Crusing Speeds
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Tuned
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Alberta, Canada
Crusing Speeds
I have a 95 F150 4x4, 302, Mazda 5Spd, 3.55 rear end
What I'm wondering is what is an ok cruising rpm for the 302? Is it ok to run it at approx. 3000 for extended periods? 2750?? Does is matter if it's not starting to use oil?
What I'm wondering is what is an ok cruising rpm for the 302? Is it ok to run it at approx. 3000 for extended periods? 2750?? Does is matter if it's not starting to use oil?
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From: Destin/Ft. Walton Beach,
Geez. 3000 must be over 80 mph. I don't think it would hurt anything though. They aren't 302's, but I hold my boat over 5000 rpm's on 383 strokers for nearly an hour sometimes, when going from Pensacola to Destin.
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My old 79 F-100 w/ 302 and 3.89 gears would turn something like 3,500rpms at 70mph. Made a 3 hour trip (each way) in it, and hundreds of 1 - 2 hours trips like that. Probably had around 20,000 miles on it when i sold it and had no problems whatsoever. Keep in mind tho, that this was a fresh engine to begin with...a high mileage engine would likely die quickly.
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Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Wetaskiwin, Alberta
I guess it's like my old man used to say - "rev em high and bring them in early for fixin". Just kidding - 3,000 rpm really isn't pushing a 302 very hard at all. If I remember correctly the red line is around 5,000 RPM. I dunno though - you must have awfully generous law enforcement where you are. At 2,000RPM my 302 w/3.55 gears is pulling 70MPH. If I add another 1,000RPM I'm pretty sure that I would be in around the 85MPH. zone. A traffic ticket at that speed would cost around $250.00 plus about three or four points off of your license.
Cheers!
Mike
Cheers!
Mike
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Originally Posted by MRL123
I guess it's like my old man used to say - "rev em high and bring them in early for fixin". Just kidding - 3,000 rpm really isn't pushing a 302 very hard at all. If I remember correctly the red line is around 5,000 RPM. I dunno though - you must have awfully generous law enforcement where you are. At 2,000RPM my 302 w/3.55 gears is pulling 70MPH. If I add another 1,000RPM I'm pretty sure that I would be in around the 85MPH. zone. A traffic ticket at that speed would cost around $250.00 plus about three or four points off of your license.
Cheers!
Mike
Cheers!
Mike
That 302 wasn't stock either tho...redline (or where I shifted for best 1/4 mile et rather) was 5800 - 6000. 3,000 isn't bad, but I'd be willing to be it'd kill a 302 if it already had over 100k miles on it.
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Tuned
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From: Alberta, Canada
it's not so much that i want to drive that fast all the time. what brought this up was on a recent trip we were crusing about 80mph for most of it, and it was turning around 2700rpm...i was just wondering if that was hard on it or not. truck has 81000 miles on it, didn't burn a drop of oil. I recently changed to quakerstate higher mileage engine oil, and that made a big difference in the way the engine feels.
one other thing i was thinking about was if i had a trailer behind it and OD seemed abit underpowered at 60-70mph, if i could just drive in fourth around 2800-3000 rpm without hurting anything.
from the trip, running up at 2700rpm, and being more in the power range for the truck, it was alot snapier and held the hill very well...and mileage really didn't change that much. just wondering if it's hard on it or not.
one other thing i was thinking about was if i had a trailer behind it and OD seemed abit underpowered at 60-70mph, if i could just drive in fourth around 2800-3000 rpm without hurting anything.
from the trip, running up at 2700rpm, and being more in the power range for the truck, it was alot snapier and held the hill very well...and mileage really didn't change that much. just wondering if it's hard on it or not.
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