All right don't beat up on me too much I'm a new member and this is my first Ford. all I have ever owned has been Nissan vehicles but my wimpy frontier can't pull my boat or anything else for that matter so I bought this ole girl pictured below. she's a 79 F250 custom 4X4 long bed with a 300 six / 4 speed. I'm hoping to eventually restore it but for now I 'm focusing on safety and getting her road worthy.

 

good to see ya moving to a real vehicle instead of an overgrown motorcycle. Welcome to fte and have fun with your project. Lots of smart people ready and willing to help on here.

 

You picked an excellent truck. That 300 will pull whatever you put behind it. You won't win any races, but it will always start.

Good looking truck, too.


Welcome to Ford. Welcome to FTE.

-Bill

Edit: By the way, if you ever start messing with exhaust for sound purposes, send me a PM. I've messed with my trucks exhaust WAY too much. I have a few sound clips on YouTube, also. Harte cals me the "resident sound clip guru". Haha!

 

safety? looks like a pretty safe truck to me! is it mechanically sound?

nice truck, btw!

 

Thanks Guys

what I meant by safety is right now the floor pans look like the ones Fred Flintstones car. yeah its mechanically sound engine runs like a top and it rides pretty good too considering it has leaf springs all the way around.

I just put tags on her this evening I might drive to work in the morning just to let the boys at the shop see it. I am a diesel mechanic by trade so if it has spark plugs I hate working on it but these trucks are so simple I figured it would be fun to play with. The only regret I have is I think the truck has 3.54 gears according to the tag on the axle in it the axle code in the door says 37 but I haven't been able to find a listing for 37 online or in the Chilton manual that came with the truck. a couple of guys I talked to said that it should be that bad pulling wise and I should still get decent fuel economy. I'm gonna hook my boat to her soon and give it a try and see how she pulls

yeah Bill I might take you up on that I've been thinking about how to make it sound like a little cummins

Thanks again guys
Lynn

 

idk about the 3.54 gearing. im pretty sure it has 4.11 or 4.56, b/c i dont think they offered that gearing w/f250 4x4's.

and the floor pans, i know what u mean! mine r the same way!

 

Welcome to the site. Nice looking F-250 you have. Enjoy the simple life.

 

the guy I bought it from ripped the floor mat out so your looking at clean highway on the Passenger side the Driver side aint no where near as bad but it will be before long if somethings not done. he also ripped the dash pad off and threw it a way so she's solid steel inside right now.

I hope your right about the gears. I would have thought it would have had lower gears too being as its a 250. I live in southwest Va and it pretty hilly/mountainess around hear so I could use the lower gear I don't want run fast most the time I'll probably be towing or hauling with it.

there is a stamped steel tag under a bolt on the rear axle which has 3.54 and some other number/letters on it. I guess this truck has a D60rear and D44 front I'm a real idiot when it comes to this stuff so I'm trying to learn

 

Keep the tires OE height and those 3.55 gears won't be so bad. If you need more umph, instal 4.11. That's what I did to my F-150 to help turn the taller tires. I still feel very confident your truck can pull what you want it to pull either way.

Keep us updated on the progess of your truck. I love seeing people take these old trucks and fix them up. Really makes me feel good people are taking care of these old trucks - Fords or not.

By the way, you can make your 300 sound almost identical to a Cummins at certain RPM'. It won't sound as deep or mean, but it will sound like a diesel. Like I said, send me a PM when you're ready to start messing with your exhaust. Just keep in mind that with exhaust, you can start DIRT cheap (as in FREE, as long as you have a saw saw) and work your way on up from there depending on how you like it. Check out YouTube, there are some 300 I6 sound clips on there, too. I think 300's sound decent with no muffler, just cats. A couple feet of pipe and a turn down and you have a nice, mean little grown for a couple bucks and a few minutes of your time. You can go on from there if you don't like that.

Here's my YouTube. I actually deleted a lot of sound clips (stupid me, I deleted the glass pack ones altogether).

But anyway you bought a really good truck. A little TLC is all that is needed. 3.55 gearing isn't bad, especially with a manual. If you require more power, think about a gear ratio change, like I said.

Here's a drive away sound clip. YouTube - '94 F150 Drive Away

And driving past.. You can hear the Diesel in this one;YouTube - F150 Passing by

 

Floor boards are a typical rot area on these trucks. It's about $80 for a new one and easy to put in. looks to be in good shape, I've seen a ton of real beaters. If your a diesel guy, put a 6.9, 7.3, or Cummings in it, a lot of people have, there are even a few 4bt swaps around.

 

3.55 with 300-6 and 4-speed................It will pull your boat no problem at all.

nice unit

 

Dont be surprised when you park your nissan and start driving the old ford more often, these trucks are fun to say the least!

 

code 37 is Dana 60 3.54 ratio

 

thanks bart I figured it was a 3.54 by the i.d. tag but its confirmed now. I just could'nt find any thing for code 37.

 

that is a good looking truck good luck on fixing her up I am fixing up my grandpa's 78F250 rangerwith a 400 and auto.tranny she is 2wheeldrive and now mine this is my first ford as well so you are not alone in the learning process