I am moving to Wyoming this July and found this F150 with a 4.9 and 4WD in it. It has 103K miles and is a regular cab. Are these trucks manual locking hubs? Do you exactly have to get out of the car to lock the hubs? Is this a good deal for $2500.

 

what year?

 

It could be either automatic hubs or manual hubs. The manuals are 100% better...so if it's got the manuals..switch to the autos..its cheap and only takes an hour or two so don't worry about that. The manual ones you have to lock yourself....I lock them before I get in the truck if I know i'll be using the 4wd.

 

I agree, it's no big deal to lock in hubs.

 

First - Welcome to Wyoming. Where are you ending up here?

Second - The hubs are not a big deal even if they are manual. If the weather is looking poor, just turn them in when you start your truck in the AM. You can switch between 2/4 then using just the transfer case. The MPG will suffer a little though.....

Most of the time, running with them out is no big deal though. I user 4 wheel drive about twice a year in normal driving (more if I am off in the hills or hunting though). Just keep good tires on the truck and it is no issue.

 

It just so happens this truck has the dual tanks like I badly wanted. Can't go to far with out them right? It is a 1989 F-150 XL Regular cab. It is white (pretty easy to keep clean) with blue interior (this is making me want to cry... set up just like my previous car my Taurus ). It has no power options. The side of the tailgate is broken (who knows what that might mean). It has no rust (so they claim). I have heard that auto locking hubs were optional correct me if I am wrong. I will be in Laramie. I know these have torque but is it better than the 5.0 in the low end? I kinda want to be able to take this truck mudding.

 

I changed my auto hubs for manual ones easily done.Auto hubs can leave ya stuck somewhere if you wait to engage 4wheel until youre stuck.My auto hubs would only engage if the truck was moved slightly forward or backward to allow the splines to engage.manual hubs engaged ahead of time are the ticket!!You can shift in and out of 4wheel while rolling because the front driveshaft and axles are spinning at the same speed as the rear with the hubs locked in.This works even at highway speeds if you are gentle and arn't spinning.

 

The 4.9 is WAY stronger than the 302 (5.0L) below 3,000 rpm. You just drive it like a diesel... the party's over at 3,500 rpm, though. This engine was built for lugging power and durability, and is quite possibly the greatest non-diesel light truck engine ever built... I know I am biased, but this engine is the one that converted me from a Chevy v8 guy to knowing better.
I have towed up to 6,200 lbs behind my truck with the six, and it never struggled. I had one last fit of V8 superiority disease when I converted the truck to a 5.0L V8, and it was faster... unloaded. That 6,200lb trailer that my six lugged down the interstate in Overdrive made the 5.0 wind out in second gear at wide open throttle to climb the same grades. If you want speed, buy a Dodge Hemi. If you want a truck for serious grunt work, buy a Ford with a six. For super heavy duty work, maybe a 460 or diesel, but unless you haul 9,000 lbs all the time, the six is it. The six, incidentally will do 9,000 lbs. A friend has an old (about 81, I think) F250 4x4 that he has hauled a small backhoe with. 'Hoe and tagalong trailer combo was 9,200 lbs. That made the six wheeze a bit on the steeper grades, but it did it. The six is more than enough motor for a half ton, and adequate for a three quarter ton. Like I said, I know I am biased, but that's because 230K plus miles have taught me that the six is what Ford was talking about when they said "The best never rest"!

 

I owned a 4.9L and 5.0L truck of the same configuration...about 2 years each...the 4.9 won't do well in the mud pit and it won't win any races...but it's got good low end torque and will climb hills nicely.

The 5.0 I prefer, it has way more power and the low end really isn't that bad. You'll only notice a difference in power below 1400ish rpm. I enjoy V-8s much more than the tractor like 4.9 but to each his own...mine were 95's by the way.

The late 80s early 90s 5.0s were only 185 hp...the newer ones like mine are 205hp. The 4.9's are 160hp of my era, and I think like 140-150 in the older era's you're looking at. If anything, you should drive either motor and see which one fits your tastes better. My truck weighs about 5400 lbs with me in it, and it'll mop the floor w/ my buddy's 4.9L who has 1/2 the mileage on his truck, it's 2wd, and it's only about 4600lbs.

 

Well, that will put you about 45 miles from here...welcome to the (relative) neighborhood.

Basically, if you like the truck, go for it. My 4.9 does fine here. Won't set any speed records with it, but I can certainly do 75 over the passes...so no problem there. And you will see a lot more desert, rocks, mountains and snow than mud here.

Drop a line when you get out....

Jim

 

Well the snow part sounds fun. I currently live in CA so I think that I could find a good mudding spot. I have this radical idea of relocating the exhaust & intake right between the cab and bed about 1 foot above the cab pointed straight to the sky just in case I feel like submersing the thing. lol. Dunno maybe I'm thinking ahead of myself. My friend likes the idea. First I have to get the truck... then talk more about it.

 

Not a whole lot of places to submerse it around here without doing some searching Lots of good off road trails though.... Within an hour of Laramie. Mud is kind of a spring thing around here. Of course we are on our 5th straight year of drought conditions......

If you don't find one there you like, there are always plenty of trucks for sale here at decent pricing. And you can get one without the CA emissions......

Jim

 

I have a 4.9. It is very slugish on the hills at a high speed. On the interstate it will drop back to 50 mph climbing a hill. Other than that is does perform fairly well.