab. By the way, does anyone know if they used a granny gear in the F-250 five speed like they did in the F-350? Is it the same tranny? Thanks again.

 

Look for a ZF 5 speed. This has the granny gear and 5th is overdrive. Stay away from the Mazda 5 speeds. The ZF granny is not as low (higher number) as the T18 but it is a compund low.

Slowsix

 

I wouldn't touch the Mazda with a ten foot pole, but I shouldn't have to worry since I don't think that they put them in the F-250s. I just found a really nice truck with everything I want, but it has a 460 and an auto. Never had an automatic before, this one has just been rebuilt but it seems they do not last as long as the manuals. Any thoughts? It is has overdrive, though I am not sure if they offered more than one type of automatic in the heavy trucks. Never owned a big block either, are they worth the cost? I assume gas mileage is 10-12 on an unmodified engine. How reliable are they? I would rather have a 351, but this is a nice truck and the price is right. Thank you all again for your input.

 

460 is great engine, auto tranny is nice to have . if it is c6, you have a tough tranny, but no overdrive. if you want overdrive and auto box, get an e4od or its' new name, whatever that is.

 

just re-read your post, you do have the overdrive as mentioned.
it is good tranny if you take good care of it.

 

I have a Jacobs Ignition on my 85 351w and it doesn't do a thing, Maybe it does with help smoother starts but doesn't help the gas milage or power. I got the omni pack, coil, ignition and wires. I don't know if you have used them before but I would stay away from them. Best of luck to ya!

 

The E4OD is a crappy transmission & the 460 is great engine. It'll pass anything but a gas station. LOL

Seriously, I'd look for a 460/C-6 or manual trans. truck or even a 351/C-6 before I'd buy the 460/E4OD.

One of the local fleet operators in my area has a bunch of 7.3L Diesels with E4ODs. They fail @ 60K or so miles & the remans aren't cheap!

A good C-6 auto will last at least 100k miles and it's MUCH cheaper to rebuild when the time comes.