Hows it goin?


I currently own a 70 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive with 4;10 gears. Im looking at goin to college in wyoming so ill be doin a lot of driving back to livingston. anyhow i love my ford but i want to build anotherone thats not so hard on gas. Im thinking a 67-72 f-100 4 wheel drive with a 302 and 355 gears. is this a good choice? i need something thats gonna be economical yet still I just gotta be driving them old fords.
anyone got any ideas about this?

 

How about just changing the gears? I saw a thread on gas mileage. I didn't remember a great variance in gas mileage. Even some of the newer gas Fords, ie. 2000 don't get that much better gas mileage than the older Fords. If you're looking for fuel economy, go with a Ford Diesel. A friend of mine had a 80's Ranger with a diesel and got close to 30 mpg. But it couldn't push past 60mph.

 

Do you really have to have 4 wheel drive? You could get much better mpg with a 2 wd. Or I think anyway...Stick with the smaller engines. And get an overdrive, or the highest practical gear you can find. If I wanted a 67-72 gas miser, I'd get a f-100, preferably stepside cuz they are the lightest. 2WD, but you could get limited slip. Stick with the standard stock skinny or semi skinny tires. Use a small engine with a small carb. "240-300 are stock, I guess you could use a 302 if you have one to throw in" Use a manual tranny. Keep the weight as light as you can. Heck, I had a 72 chevy stepside with a 250 and fairly high gear that got probably 18-20 mpg. I don't see why a similar ford couldn't either. My friends 240 powered 74 f-100 always got good mpg considering it's got a camper. I guess what it boils down to is the plain jane trucks with sixes, no options, no power nuttin, skinny tires, etc, get the best mpg. An O/D can do wonders on the highway. Mine does pretty decent for all the weight I'm carrying and no O/D. The 240-300's and a clark 4 speed overdrive is a good combo for a gas sipper f-100. A 302 with a gas sipper carb would work too..Different powerband though...Actually, we once had a 73 f-100 with a 302 and a 3 speed manual. It was a pretty good running truck, and got good mpg for a small v-8. But again, it was pretty plain as far as power options. No P/S, no P/B, manual tranny, etc...Saves on power drain and weight. I bet it wouldn't have done as good with a auto tranny... You get a 4wd, you get too much weight and drag to be a real gas sipper... If you plan to stick with 4wd, I'd stick with what you have. Maybe try a higher gear if you think it would help. Don't know what size tires you have... MK

 

Do you really have to have 4 wheel drive? You could get much better mpg with a 2 wd. Or I think anyway...Stick with the smaller engines. And get an overdrive, or the highest practical gear you can find. If I wanted a 67-72 gas miser, I'd get a f-100, preferably stepside cuz they are the lightest. 2WD, but you could get limited slip. Stick with the standard stock skinny or semi skinny tires. Use a small engine with a small carb. "240-300 are stock, I guess you could use a 302 if you have one to throw in" Use a manual tranny. Keep the weight as light as you can. Heck, I had a 72 chevy stepside with a 250 and fairly high gear that got probably 18-20 mpg. I don't see why a similar ford couldn't either. My friends 240 powered 74 f-100 always got good mpg considering it's got a camper. I guess what it boils down to is the plain jane trucks with sixes, no options, no power nuttin, skinny tires, etc, get the best mpg. The lower the weight and drag the better. An O/D can do wonders on the highway. Mine does pretty decent for all the weight I'm carrying and no O/D. The 240-300's and a clark 4 speed overdrive is a good combo for a gas sipper f-100. A 302 with a gas sipper carb would work too..Different powerband though...Actually, we once had a 73 f-100 with a 302 and a 3 speed manual. It was a pretty good running truck, and got good mpg for a small v-8. But again, it was pretty plain as far as power options. No P/S, no P/B, manual tranny, etc...Saves on power drain and weight. I bet it wouldn't have done as good with a auto tranny... You get a 4wd, you get too much weight and drag to be a real gas sipper... If you plan to stick with 4wd, I'd stick with what you have. Maybe try a higher gear if you think it would help. Don't know what size tires you have... MK

 

Hummm. Sorry about the apparent double post...I had to redial in the middle of sending that, and I guess I sent it twice. Didn't know it went the first time...MK

 

Why not just get a new Ranger. Lot better on the gas.

 

hey chris you talking bout livingston,Montana......if so I love it there been there was actually gona move there.....?and what school in wyo....?

 

NM5K, what is the clark 4 speed over drive that you mentioned?

One way to get better mileage is to drive slower. I have had several 300-6s and one in an 80 econoline with a C/6 that would push 20mpg if I didn't go over 61-62 mph. At 70 it got about 15. My dad had a 79 F-150 with 300/ 4speed and it would do about the same but it started falling off around 55 and if you drove it 65 it would be around 15.
You can't dog those small engines down too far with gears or they go the other way because you have to push them too hard to keep up speed. I would think a 302 or 300 with a 3.55 and overdrive or 3.25 gears without, and definately a standard or AOD with lockup. A rejetted stock 2 bbl. with small tube headers that have long collecters and a crossover.

