Income tax season is on the horizon and I am going to purchase a 80-86 ford truck. I have a few things around my property that need attention, i.e. an 9000 lb tractor taken to the salvage yard, 8-9 tons of scrap metal taken to the scrap yard, transfer my father in laws 8000 lb RV trailer to a new location for him... so on so forth, many things to get done. I have concluded an F150 is not going to comfortably and happily do these jobs for me, infact the sheer weight of some of the jobs could make an F150 raise a white flag and surrender...lol I need a heavy hauler that can do the work. An F150 CAN tow that weight, a few times in its life, but not repeatedley over and over again, 5-6 times a month, 12 months a year, as I have been known to tow cars, truck and tractors for repair, after a few months of that load on an F150 would kill it in short order. Should I go full bore and get an F350? or would an F250 do the work? I have seen on ebay a 1984 F250 DUALLY, whats up with that? a dually 250? does it tow as much as a 350? Also I need a recomendation for an engine choice, should I burden a 302 or 351 with that work? or go for the 460 or 6.9L diesel? Any ideas guys? Thanks

 

Well yeah if your doing heavy duty towing myswell go for the 350 are you sure that was a F-250 dually you seen maybe someone just used a F-250 and converted it over to a dually or the badges got swapped who knows i dont think the 302 will cut it with that much towing but im sure the 351, 460 and 6.9 will do good

 

I would say do not get the 302. the 351 is a good motor but I have had both an f250 with a 351 and an f250 with the 460... my experience says to go with the 460... it will get the same MPG empty and better MPG loaded... and it will have a ton more power to use when you need it. as far as the diesel goes i have never had an older ford diesel. ... good luck and happy shopping

 

A diesel won't pull quite as good as a 460(unless it's turboed) but, the fuel mileage is in the area of double what the 460 will get. Stick a big load behind that 460, and you're looking at single digit mileage figures. A 6.9 will be working to pull a 9K+ trailer load, but, it will do it happily. Personally, I've yanked around a 10,000 lb bobcat on tracks on a 4500 lb trailer a few times with mine, old girl was working hard to do 50, but, a turbo or more gears would help it's case. My 460, I haven't hauled that heavy with it, but, unloaded, it only did 12-13 mpg, while the diesel does at least that hauling, and runs around 18-19 empty.

 

Yeah, you are right, if I towed a heavy load about 60 miles, Id have guzzled around 10-12 gallons of gas to do it with a 460. BUT!! My buddy from work also advised me that Diesel isnt 2.10 a Gallon, its !!!3.10!!! LOL It would cost $25 in gas with 460 on 60 mile trip, with the diesel it may only use 6 or 7 gallons of Diesel, but it would still cost virtually the same..... So financially they are about equal on fuel usage. So the diesel may be several miles per gallon better, but its also a dollar more per gallon...lol Im making it harder for my self, yay!! For the power, and brute gutteral strength I think I want the 460 now that Ive thought about it alot. I am hoping to find a good F350 with a dying tranny or something so I can get it for cheap and repair it myself.
Thanks guys!

 

you can always buy a F350 Diesel then add a Turbo from a newer one to give you the boost you need

 

Ouch... that's just plain wrong... Diesel is a less refined product than gasoline... And, by all rights should cost less. It does here at least.

 

I heard on the news a little while ago that Congress passed a new measure that requires Diesel fuel to be cleaner than it has been in the past and that the new refining process is a lot more involved thus causing it to sky-rocket in price. Gas here is running $2.19/gallon while Diesel is running $2.77. Thank god I have a 460!

 

in my area i have heard the old timer talk about the oil pump on ford big blocks locking up and busting the shaft on the distributar, i have personaly never expirenced this but have heard more than one person talk about so it must have happend regularly on the older engines. mayby with some one with more knowledge than i on the 460s will have some input on this. i have been around more small blocks than the BB fords. though the 460 i had in my 77 never gave me any troubles other than passing everything but a gas station for the year that i had her lol.

 

The lowering of sulfur content in the fuel hasn't changed the price here at all, we've had ULSD in Canada since October. No change in price at the time, if anything, the price is up now due to the demand for heating fuel. Being a middle distillate, even with the stricter control on sulfur levels, it still requires less processing than gasoline to turn it into a marketable product.
As for oil pumps locking up and breaking the dizzy shaft, it is possible, but, not an overly common occurance, most times a shaft gets sheared, it's due to a high volume pump, but, for added insurance, you could always install an aftermarket shaft that's considerably stronger than a factory one.

 

I appreciate all the input guys. It helps me to clear things up a bit. I know what you mean in the above post about passing everything but a gas station, I have a 2006 Mustang. It will whip right past anything, but itll hit the brakes at a gas station...lol. Anyways, yeah Diesel is very expensive here in the Wichita area of Kansas. My buddy that I spoke of, he has a 1986 F250 with a 6.9 in it. He says the only thing he hates about it is the fuel bill. He actually proposed an idea to me. He said "Buy an f150 inline 6 or something, and ill even trade you for my F250 diesel" I guess he is that fed up with the diesel prices. LOL I guess id want the 460 but I will see if there are any similar issues with guys wanting to rid of their diesel fords because of the fuel prices, and maybe sell their diesel for cheap. Who knows? Thanks again guys.