Hi, my 89 F150 has the 300-6 and 4 speed manual trans, I do a lot of towing with it and the 300 will pull anything even though it gets up to speed pretty slow. Rust is starting to get to my truck and I am looking for another. I found almost the same truck locally but it is a 302 with an auto trans. How does the 302 do for towing? Any better than the 300? I do not want to lose any towing capacity, I figure the auto may help but I am leery of the 302. I once had an 89 F250 light duty that had a 302 and it was a dog. Was that an isolated thing or is the 302 bad for pulling? Thanks!

 

Not sure about the particular engines in ??, but both are relatively the same size. I'd stick w/ the I-6 for power and bottom end. The 302 will be better for speed and top end. The difference is the basic design - straight / V-block. The I-6 has a longer stroke. Others here can be more specific about the torque curves/ HP ratings. I'd pick the 6 and stick for work and use the V8/auto for street and light duty.

 

My 170k mile '92 F150 with 300 and auto will run circles around my buddy's TIRED '92 F150 with 302 and 65k miles. It's like night and day.

 

The 302 will disappoint you if you like the 300 for towing.

 

Especially with an automatic. I think you'd really be disappointed with that combination. If you have to have a 302 and plan on towing, a 5 speed is the only way to go. Or a 4 speed would be a little stronger, but harder to find.

 

thanks, maybe I will just upgrade to the F250 and a 351.

 

ya i got a 92 (see sig) its a complete dog as far as towing and its got only 12000 miles on a engine/trans rebuild. i wish i wouldve kept my 96 with a 300/5sp.was thinking about selling the 302 auto and swapin in a bigblock with a 4sp

 

If I could wave a magic wand and turn my 302 into a 300, I'd do it in a heartbeat. The 302 is not a bad motor, but it's really mainly a car motor.

It will never have the grunt of that straight six.

 

The best vehicle of any kind I ever had was my 1990 F150 4x4 with 302 and Mazda 5-speed. I still kick myself 4+ years later for selling it. That truck never saw a load it wouldn't take a run at. The 302 has incredible guts for my money. The 302 *is* Ford Motor Company - the 302 is to Ford what the 350 is to Chevy. How it comes in for so much ridicule here I don't get. Sold it with 225K miles and still running great. The guy I sold it to won't sell it back to me - I have asked him twice.

I have the 300 now and I would *love* to have a 302 again, except for the gas mileage. The 302 is much peppier than the 300 which makes for more enjoyable driving in everyday conditions IMO. I towed with the 302, almost always over it's rated capacity, and it could handle the job. It didn't like some of the loads, but it did pull them and it produced sufficient torque such that, at 225K miles, I still had the original clutch in it.

So don't let these 300 bigots turn you off of the 302. I love that motor. The 300 I am less impressed with. It gets the job done, it does pull a tall gear better than the 302, but for all the praise that has been heaped on this motor over the years and more recently on these boards, I'd still like to have my old truck back.

 

My only concern is that the 302 is small for a v8, which means it is probably happier at upper RPMs as a HP engine instead of a torque engine. Like I said I had an 89 F250 light duty with the 302 and I tried towing a car and trailer once only and after that gave up on it. I was hoping maybe it was an isolated thing but the more I read I believe it is just too small of a v8. My 300 rarely gets over 3000 RPM and will tow my car trailer and a car no problem but I am thinking I should step up to a F250 HD. I am sure the 351 is not as good on gas but shouldnt be too bad on the highway.

 

Yes the 351 produces about he same low rpm torque as the 300 I6..in stock trim. If you like that kind of power then the 302 will disappoint. Even more so if going from a I6/manual to a 302/auto. With a stick and more rpm friendly gearing.. 3:73 to 4:10 for example, the 302 will do fine though. The truck the motor is in also plays a big role in how much it can tow. A 351 in an F250 crew cab 4x4 won't do any better..maybe even worse than a 302 in a regular cab 2WD. 1000lbs more truck means 1000lbs less towing capacity.

 

I rarely do better than 12 on the highway with my '93. But I'll tell you that the 351 runs circles around the 302, both in low RPM torque and in get-up-and-go. I never had the chance to run both trucks in my sig side-by-side, but acceleration seemed about the same. Considering that the '93 probably weighed about 1500 lbs more than the '90, that's significant. I also once ran the F250/351 from Chicago to Lafayette doing about 85-90 most of the way--the '90/302 never would have handled that. Those 20 extra horses and 40 extra ft-lbs the 351 has over the 302 make a HUGE difference, especially because they're at a lower RPM.

I've never owned one, but I respect the I-6. There's a reason that virtually all semi-tractor motors are in an I-6 configuration. My BIL who is a mech. engineer (used to work for Cummins, both on semi engines and the 6BT for Dodge) said that a whole lot of issues go away when an engine is built with a number of cylinders divisible by 3.

Jason

 

I have a 302 and I will tell you its been a great motor. It doesnt tow really great but it handled everything ive thrown at it. I also get around 20 mpg as an average with it. My buddy has a 351 with an auto, and I clean his clock whenever we used to race. Could be because I have the 5 speed in mine too though.

 

I would think your gears would make all the difference i mean wouldn't a 300-6 with 4.10s and a e40d feel peppier than a 351 with 3.08s and the same trans,it does in my opinion as i have had similar vehicles. I had a 84 with a 300-6 and either 2.73 gears or 2.47 i can't quite remember but it was gutless and couldn't haul ****,now obviously it had **** poor gearing and the 4speed manual couldn't help this slug,so i changed to a 3.55 and night and day difference. So i guess my point is you could have a f-350 with a heavy duty 5 speed and 4.10s and a "tiny" 302 and i guarantee this setup will haul damn near anything you need to yeah it might scream going down the road but then again you said you wanted to be able to tow not get good fuel mileage. I have driven fords all my life and i have learned that you can't have both sometimes you have to rob peter to pay paul, i have never had such a truck that could haul 10000lbs and get 12plus mpg with anything than a 3.55 rear end,unless it is a diesel

 

well my current truck that I am looking to replace probably has the worst combo, the 300-6 with the 4 speed and the gear is so tall that I have to start out with granny gear to get the truck moving at all times. It is like driving a school bus. Yet even with this gear (2000 rpm at 55 mph in 4th with the stock size tires, maybe 225/75/15s or close) the truck will tow all day long at 65 mph on the highway. It just takes forever to get up to speed, forget about a drag race even when empty. I think the standard trans must make it possible to do what it does because at least I can pick what gear I need to keep the engine happy. But I need something that makes torque from 2000 on up, and I just dont know if a 302 can make the low end for pulling. The auto would help with torque multiplication at take off but I dont know if it would help when going in traffic or going up hills. I know I can get another F150 pretty cheap but may have to step up to the 250 HD...or maybe get one with the 5 speed? I forgot but for a short time I used to have an 89 with the 300-6 and the 5 speed, that truck ran like a beast. Are the gear ratios that different for the 4 speed vs the 5?