300/T18 pulling power

[rusty ol ranger]

I drove my dad’s ‘80 F100 in high school, it had a 300 and the weird 4 speed overdrive manual trans. That truck was a turd. The gears were so tall that overdrive wasn’t even really necessary. My main complaint with it was that it was a bear to start in cold weather, I probably could figure out why if I had it now but my grandpa hated it, my dad hated it, and I tolerated it for the same reasons.

Probably a "fuel saver" package truck...did it have an upshift light? I think they had those in 80.

I had an 83 with a 300/T18/4.10 rear (i bought it that way but i dont believe it was a stock rear) and that thing would rip a house over and was pretty damn quick till you got to 40 or so and had to hit road gear.

My buddy had an 84 at the same time with the fuel saver package. Had the 4sp OD with a 300 and like a 2.47 rear. I remember backing it up a hill once and thinking the parking brake was stuck...it was ridiculious ford built a truck like that.

We lined them up once and i cooked him till about 40-45, when i hit 4th and he was still in 2nd lol.

Remember...ford musta thought quite highly of the 300. It was built for 31 years, and used in everything from F100's to F600's (up to 20k GVWR). It also powered generators, UPS trucks, forklifts, irrigation pumps, aircraft tugs, and numerous other things.

If i was buying a F series for a daily/work truck...it would be a 300. It might not be fast...but you can work their dick in the dirt every single day, neglect the hell out of them, abuse them, and itll be there for ya ready for more.

 

[Mhfco6]

The 300 would handle those RPMs all day long.

But youre considerably out of your powerband at those speeds. Is that how fast you were trying to tow the trailer?

The 300 makes peak torque at 2000rpm. HP IIRC peaks at 3200. They are completly out of breath over 3500.

Haha no I was not towing the trailer that fast. This was a picture I took right after swapping the cluster in. I was curious what rpms would be at highway speeds.. 3,800 seems like a lot for sustained highway driving, and there is no redline on this tach. I was towing the trailer on backroads around 40-50 mph.. Assume if I was up to speed on highway a flat would be okay.. but a mountain I'd be in trouble.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Haha no I was not towing the trailer that fast. This was a picture I took right after swapping the cluster in. I was curious what rpms would be at highway speeds.. 3,800 seems like a lot for sustained highway driving, and there is no redline on this tach. I was towing the trailer on backroads around 40-50 mph.. Assume if I was up to speed on highway a flat would be okay.. but a mountain I'd be in trouble.

I mean 3800 isnt ideal no. But the 300 can crank all day long like that. Its way overbuilt and has 7 main bearings.

I think redline is 5500...however im not sure they would even rev that high.

I had a buddy with an 89 300 and he was doing something stupid, went to hit 4th and jammed it into 2nd at 75 or 80mph and let up on the clutch before he realized it. Motor had well over 300k on it and it held togther just fine. Not sure what he tached it to but i imagine it was probably over what the tach pegged at...or close

 

[Mhfco6]

I mean 3800 isnt ideal no. But the 300 can crank all day long like that. Its way overbuilt and has 7 main bearings.

I think redline is 5500...however im not sure they would even rev that high.

Do they have a limiter, its got to have a limiter. Well if 3800 is fine i'll roll with it! My dodge is close to that with 4.10's it around 3400-3500 at 80-85.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Do they have a limiter, its got to have a limiter. Well if 3800 is fine i'll roll with it! My dodge is close to that with 4.10's it around 3400-3500 at 80-85.

I dont think they have a limiter. But i dont know if a 300 could breathe enough to hit 5500 in neutral...much less actually moving something.

Isnt the cummins redline 4k? Id be nervous running that at 3700 sustained lol

 

[Roert42]

When I had 3.08 in the truck I would run outa gear around 90 mph. Would cruise nice at 65 or so in OD. After I put the 3.55 in it I never actually got it out on the highway before he truck got totaled, but I would cruise at 50 in OD and it was perfect. No tach or anything, just driving off the feel.

Thing just needed more gears. Maybe a 2 speed rear.

 

[Snoranger]

Do they have a limiter, its got to have a limiter. Well if 3800 is fine i'll roll with it! My dodge is close to that with 4.10's it around 3400-3500 at 80-85.

I’m pretty sure they used valve float as a limiter around 4500 rpm.

 

[superj]

i had an auto and 300 in my 95 f150. it ran good and was quick enough but got horrible gas mileage.

it was a single cab short bed 2wd

 

[Shran]

Probably a "fuel saver" package truck...did it have an upshift light? I think they had those in 80.

I had an 83 with a 300/T18/4.10 rear (i bought it that way but i dont believe it was a stock rear) and that thing would rip a house over and was pretty damn quick till you got to 40 or so and had to hit road gear.

My buddy had an 84 at the same time with the fuel saver package. Had the 4sp OD with a 300 and like a 2.47 rear. I remember backing it up a hill once and thinking the parking brake was stuck...it was ridiculious ford built a truck like that.

We lined them up once and i cooked him till about 40-45, when i hit 4th and he was still in 2nd lol.

Remember...ford musta thought quite highly of the 300. It was built for 31 years, and used in everything from F100's to F600's (up to 20k GVWR). It also powered generators, UPS trucks, forklifts, irrigation pumps, aircraft tugs, and numerous other things.

If i was buying a F series for a daily/work truck...it would be a 300. It might not be fast...but you can work their dick in the dirt every single day, neglect the hell out of them, abuse them, and itll be there for ya ready for more.

No upshift light, the fact that it had any lights at all was amazing. It had zero options. No power brakes, no power steering, no dash vents........ I guess it did have an AM radio that didn't work and it also had the full floor delete package. That truck actually was pretty quick if you knew how to work the gas & clutch just right (it was a 2wd short box stepside truck so it was really light) but I remember it being a handful with manual steering if you tried to show off.

If I could find a truck in decent shape that had a fuel injected 300, I'd be happy to drive it. Better yet, a full size Bronco. I'd probably pass on a carbureted truck. They all seem to have disappeared though.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

No upshift light, the fact that it had any lights at all was amazing. It had zero options. No power brakes, no power steering, no dash vents........ I guess it did have an AM radio that didn't work and it also had the full floor delete package. That truck actually was pretty quick if you knew how to work the gas & clutch just right (it was a 2wd short box stepside truck so it was really light) but I remember it being a handful with manual steering if you tried to show off.

If I could find a truck in decent shape that had a fuel injected 300, I'd be happy to drive it. Better yet, a full size Bronco. I'd probably pass on a carbureted truck. They all seem to have disappeared though.

I run across quite a few carbed ones still. Oddly enough.

Id love a bullnose bronco with a 300/T18

 

[19Walt93]

I drove my dad’s ‘80 F100 in high school, it had a 300 and the weird 4 speed overdrive manual trans. That truck was a turd. The gears were so tall that overdrive wasn’t even really necessary. My main complaint with it was that it was a bear to start in cold weather, I probably could figure out why if I had it now but my grandpa hated it, my dad hated it, and I tolerated it for the same reasons.

Those F100's would have had a 2.75 rear behind the topshift overdrive and they sucked in the NH hills. The gear ratios compared to having 1st, 2nd, effectively 4th, and overdrive. We have a lot of 40 moh speed limits, add in our hills and people could either climb hills in second gear with the engine screaming or try staying in what the pattern said was 3rd- a 1:1 ratio- and lug the engine to death. The base engine was a 3.6 V6 with a 3 on the tree in front of 2.75's and that didn't work either. They probably got decent mileage in flat areas.