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So, I'm young, I'm looking for a first vehicle and it's gotta be a ford and its gotta be a pickup because i love ford pickups and i do haul stuff like firewood and occasionally the large, awkward household appliance. I don't think I'm gonna be doing a lot of towing tho. Also needs to be 4x4. I'm looking for recommendations of what truck to buy when I'm ready and what truck is great for somebody that likes to wrench on his own stuff, something that is not expensive to maintain, and something that has enough power and torque to do some moderate hauling and have a bit of fun with. I really like the 67-79 pickups as well as the 1983-1994 pickups with the 6.9L and 7.3L IDI diesels. The 7.3 and the 6.9 IDI's seem to have a very good reputation and i also love the sound they make so I've been leaning more towards getting one of those when I'm ready. I hear the mpg of those engines isn't terrible either so i like that too. However you don't drive a full size pickup to be concerned about mpg's to begin with but i was just saying 😁. I'm open to any recommendations/opinions as to what truck y'all think might suit my needs well and thank you in advance for any advice you might have.
Well I can understand the gotta be a Ford feeling, and on the 4wd, IMO better to have it and not need it, than the other way around. But that is more maint and big ol 4wd tires are not cheap. Also worse MPG with a 4wd. This is the 73-79 forum so I will only discuss that generation.
$0.02 Do not truck shop off the way they sound, they ALL use either gas or diesel and diesel is $1.00 more than gas. It matters come fill up time ALOT. Yes if you drive a truck you better be concerned with MPG. I have not been DDing my 4wd 77 F250 351M auto trans with 33" for just that reason, it only gets about 8/10 MPG....
Look at a 78/79 you will get disk brakes, better P/S set up and be better suited than with a 73. As far as a F150 F250 4wd they all eat gas, oil, and tires. Just like they all do. Be ready to wrench on it, have a place to work on it. Have tools and time and have another ride to the parts store. And have a back up plan to get to work when the truck goes down hard. Even new ones can go down hard, it the nature of the beast.
Also factor in smog check since you are a California resident, that ALSO matters, out there for sure. Now pass sniffer no tag. Good luck, have fun and here is a truck shopping list to use as a guide. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14696861
Thank you 77&79F250. I live in northern ca where the dirt is rock hard in the dry months but in the wet months it turns to peanut butter because its this god-awful red clay. I agree with your point about 4x4.
Strangely enough, in the area in CA that i live, diesel is sometimes cheaper than premium gasoline. Also when its not cheaper than premium gasoline, its only abt 10c more and sometimes even less.
Also, what does P/S mean? Also i've got my eye on (i think) a 78 f250 super cab, long bed, 4x4, near me and it might even be 429 cobra-jet swapped because it says "BOSS" and then underneath that it says "429" ...??? The place where it is now, it does nothing but sit there so i might have to ask the owner about it sometime. Let me know what you think😉Thanks again! (sry for the blurry pic) (i think) a 1978 f250
Last edited by Fordeverything; May 24, 2022 at 05:45 PM.
Reason: forgot something
P/S stands for power steering...not Power Stroke in this application. Cool truck just look it over carefully. 429 ='s gas gobbler, but should do ok unless it is super low geared. Way back in the day I had a 66 Ford F100 2wd with a 71 Thunderbird 429 swapped in it. Fast as hell.....between gas stations.
@tbear853, my cousin had a V-6 Ranger and it burned down in his driveway...soooo....🤔
He should be more careful.
I have seen more than one Dent side burn at a traffic light or other ... most were cracked rubber fuel line spraying the distributor cap area ... my '77 even once caught fire on the way to town after I swapped on new valve cover gaskets. One gasket lower side had slipped out on one side of the Morosso valve cover, oil run out onto exhaust. I was a half mile from a known water hose that I wasted no time getting to. Opened hood with charged hose in hand, put fire out, cooled the exhaust manifolds too, I was lucky, my then still new blue silicone solid core plug wires survived too.
Wife and I keep our eyes open for a red Ranger Flare-side, maybe even extended cab .... as a truck mostly for her. She wants me to have the grey added down low. 4WD is not absolute requirement, but would be nice.
You sound like a savvy kid, go slow.
most of us have been there done that.
Imho, I would stick with a gasser, easier and cheaper to maintain
And probably a lot cleaner to work on a 45-50 year old vehicle.
I have a dent because it is a cool second vehicle.
If I was looking for a first pickup to do what you describe it would be a 2006 to 2012 ford ranger. Tons of cheap parts, plastics are much newer, not that complicated of equipment. If I couldn't afford a 2006 I would buy the lowest miles that I could afford and go older from a state that doesn't salt the roads or is by saltwater. They are pretty much the same mechanics back to 1998 or so.
If you get into 70s equipment they are cooler than 80s equipment, but they didn't have plastic and rubber figured out as good in the 70s (plus it's all 10 years older)
80s are fine, but I ran a 1985 ford f250 as a work truck in 2014 out of necessity (couldn't afford the initial purchase price of something newer) When I retired it, the parts (not including labor that was by me at night) to keep it going cost the same as the payments on a 8 year old truck.
If you can get a good deal on a dent, particularly an inline 6 with a manual transmission there isn't much you couldn't fix on it with some words of wisdom from this forum.
You are making a good move with ford, stay away from old foreign motors. They can be expensive to maintain and parts may not be around.
P/S stands for power steering...not Power Stroke in this application. Cool truck just look it over carefully. 429 ='s gas gobbler, but should do ok unless it is super low geared. Way back in the day I had a 66 Ford F100 2wd with a 71 Thunderbird 429 swapped in it. Fast as hell.....between gas stations.
You sound like a savvy kid, go slow.
most of us have been there done that.
Imho, I would stick with a gasser, easier and cheaper to maintain
And probably a lot cleaner to work on a 45-50 year old vehicle.
Thankyou, i try to be savy when i can😉. I havent ruled out the possibility of an F150/250 with a 300 inline 6, i really hope for one with a 4spd and 4x4 tho but they seem hard to come by. I see some people here telling me a Ranger is maybe something i should consider but i think its probably going to be just too small/light duty for what i would be doing with my truck. I appreciate the advice tho.
Where abouts in NorCal are you? I'm in Oakhurst, outside Yosemite, and yep, same red slickery as snot clay in the winter and red rock concrete in summer. I have my eyeballs open most of the time, and so do most of my friends for me If a new one shows up through town I usually get a text or 4 asking if it's mine!
X2 on what 77&79 said, they all like gas, oil, tires and parts, I don't have truck payments... I have Napa payments lol,
also... BEWARE of SMOG, depending on County (thanks politicians) which you may already be aware of for where you live.
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If a new one shows up through town I usually get a text or 4 asking if it's mine!