Here's the deal- I do commercial mowing and the related services. Currently I have a 89 F350 flatbed, dually with a 460. Its a great work truck. I pull a 22' trailer (not enclosed) with a ZTR rider, and a big walk behind mower, plus push mower and all the small stuff. Not gobs of weight really. With the sides on the flatbed it is great to haul stuff- mulch in springtime, grass in summer, leaves in fall, etc. But my insurance on it is kinda steep because they see it as a commercial vehicle since it was sold as a cab and chassis, so they make me put it on commercial insurance. However I am 17 and a senior in high school so its not really what i'd call a commercial vehicle. That coupled with the gas cost and the fact that its not terribly practical for running errands and for personal use, is making me consider selling it and downsizing a bit.

A buddy has a 1994 F150 XLT, extended cab long bed, 4x4, 302, E40D, 3.55 gears, 33" BFG a/t's, bedliner, diamond plate toolbox, cloth seats and every option on it. lumbar support on the seats, Sliding rear window, a/c, c/c, tilt wheel, power mirrors, power locks, power windows, tinted windows, the whole nine yards. It has aluminum wheels (not stock). Rebuilt tranny and rear main seal and transmission cooler as of August '04. New oil pump in December. Recently he added a 2" receiver hitch and brake controller. Has a new windsheild. Has only used regular oil (non synthetic, yes i asked lol) and has stock exhaust. Not sure if it has dual tanks. Has all the exterior chrome trim. Its blue with gray interior. Real nice truck. Has a few very small rust spots (he said 4) in the usual places no big deal. The seat has the center folding armrest deal (don't know if it is split or not, does not matter to me). The price is decent. From looking at the posts about gas mileage i have a good idea what to expect and that sounds just fine with me. Seems like if its had a tuneup, to expect 13 around town and maybe as much as 16 on highway with these tires and gears. Anything above that is great but seems thats what i should expect right? And probably about 10 pullin my trailer. Those numbers all sound great to me. Now, it has 129k miles on it for which worries me just a little. My F350 has 170k (100k on motor) and i don't care about that a bit but i have never heard of 302's as being high mileage motors. I think the truck would do ok pulling my trailer as i don't drive hard and like i said, it doesn't weigh that much. The trailer is not a real heavy duty one (it will haul a light car but not a heavy car or a tractor). Probably about 2,000# on the trailer usually, and the trailer i don't know how much it weighs but i would guess it would not be but about 3,000-3,500# total weight behind the truck usually, and there would not really be need to put anything in the truck bed (weight wise) while towing. I have a 1976 Dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 that can be used for rough/heavy work. Its actually the military version which they added more spring to the back so its a 1 1/4 ton truck.

Anyway, long and short of it- do you guys think thats too many miles on a original 302 and you think it would be good for what i have described? How many miles do you think its good for assuming it was not abused? i know a friend of mine had a truck like this but 2wd regular cab, he bought it from a little old man had 60k miles, he killed it within the next 15k miles probably cuz he drove the snot out of it everytime he got in the truck. poor 302 threw a rod two days after he traded it for an explorer. anyway, i have only heard of a couple 302's with more than 200k miles on them and most seem to not have more than 150k miles on them. They seem finicky on gas mileage, seems like if somethings not right they get 8-10, if tuned up then upper teens on the highway (which sounds good to me).

Sorry for rambling. Tell me if you think this might be a good decision to get this truck or not. I am not gonna list the price at this time. It is my favorite body style of all trucks i can think of though so thats a plus!

thanks guys.
Eric