I just joined this forum because I'm looking to buy an early to mid 90's ford pickup.

I'm posting this because I am not sure whether to buy a diesel or gas... I'm not going to be doing heavy hauling, or even any hauling at all... but my dads 1999 diesel f-350 crewcab has gotten me addicted to the diesel smoke.

My original plan was to get a 90's diesel, throw some stacks on it and have fun with the smoke but now im having second guesses due to the lack of diesels being sold in my area. their all gas!

My main deciding questions are... Do the gas fords drive faster than the diesels (both in in acceleration and top speed) during this time and do gas fords have better mpg?

And what is an approximate max speed for a 1990ish diesel with 33" tires (w/o destroying your mpg's) compared to a 1994 gas with the same size tires and all stock gearing?

Please, throw me some facts.

 

I haven't driven (extensively) any diesels from this era, but I think the acceleration bit is going to really depend on gearing. I think you're going to be better served by determining your needs first.

First, don't even think about top speed unless you get a lightning. These trucks have the aerodynamics of a brick, and most have enough play in the steering that on anything other than perfectly flat (well maintained) roads, you're never going to want to push these trucks to their limit on top speed.

Acceleration is going to come down to gearing. My truck with a 460 and 3.55 gearing definitely isn't the quickest out there, but it'll pretty much accelerate the same on the hills as it will on the flats.

Gas mileage wise, you're almost always going to be better served by a diesel, but you also need to factor in the actual cost of fuel and other maintenance. In Iowa, all 89 octane fuel is supplemented by 10% ethanol. This means that 89 is $.10 cheaper than regular, and another $.15-.20 cheaper than diesel per gallon.

Finally, max speed for good gas mileage will vary by gearing and tire size, but my truck, 3.55 gears & 32" tires does best around 65 mph because it gets the RPMs up to 1800-1900. I think both the 460 and 351 are going to work best in that area. I don't know what the diesels do in that regard.

 

Thanks for the info. I currently own a 1979 toyota... customized to be a rock crawler, street legal. I was interested in speed of the fords for freeway purposes.

this year, i plan on driving several hours away into the mountains to go snowboarding. something my toyota could never do. I'm happy to know if i can cruise at 65 without pushing the petal to the floor... 70 at 2000 rpms would be awesome though.

I'm lookin at a 1994 f250 with a 4" lift, 33" tires and the 7.5L/460 Motor. probably stock gearing but i don't know much there.

 

you do need to realize that a Big Block ANYthing is going to get horrid fuel economy if you don't need that much motor I'd be looking more towards a 351W EFI Based Truck with a Standard 5 Speed Gas mileage between them 460 EFI= roughly 10-12MPG Hwy mileage Where as a 351W Driven conservatively and with the correct gearing could get as high as 15-16MPG under the same conditions just food for thought. cause if you aint made out of money that 460 will run you ragged on fuel consumption......it IS a bad Axx Motor of that there can be no doubt but it won't get anything even remotely confusable with good gas mileage

 

For gas motors during the 90's.

Mass produced, you have the 300 inline V6, the 302, the 351W, and the 460 bigblock.

The 351W is an awesome motor, but a gas hog stock, probably getting 13-15mpg at best, and that's babying it.

The 460 should completely be out of the question for you, unless you ONLY use the truck for work, the gas mileage is HORRIBLE. I own a F350 with the 460 and it gets me 8-10 mpg city and it's my daily driver/weekend mud warrior.

So personally, I'd go with a 95-97 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel. Any Diesel before 95, in my opinion, wasn't so good. They gained alot of power after 94. When they switched from the IDI to Powerstroke turbo. Say a 97 F350 standard cab with a 7.3L diesel, with stacks will look awesome, sound sick, and billow out black smoke like a freakin' train from back in the old days. And they are the best on gas. 17-19MPG

 

Mud Digger, do not knock down them IDIs on fuel economy, they actually do very good - for instance my bricknose dually pulls 19-20 mpg on the interstate if I keep her at 1900 rpms (57 mph or so), throw the big 2k camper on the back and she's down to 15 but then again this is to be expected with something that has the aerodynamics of an 80 sq.ft brick wall... If I regeared down to 3.55s or even 3.08 she'd go a whole lot faster but that does me no good when I hook up to one of them big gooseneck hay-haulers... I do agree they're underpowered tho, a PSD does much much better in that department.

 

my 88 f-150 5.0 pullys LT headers, custom made "ram-air" box and a few other things
i gps clocked doing 120mph but i went from getting 18mpg... to like 7mpg
and yes she has more play in the wheel than anything i have ever driven but only i could get her to track right

as for the coal rollers pre 97 go with psd... dont go with an idi turbo (turbo from stock)
because stock idi turbos ony had 10 more hp than n/a idi's
psd has 5 more hp and goooobs more ftlb than the 460

i mean... my 92 7.3 idi and my 88 5.0 both have there uses

my 88 is a single cab 2wd with loud pipes and speed shes the speeder
my 92 is a ext cab 4wd drw with a zf5 shes the puller

when i hook my 30 foot camper up to my 88 it take all of i-10 to get up to 55 mph
when i hook it up to my 92 bang her in first and she pulls that almost off idle

but our trucks are really not meant for speed ya want speed be prepared to put a bunch of money in it

 

If you are looking at heavier trucks I would vote for the Powerstroke, you will have no problem adding more power if that is your goal, and you can expect 14-18 mpg depending on how it's set up. The only downside is that maintenance will cost you a little more.
If you want to run a 33" tire look for a truck with 3.55 gears. I run a 35" tire and 4.10 gears and like that combo, but the 4.10's were not fun when I had smaller tires.

You might want to check out the diesel section there is a lot to learn there.

 

Thank you San Antonio, chillmiller, LCAM-01XA, F-350 Mud Digger, court1100f and DIYiT . Probably gonna wait and find a powerstroke. Is the IDI really that bad? I've got nothing to haul other than myself and a few friends. do you see a major difference in acceleration and speed?

120! Can i do that with a diesel? hahaha.

 

The IDI is not much worse at all. Just 2-3mpg less and a little bit less horsepower. Nothing major. I personally just love Turbo powerstrokes

They have more that can be done to them as far as I know aswell. As far as performance goes.

 

ok cool. thanks

 

For you.not using the truck as atruck. I would get a ranger. They get good fuel milage and are cheap to maintain. The earlier diesels(idi) are no powerhouse but they get decent milage. My avatar is a 86 6.9 4 speed stick w no OD 3.55 gears and on the highway I get 16-17mpg around 14-15. But it does well by itself. Differnrt storry w thee trailer. My ranger tows it faster

 

My truck, with it's 460 was clocked at 117mph wasting about a quarter tank to get there and keep it there though... Haha. So I figure a diesel would do about the same.

And rangers get as much as diesels do for gas mileage, but the diesel will look better and sound better

 

im not to sure on that one i never really caned a IDI or PSD

i ave seen then got to 100 and im sure if ya have enough money anything is posable


but 120 is a scary ride man
that 3 ton truck kinda starts flying the hood looked like a table cloth in the wind

freacked people out though " did i just get over taken by a.. blue brick?"

 

Nah. Trust me, i've taken my stock 460 to 117 and all i felt was the pressure pushing me against the seat. i was racing my friend on a highway inbetween cars. it handled surprisingly well