Man, talk about going over to the dark side . . . sent my trusty '94 F350 crew cab long bed stick 4x4 7.3 Powerstroke down the road and bought a '95 F150 reg cab short box 4.9L 4x4 stick. Mom said I could buy a newer truck so I figured a one year upgrade kinda fit my conservative image. I'm liking this little sport-truck rig a lot. Not quite the torque I'm used to but my age and station in life requires me to downsize so there you have it.

Anyway, the guy I bought it from (original owner) was a little sheepish because it 's got close to 200,000 miles and he said it was not running like it used to and he figured the engine was getting worn out. But looking at a few things like the oil and blowby, tailpipe etc. it seemed solid. Bought it & brought it home (50 miles) and everything seemed ok but not very peppy. Pulled the spark plugs and they were flat worn out, dist cap & rotor same thing so hit the parts store, got all new stuff, plug wires, all the filters, etc. and did a tune up - wow, runs great now.

Checked compression dry and all the holes were 150-160. Figured I'd do a leak-down test here pretty soon. Not too many questions yet for you pros but they're coming . . .

One thing I don't care too much for is the tranny. That first gear could be a tad lower and even with the 3.55's I'm not looking forward to pulling my boat up the ramp but I guess that's why we have low range transfer cases. Towing that rig or my 12 ft flatbed around town isn't going to be pleasant so I'm going to keep my eye peeled for a ZF (gas model) like I had in my '94 to get that lower start-out gear and overall toughness.

I'd like to improve my traction for back country wanderings too. The diffs are open and I'm already spinning tires just getting up to the house . . . I could fix the driveway but I'd rather mod the truck besides there's lots of old logging roads around here that I'd like to check out. Anyone have suggestions for traction-enhancing differential upgrades?

 

you let a one ton 4x4 go and got a half ton, and now you want to tow and wheel it? everytime you're stuck in 2nd gear at wot towing uphill and barely moving, or whenever you break ttb axle parts while wheeling, i want you to ask the nearest person to you, to kick you in the hiny for your failure. your new name is BACKWARDS MAN,

 

i love straight six's, but i think i would have stayed with the 1 ton for your needs, if i were you i'd look into a powertrax or lock rite for the rear

 

I hear ya but the big boat is gone, the kids are gone, the fiver is gone etc., besides that 22' long F350 was no back country crawler . . . powertrax or lock rite . . . I'll check 'em out

 

I have a Powertrax no slip locker in my F-150. I like it. Paired with mud tires I have very good traction.

What size tires do you have? The E4 and the M5 have very similer first gears. My truck came with 3.08. The truck ran fine with it but I swapped it out for 4.11. Too low. Just for your own information if you eer consider gearing the truck lower. Don't go much past 3.73.

Keep your exhaust mostly stock, too, for the torque.

Post a picture of your rig when you can.

 

Bill, do you do much driving around town with your truck and having the powertrax in there? ive been looking at the powertrax no slip for my truck but want it to behave half way decent on the road.

 

Most of my driving is backroads, Jason.

I have a lot to say about the Powertrax. It does what it's supposed to. I do like it. However, if you have a four-wheel drive truck that is a daily driver, all you need is a good limited-slip. A locked differential can be a real pain.

If you have a two wheel drive truck, however, and are looking for more traction, it's hard to beat a locked diff paird with mud terrains.

 

Bill, not sure what you mean by E4 & M5 but in looking up the 1st gear ratios between the Mazda box (3.75) and the ZF gasser box (5.72) that looks like a world of difference? Enough of a difference to make putting slightly larger tires on a possibility as well. Current tires are factory size all season LT's that are worn and need to go asap. My diffs are open 3.55's which is a ratio I'll likely stay with.

On improving traction, I stopped by a local 4x4 shop today and the proprietor recommended putting in a Detroit TrueTrac . . . anyone try one of these? Guy said they don't ratchet and are the best low dollar solution, I didn't ask him about Powertrax though.

I'll grab a pic and put it up in a bit

 

i wouldn't say low dollar but yeah they are great. never had one in the rear, but it worked great up front, even on road. so it would probably suit you just fine in a rear application

 

I was comparing your first gear to mine. I was simply telling you not to gear your truck lower than 3.73. The 300 doesn't like it much.

 

Oh, understood, thanks

 

He quoted about $500 plus install for the truetrac, how much you figure the lock-rite runs?

 

300-350 with a way cheaper install price of free because you don't need to remove the whole differential, and set it up, so it's a do it yourself project. i'm sure if you had a shop do it, it would be a cheaper install than the true trac too.

 

So here's the newest member of the stable.

No one is going to believe this, I can't believe it actually but I took it on a mini errand run today that involved about 50% highway and 50% in town driving. Before I started I topped off the tank and reset the trip meter. The trip totaled 110 miles. I returned to the same fuel island near home and topped the tank off again. I could only get 3.7 gallons into the tank. Now I'm no math genius but doesn't that work out to about 30 mpg?

If that's real I'm looking for answers. OK, I just tuned it up, changed the oil, etc. Its freshly waxed. Its got a camper shell. Its light being a reg cab and short box. Its got almost 200k on it so the engine spins freely. Its got stock sized street tires that I inflated to 40 psi. I drove it fairly easy but got up to 70 a few times on the highway. 30 mpg? Is it possible with these engines?

 

30 mpg is what that figures as. I've never heard that high of a number from a believeable source, but I'd imagine it's entirely possible.
I never got better than 20 MPG in my 94 2wd LWB with the 300 5spd and 3.55 gears, but I also drove it in hilly terrain and typically at 70-75 MPH.

Nice looking truck.