 

Thats the 4 speed overdrive that was common in 80-?? trucks. Was commonly paired with the 300 six and small v8's. It's not real heavy duty compared to the bigger tranny's, but it's fine for a lighter truck. Yea, I agree about the rev's and gears. You don't want to get too carried away with a high gear. You won't make it up steep grades without downshifting, and the next lower gear is too low to avoid going real slow or revving 3000 plus to keep from getting run over... A lower rear gear and an overdrive for the highway is the best setup for all round use. Get the best of both worlds. MK

 

Ok, I never knew those trannys were a Clark. I always just thought there were a toploader variation. One of those would be great and they can be had cheap also. I think I will hoard a couple away the next time I find them. I already have a T-85 in my cache. I know where there is an early 80s with what appears to be a SROD. I had never seen one of those in a pickup but I guess they used them. Also there was a version that had a top shifter. The model A guys like them and do some machining to make them fit so they can cruise at 65 or so.

 

hey there
would swaping my gears for higher ones render my pickup useless for pulling?
I love having 4 wheel drive so i really dont want to lose that.
Yah im from livingston mt. considering going to northwest college in powell for ag business. i want to be a rancher, or at least a foreman on a good size place.
another thing i was thinking is putting a two speed rear end in it.could i get a rear end with a really big split in it. like 355s in od and 410 is this even possible?

 

I've considered trying one in my f-250 in place of the T-18. Sure, not near as tough as the T-18, but considering I only have a six, and don't tow, or do anything radical, I don't see why it wouldn't hold up. It *should* be a simple swap if I found one from a truck with a 300 in it. Same mounting. Seems if I also got the tailpiece and front shaft section, I could go into the driveshaft I have at the center support. But not sure on that...The only confusing thing is the shifters. In my book, I show the clark 4 spd OD listed as "B" tranny code for 79-86 trucks. But in the install info, I see info for a "ford 4 speed OD" that uses shifter rods. Doesn't seem to be a toploader. But I then see info for a "single rail four speed OD". This seems to be a toploader according to the info. I'm wondering if this is two versions of the same "clark" tranny, or different models. I only see one listed in the code chart. Naturally, I'd want the toploader. Anyway, seems like it might be a decent manual OD for lighter duty use, and avoid the high $$$$ cost of a 5 speed. I earlier was considering a AOD, but decided against cuz of the excess power sapping. I really would like a heavy duty 5 speed, but they are not cheap, and I'd also have to rig up for the hydraulic clutch setup and probably a driveshaft adjust. You could probably find a clark 4 speed dirt cheap in comparison to the 5 speeds. As far as Chris, You'd want to keep the 4.10 rear and get an OD tranny. Don't know of any dual speed rears... MK

 

You are correct MK, there are actually 3 versions of the O/D tranny. The SROD is pretty obscure and the toploader as you call it is too. The one with a the bolt on shifter with 3 shift rods is by far the most common. They are all actually "toploaders" since the gears and other internals are assembled through the top opening. I did see one with the top shifter on ebay several months ago and I think it closed at under $100. I was considering building a rat rod at the time and almost bought it, but didn't because I though a friend was bidding on it.
Chris, if you could run an overdrive tranny you would end up with an effective gear ratio aroun 3.28 in overdrive. Now if you really wanted to get creative you could mount something between your T-case and tranny. This sounds kind of hokey but I know a guy that put and old car 3speed with overdrive in his rear driveline on an old 74 F-350 crewcab 4x4. He has a 460 in it and has been running it that way for several years. Of course he can't put in O/D and 4x4 at the same time. If money was no object a gearvendors unit on back of the tranny would be my choice but those things cost more than my whole trucks. Also worth checking out is the NV4500 5 speed from a chevy. I don't know if anyone has made a bellhousing or adaptor for the FE but that is a tranny more suited to a 3/4 ton 4x4. I think that any of the "clark" variants will be of questionable strength. Also you might want to look in some old school buses and dump trucks for a 5 speed like a 285 series Clark. I think some of them might have been o/d but I can't say for sure.
Also one other possibility and a bolt up would be the T-85 3 speed overdrive from a 72 or earlier pickup. These actually came behind FE motors so they just use a common 3 speed bell housing. Of course you would have to fabricate a T-case shifter with any tranny swap in your F-250 and the 3 speed would require a floor shift that would conflict with that area and require some mods, or you could get the 3 on the tree steering column and linkage. These trannys are way cool because you have the option of using overdrive in every gear if you want to set it up that way so you would affectively have a 6 speed.

 

willowbilly,
why would i have to fab a t case shifter to use the t 85 ? would i not be usind my divorced t case i have now? are these trannys easy to come by?

 

They are out there but you will have to do some hunting. I have ine I got at a swap meet for $100. I saw another one at a big swapmeet in Dalles a couple years ago that I could have got for much less but I didn't wan't to pack it in my wagon all day and I couldn't find the guy when I was ready to go. He had the bell housing, clutch and flywheel for $50.
Unless I'm wrong, doesn't your transmission tailhousing have a boss cast in it and tapped for the bolt that holds your T-case shifter? If you chang transmissions you need to address that. And if you wanted to use a floor shift on the 3 speed it would be in almost the same place. Maybe you could redo your T-case shifter with a heavy duty push-pull cable and relocate it.