Thinking of swapping the ranger for a half ton

[Snoranger]

I saw a 92-96 f150 crew cab short bed at WaWa a few weeks ago. I didn’t believe the emblems because I know they didn’t make them. It was 5 lug TTB D40 front and an 8.8 rear. There was no noticeable frame mods, no conversion company tags, stock interior. I talked to the owner and he bought it used… he had no clue if it was a conversion or factory. I will forever be baffled by this truck.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Squarebody GM

Watch your mouth, bimpkin!

 

[scotts90ranger]

I hear the IDI is a good motor, add a banks turbo kit or find something used and can out perform a stock PSD at least in fuel mileage... there was a flat bed F super duty at work for a lot of years with an IDI 7.3L, I think I remember hearing it had well north of 400k on it, had low oil pressure when they got rid of it, I would have gotten it but I was tight on funds at the time...

 

[Blmpkn]

Watch your mouth, bimpkin!

I would.... but my big nose is in the way

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Easy to work on, the 4x4's have real front suspension, parts are plentiful and eeeeeeeverywhere, and there's no difference between the 1/2 and 3/4 tons besides axles. 5k would buy a pretty nice example up here.

That's the no brainer to me....You get so much towing/payload capacity from pretty much the same overall size/ parking space.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

If you want something bulletproof get either the older ford 7.3L diesel or the dodge 12V Cummins diesel. If your budget allows get the dodge 24V Cummins. Avoid any of the new diesels that take DEF, as well as the earlier 6ish liter Ford diesels. Idk about GM heard mixed reviews on the Duramax. The Allison transmissions are good though, as are the NV's in the dodges. If you go gas Ford get the V10 or 4.6L. I've been lucky and love my 5.4 Triton, but everyone else seems to hate it.

It seems all the brands have hit and miss years for their trucks. I've gotten good web results on which years to seek/avoid on specific brands/classes.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I saw a 92-96 f150 crew cab short bed at WaWa a few weeks ago. I didn’t believe the emblems because I know they didn’t make them. It was 5 lug TTB D40 front and an 8.8 rear. There was no noticeable frame mods, no conversion company tags, stock interior. I talked to the owner and he bought it used… he had no clue if it was a conversion or factory. I will forever be baffled by this truck.

It might have been a crazy oddball order that the customer willing to pay and wait for....Maybe a ford higher up or svt tech wanted this configuration. But yes quite baffling.

 

[Chapap]

If you want something bulletproof get either the older ford 7.3L diesel or the dodge 12V Cummins diesel. If your budget allows get the dodge 24V Cummins. Avoid any of the new diesels that take DEF, as well as the earlier 6ish liter Ford diesels. Idk about GM heard mixed reviews on the Duramax. The Allison transmissions are good though, as are the NV's in the dodges. If you go gas Ford get the V10 or 4.6L. I've been lucky and love my 5.4 Triton, but everyone else seems to hate it.

It seems all the brands have hit and miss years for their trucks. I've gotten good web results on which years to seek/avoid on specific brands/classes.

The 351 is supposed to be good too isn’t it?

 

[racsan]

Depends on the particular “351”. Dad had 2, a 94 F250 4x4 & a 96 big bronco. both had E4OD automatics, 3.55 gears. the F250 felt like it had more torque, Both had fairly close to the same size tire (outside diameter). The bronco was bought new, didn’t even have 50K when dad sold it. The F250 was bought used, had about 140K on it, not sure what it has now, its been back behind the barn the last 12 years or so.
Its not that the bronco was gutless, but the F250 sure had more umph behind it.

 

[Snoranger]

It might have been a crazy oddball order that the customer willing to pay and wait for....Maybe a ford higher up or svt tech wanted this configuration. But yes quite baffling.

I HIGHLY doubt it was a factory one-off truck.
It had painted steel XL wheels… that doesn’t sound like a SVT or Ford executive build.
It looked like a stripped down work truck with 2 bench seats and vinyl flooring.

 

[Chapap]

Depends on the particular “351”. Dad had 2, a 94 F250 4x4 & a 96 big bronco. both had E4OD automatics, 3.55 gears. the F250 felt like it had more torque, Both had fairly close to the same size tire (outside diameter). The bronco was bought new, didn’t even have 50K when dad sold it. The F250 was bought used, had about 140K on it, not sure what it has now, its been back behind the barn the last 12 years or so.
Its not that the bronco was gutless, but the F250 sure had more umph behind it.

I did a lot of reading on the 351 before looking at at an F150. I then decided on the ranger. Interestingly enough, that particular F150 is back on the market. I never came to a conclusion on the 351. There’s W, M, and a few others. I figured if there were so many types and such an enthusiast following that it was a good engine.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

The 351 is supposed to be good too isn’t it?

yea but I don't think they ever offered em in 3/4 or 1 tons. The 460 was a great big truck gas engine . I had a 351W in my '85 Bronco back in the days....loved that motor. My old mans f350 dually had a 460, hauled ass.

 

[racsan]

there was a 351 M (for modified cleveland)
and a 351 W (I think for the windsor ontario assembly plant)
If I recall right, the “M” had the thermostat housing off of the block where the “W” series engines had it on the front of the intake manifold by where the distributor is.
The 400 V8 (4.00 bore by 4.00 stroke) was a M series I believe, hell of a motor, good low end. same bore/stroke as the 300-6 btw.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I think The W was the smog motor. My 351W was horribly choked down from the factory, and had EGR. I had a lot of work done to the heads just to make em worthy of a 4 barrel carb.

 

[Chapap]

yea but I don't think they ever offered em in 3/4 or 1 tons. The 460 was a great big truck gas engine .

I found an FB listing that claims to be a F350 with 351W. Pics are a 350, but no motor pic.

what sort of mileage is considered high for a diesel. The 7.3 is supposed to be a half million mile engine, but there’sa lot of variables. I’ve found several from 150k to 300k with new motors.