High rpm vs low rpms on ford engines

[Josh B]

I can hardly play this game
I started on a Suzuki to a Honda to a Kawasaki, which I pushed to 135 in the dark and no, I was not watching the tach
Then I paid $35 for a Chevy Biscayne(6 cyl) to a $150 for a 64 Impala w/a 283
I could sit here an hour trying to piece all that together.
I didn't go by Chevy or Ford or Chrysler, but by what was available and what I could afford
I didn't get a new car graduation, but the morning after I drove my $150 Impala past the school and straight to Oklahoma
That was a good car, and 15 years later (overlooking a chevy S10 w/327 and several others) I got the 73 Econoline Van
A number are missing but it would take some time for me to compile a list of Galaxy 500s, Olds 455 Rocket I let my little sister drive to school, it had AC
I just can't play this game very well, I'm not even got a good start yet

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I failed to mention my current F150 earlier. It has the 4.6l and auto transmission. It needs to Rev. Ivebeen driving it for around 5 years now. Several times a year, I ask it (force it into slavery, really) to haul my Ranger on a 20ft car trailer. Trips to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, etc. It doesn't do well in the mountains. I end up pulling into the far right lane with the big trucks and sometimes I'm down less than 45mph and they have to pass me. Granted, a Ranger with 6" lift on 35's, sitting up on a car trailer is at least as much of an aerodynamic disaster as that enclosed trailer shown above. A 5.4l and manual transmission would probably make me almost happy with this truck, except the brakes aren't wonderful either. These trips are always stressful for me. I often feel like I'm slowly murdering the truck and twice have not really stopped exactly where I should have. Yes, the trailer has brakes. Hence, the Fun50 is being replaced by the Powerstroke F250.

A regular 5.4 truck had the 9.75 rear axle as opposed to your 31 spline 8.8. They have bigger rear brakes. A F-250/F-150 7700 had a rear 10.5 (I think, maybe it was 10.25?) and different brakes altogether.

I did find one 7700 in the JY with a 5speed... so that would be a 5.4 5 speed in a body like your F-150. Those are the kind weird ones with 7 lug wheels (5 were not enough, 6 were too futuristic and 8 was just plain too many) I neither snagged a pic of it or crawled under to see if it was an M5ODR2 or a ZF, I wish I would have thought to. Very scarce to the point it very well could have been swapped but that isn't super easy to do on a truck that new either. General rule of thumb is the one way you could get a manual in that 97-03 body was with a V6 or the 4.6.

My '02 had the 9.75, never in the terrain you run but weightwise my tractor has quite a bit on your Ranger. I always stopped ok. I towed my '85 once to get its exhaust and pulled harder than my tractor, much more frontal area despite being 1000lbs lighter. I think I also had it too far forward which put more weight on the truck which activates some sort of 3 dimensional physics and makes it pull a lot harder. I am used to my tractors that have all the lead in their @$$ and not on their nose and you have to scoot them forward more on the trailer to actually get any tongue weight.

 

[scotts90ranger]

It all depends on application for me, I of course learned manual on my '90 with 3.08 gears and 25" tires so I'm used to gutless and tall gears (combine that with not having a tach and yeah...). I'll drive to the occasion, my '97 Ranger with a 2.3L has 4.10's so it gets around ok but is still gutless unless you get the rpm's up but it's not a tow rig... I liked the '91 Explorer I had that was manual, wish it's rev limit was higher than it was, I think 4600? kinda silly low but worked great with 3.73's and 235's... My 5.0L Explorers with 3.73's are pretty good but the 5k rev limit is also silly, the torque curve doesn't seem too low, I think they're a good balance... When I really want to move things I use my F350 with 7.3L, I think the rev limit is 3200 but doesn't sound like it should rev up that high anyway , it'll cruise all day at 2000rpm, with 4.10's and 35" tires that's right around 62mph which is perfectly fine for what I do... just needs an intercooler and new injectors and a tuner to have reasonable power (I only want like 50 over stock, if I could do 50mph up the mountain pass while towing instead of 38mph I'd be perfectly content... the 3-4 shift rpm change on a ZF5 is ridiculous and diesels got the "close ratio")

 

[superj]

i like the 302, first, the 2.0 ecoboost, than the 3.0 in the ranger.