90's F-150 - what to look for?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Nate Nagel - 06 Mar 2007 02:21 GMT

I've been offered an early 90's extended cab, 2wd Ford pickup for what I
think is an excellent price. It's an F-150, 300 straight six, automatic
(not nuts about the last, but whatever.) Current owner is not a car
guy. I haven't seen the truck yet, are there any typical "issues" with
these trucks that I should be specifically looking for, or just check
for general condition/function and if it seems OK, buy it?

I'm just looking for something for a backup vehicle and occasional
haulage of lumber and/or bulky car parts. Maybe towing a trailer
occasionally but I certainly wouldn't make a practice of it.

Is this combo sufficient to tow a car trailer for short trips? I'm
guessing no, but if it could, that would be a bonus.

One last question - were these trucks sold in any markets other than the
US? I've got this thing about decent headlights; would like to replace
the factory units with e-codes if I could, if I end up purchasing this
truck.

Sorry for the probably dumb questions, but the sum total of my
experience with trucks is with a) early 70's GM products and b) a brief
stint doing ABS development, again with GM products.

thanks,

nate

Signature

replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Reply to this Message

Derald - 06 Mar 2007 12:56 GMT

Look for a buyer. I have a '93 300CID standard 4wd. It's the "newest",
as well as the crappiest, Ford I've ever owned; it is my last Ford
truck. It is my last Ford motor vehicle of any kind, I suspect. This
truck is the penultimate "Affirmative Action" motor vehicle: It seems to
have been designed by some twit who'd have been better off designing a
vacuum cleaner and every single thing about it, without exception, had
the sole aim of making it as cheap as possible to put together.
My "next" truck will be a Toyota because:
It is made in U.S.A. not in Mexico and/or Canookia;
it requires only one set of tools.

Signature

HTH,
Derald

Reply to this Message

N8N - 06 Mar 2007 16:15 GMT

> Look for a buyer. I have a '93 300CID standard 4wd. It's the "newest",
> as well as the crappiest, Ford I've ever owned; it is my last Ford
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> HTH,
> Derald

Thanks for the reply, can you give me an idea of the specific issues
you've had? This truck is cheap enough that even if it is a POS if I
buy it and get a couple years' use out of it I will be happy.

nate

Reply to this Message

Whitelightning - 06 Mar 2007 17:03 GMT

> Thanks for the reply, can you give me an idea of the specific issues
> you've had? This truck is cheap enough that even if it is a POS if I
> buy it and get a couple years' use out of it I will be happy.

The 300 six is a torque monster, it will pull you car trailer with no
issues.
The caliper slides like to hang up, but that's been an issue with ford
trucks
for over 20 years. Radial arm bushings especially the passenger side which
is too close to the cat on that side. Fit and polish was not to car
standard, but then
trucks were still trucks in the early 90's. Have seen a few loose rear
mains, but not many.
watch the main connector on the alternator, if alt replaced, replace
connector as well. But then this was an across the board ford issue.
In the 80's I worked for a guy and we pulled a 3 car trailer behind a F-250
with a 300. It had no problems, did have a manual though.
To the guy going to toyota, don't let the door hit you in the a.s on the way
out, it may be assembled here, but has a high content of foreign parts, and
the profit leaves the country.
Funny for being such a POS its lasted him 14 years.
Whitelightning

Reply to this Message

SnoMan - 06 Mar 2007 19:02 GMT

>The 300 six is a torque monster, it will pull you car trailer with no
>issues.

That depends on year/version of engine and the axle ratio too. If it
is a econbox specail with a 300 and a 3.08 rear axle it will suck at
towing a car trailer. If it has a 3.73 or betterwith a 300 it should
do acceptably at this.
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

Reply to this Message