ive got a 85 f150 4x4 302 t18 with 373 gears...
geting about 13 -14 mpg.
runs about 3000 rpm doing 65...

i want to put a 300 in with some type of od trans automatic .
like to keep the stick but im the only one in the family who can drive it!
the aod seems to be the only option?

i dont want change the rear gears either

just want to be able to drive the truck on the freeway!

 

I have a 4.11 gear and 31'' tires. It's my personal opinion that a daily driver powered by a 300 that sees mostly highway should not be geared any lower than 3.55. 3.73 is as low as I would go. 4.11 makes the truck a beast in 1st gear but my highway power and mileage isn't great. I do get 16 mpg but that's if I baby the truck and don't drive faster than 60.

I had good all around power with the 3.08 gear. I had smaller tires back then, however.

 

The 302 and 300 get about the same mileage. Why would you want to replace the 302 with an I6?

You are willing to swap the engine and transmission but not your differential gearing? Why?

If you want a fuel miser you might want to look into a "light weight" 2wd F-100 /F-150 with the I6 or 302 and manual trans. With a 3.08 gear you could get decent fuel milage. Nothing great though. Maybe 18 at max.

 

3.08 is a car gear. Fine if your truck never hauls more then a load of grass clippings. Probobly felt snappier due to the fact that you had less gear to "drag through" then with your 4.11s. The 300 aint a quick engine to wrap up so that could create an illusion of better power.

I find that high gears in a truck to be worthless. When I tow it is usualy around 5-6k trailered weight. I got 400lbs sitting in the bed for winter weight at the moment. I would have no problom laying a thousand pounds in the bed still. Even if all I used it for was comuting I would go with 3.55s a 302 and an M5OD. This coupled to a low GVWR shortbox F150 would potentialy offer 21+ mpg on the highway. There is insufficent torque amplification for any hard use on gearing below 3.55. 3.73/3.89 gears generaly offering the best utility milage combination in my opinion.

Trucks are not cars. Getting 16+ mpg is reasonable on the highway unloaded. My carbed 85 4x4 gets 17 with a direct drive NP435 trany? Why? Because I tuned it correctly and dont drive 80mph in a truck!

 

1 longevity i ll be retiring in a couple of years...wont have as much cash as i do now

2 i can change the engine and tranny myself, never touched a differential

3 living in pa i need a 4x4...

 

I agree with you that for a truck that actually works, lower gears work better. This is common sense. I was suggesting that if he wants a vehicle with a truck box that gets good fuel mileage he will have to re-gear the truck.

You have 400 lbs in your bed? I have about 300. With more weight in my truck bed, will I be able to climb hills with less chance of wheel hop? Or does bed weight not mean anything when it comes to wheel hop?

I understand that, then. You can forget getting great fuel mileage then.

For a man who can change an engine and transmission, a differential shouldn't be too difficult. I watched my dad do it. Seems like the main thing is keeping everything clean, organized, making sure everything is lined up and put together correctly. Basically you cannot be **** enough about keeping everything lined up.

Anyway good luck with everything.

 

You mean what? I have never had probloms with my wheels hopping on hills. If you mean wheel spin and loss of traction on a dirt hill.......................Yeah, a little bit. I gues your line there is kinda vauge.

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I have this one driveway I have to take a RUN at to make it. If I try to take it nice and easy my truck wil eventually start wheel hopping violently.

 

When my trucks spins (especially on dry pavement) I get HORRIBLE wheel hop.
On a Chevy one of the shocks on the rear axle angles forward, the other angles back, on a Ford they both go forward. I think if Ford would have done like chevy the hop wouldn't have been so bad. All my Fords have had bad hop.

My current '91 gets maybe 12 MPG on a good day, got 15.15 once crusing at 55MPH but that was before it started running like s***.
My '88 F150 reg cab 4x4 300 ZF5 3.55 got about 17.5 on the highway.
Wish I could get my '91 to do that

Also, I have towed about 8K with 31s and 3.08s. Really isn't too bad at all. 3.55s would be better, but the 3.08 does perfectly fine on flat ground and mild hills. The 300 makes enough torque to pull it in 5th gear at 1600 RPM.

 

The wheel hop in a pickup is never somthing I have personaly experienced unless I dropped the clutch at high RPM. If I am not mistaken you have an AOD tranny bill. You should be able to creep up that driveway fine.
The wheel hop sounds like the axle is loading up along the horizontal axis and suddenly releasing. A bit of weight may help the problom by increasing the amount of load that needs to be applied prior to release. Howver when it does go there would be more energy wrapped up in the sping so the hop would be worse.

Do you have a factory sway bar? My 96 did not as it was a very basic XL. That may aleviate the problom if you dont as it would limit the amount of twist that could be imposed on the springs. Also If I remember correctly you have a 2WD truck with 31s on it. If you added a lift to the rear you have increased the distance from the spring hangers. That would cause the axle itself to have a greater leverage potential in relation to stock. Excerbating the problom more.
I have had this problom of wheel hop. Though only under high power light load conditions. Thats why I mentioned dirt hills.

Chevy 6.2- I find towing in OD to be completely stupid. It is dangerous. Possibly a unloaded car trailer on a low geared modern diesel. NEVER on the truck you mentioned. You are overworking the engine. You are loosing the advantage of compression braking. You have near zero ability to accelerate in an emergency. Wasting fuel. Ruining your tranny. Above all. Ford states to never tow in OD right in the manual. If I towed in any of my families vehicles. Auto or manual and they caught me in OD I would be in a geniuine world of s**t. That is just stupidly dangerous. You must like buying trannys.

 

Yessir, my truck is 2wd with the E4OD tranny. I do have a swap bar. I don't know if I can creep up this particual hill going Forward, but I know if I try it in Reverse my truck just wheel hops extremely violently if I go much past 1,200 rpm. My truck has a body lift so the suspension hasn't been touched. Do you think my locker is the real reason to the wheel hop? I thought a limited slip or locked diff is supposed to help you climb hills at low speeds.

Perhaps the hill is simply JUST THAT STEEP! haha. It really is pretty steep. People simply do not get up or down that hill in the winter. My truck started to slide one day just because it was raining (I was trying to turn around and my truck was sideways, made my front end start to slide).

 

alright what would you guys agree on as the best automatic tranny with overdrive that bolts right up?

 

I think the 240 should be able to hook up to the E4OD, right?

I doubt you can but if you do hook up an E4, I strongly recomend installing a shift kit.

 

THe 240 will take anything the 300 will take.

 

The hill is probobly that steep bill. Is it concrete or gravel?