Hi. I'm in the '73-79 forum because I have a battered old '77 F250 (in my shop right now, engine being pulled). I'm in NW forum, because I'm in Washington.

I'm thinking about joining THIS group -- actually, I'm thinking about a 1989 F250 Super Cab Camper Special, with 460 and only 70,000 miles. Wife's brother called from Oregon, and told us about a good deal on a neighbor's truck. We're going to be down there soon, anyway.

I know this isn't an economy car (we have a 1996 Suburban with 454). Is it something I can work on? Would a 1989 have throttle body injection or a carburetor? It will have electronic ignition of some sort. Is that pretty reliable?

I have wrenches and gauges, not computers and code readers. How much will I need to tool up to take care of a rig like this?

Thanks,

Lane

 

I own an '89 F-250 with a 351w and it has full EFI (Electronoic Fuel Enjection), and a good (ford standard) ignition square coil. I have what i would consider an expanded tool set (full set of wrenches and sockets, etc.) no where near a professional set and have no problems working on it. I don't own any Diag computers at all.

 

It's going to have EEC-IV multiport EFI. It's a pretty sophisticated EFI but it's simplistic to work with and has an excellent self diagnosis system. The computer can help you find any EFI related problems. You don't even need a code reader, you can do it with a test light, voltmeter, etc, or just have autozone do it for ya for free...

They're pretty good trucks and easy to work on. There isn't a whole lot different between the 87-96 vehicles. They're good trucks and I think you'd enjoy it.

 

Sounds like this one I've been told about is definitely worth checking out. If I get it, I'll probably be wishing I'd gotten the 351W when I buy gas. But I do love cubic inches when actually hauling a load. Who knows? If I get a rig like that, and it's clean with only 70K on it, maybe I could retire our 454 Suburban (over 213K). Even my wife has mentioned a Super Cab pickup lately.

 

Most people seem to average 10-11 mpg on the 460 trucks, 12-14ish on the 351s...it depends on a looot of things though...

 

Our 6,500 lb. '96 K2500 Suburban usually runs around 12, though it can break 13 on all freeway driving, if you aren't heavily loaded or pushing hard. There's something to be said for the modern automatics with lockup converter and overdrive. I think it gets slightly better mileage than my 2WD '77 F250 with the same 4:10 axle, but a C6. I'm in the process of swapping from the 351M I blew to a fairly fresh 400 I found for $200. We'll see how that runs. I like the the way the big engines can loaf along at 2,000 to 2,500 while pushing a big vehicle at freeway speeds. I don't think the small engines get much better mileage when heavily loaded. The way things are going, I'd be using the Camper Special when I wanted to haul a load. I can use something small for light errands.

Hey, maybe they'll start selling a home hydrogen conversion for these rigs...