Posted: 6/12/2026 11:07:28 PM EDT
|
Advice on vintage Ford Trucks. Looking to buy a older Ford truck for hauling light to rare med loads and I've been over-analyzing the option. Current daily is a 2011 panther with the 4.6 (great car) so I'm thinking a F150 with the same 4.6 moduler motor. Keep parts similar and such. Then I start looking at the more classic looking 83 to 90s.. Just a better looking truck. Then I start looking at 2010 2011 with the final version of the 5.4 ( I know I know) just for the extra Durability in frame and such. I'm fairly familiar with the 4.6 and 5.4 but minimal experiance with the older V8s. Then I wonder if I should go way back to a carbureted option. Guide me with your wisdom. |
|
I'd buy a 2015+ F150 with 3.5L NA engine. Attached File Features & specs Oxford White exterior color Medium Earth Gray interior color 3.5L V-6 DOHC, Ti-VCT variable valve control, regular unleaded, engine 17-23 mpg Four-wheel Drive drivetrain Automatic transmission "vintage" refers to a precise historical era of vehicles built between 1919 and 1930. |
Joined:
Nov 2022
Posts:
4805
EE: 100% (4)
SC, USA
|
I'd buy a late 80s to mid 90s 302ci or 351W , 5.0l or 5.7l. Power, ultra reliable, they'll run forever. My daily driver is a car, but it's a 1995 5.0l Mustang GT. Everything but the distributor and AC is original. It's got right at 225,000 miles, doesn't use oil etc. I sold Fords for a living from 1989-2000, but I started driving them in 1987. I put right at 300k on that one, ran like new until it was totaled in a wrecked. That's the only cars I would own for decades. I had people come into the shop I worked at after I got out of the car business with 400k and up, and the things ran fine, because those engines were so well built. My neighbor has a 1994 F150 that he bought new , about 300K on it, that runs like new. He's had it sitting more lately because he getting ready to do a full tuneup, and hasn't had time to get to it. |
Joined:
Jan 2023
Posts:
3308
EE: 0% (0)
OK, USA
|
Shop around a bit. Around here you can find late 90s/early 00s f150 cheap. Several years ago I bought 97' f150 reg cab longbed w/4.6l v8, aod & working ac w/140k for $1700, got a few rust through spots on bed & cab corners & the odometer quit at 163k so....... The 80s/early 90s f150, 250 & 350s are much higher. The 90s/00s chevy 1500,2500 & 3500 are higher & 70s/80s square bodies even higher. Bought a 97' c2500 in 18' for $2600, we've put a lot of miles on it since then, still runs good. It's hit & miss on dodges, older are mostly wore out and priced high. |
|
My cousin was a service writer for a Ford Dealer back in the 90s. When I was looking for a used truck in the late 90s, I was advised to avoid anything made from 78-90 because of problems with all of the smog control stuff. I wound up with a 69 F-250 that I drove for the next six years. 2006 to 2011 I had a 2001 F-150. I wasn't really impressed with it. I wouldn't want another. I'd love to have another 69'. I was able to get a 2004 F-350 really cheap from a friend. It had the 6.0, but he had put a factory reman engine into it. I had it for 3-4 years without much issue. I wouldn't buy another. Maybe with the V-10, but not the diesel. |
|
My 07 with a 4.6 has been reliable, but its not a powerful truck. It does the job, but isnt exceptional at anything. Mine has almost 200k miles and its been really good for me. If you can find a clean one cheap, they're still decent trucks. If you can swing a little more money, Id get an aluminum one 2015+. |
|
I have a 1990 F-250 2WD, 5.7/351 W with 62,000 miles on it. It’s gone through a few transmissions. First was the original owner since all he used it for was pulling a 30’ camper. If it wasn’t pulling the camper, it didn’t get driven. The trans had always acted off for me ever since I bought it. Took it to a very reputable shop and he told me I had lost 2nd gear and it was jumping straight to third. He also told me (as did the son of the original owner) that it had been rebuilt and upgraded with better parts of that time. But no shift improver kit. The old couple still wanted the soft shifts like OEM that destroys these early automatics. Shop did a great job, upgraded to the best parts and upgrades made for it. This was just after covid and it took probably a month to 6 weeks because no one had a torque converter sitting on a shelf for the gas engine. Plenty for the diesel engines. But the place that made them were backed up due to being shut down for a long time and it took forever for mine to get made. I recently went through the complete AC system and replaced absolutely everything from Rock Auto. It’s got a bad leak and I cannot find it. I’ve done the dye and UV light thing. All I can think of is the evaporator was bad out of the box and since it’s enclosed in the fiberglass box under the hood, I have to open it back up. Just no time right now. Again, finding quality made reproduction parts for a truck this old is a bitch. Sure, lifetime warranty on parts these days guarantees I’ll spend a lifetime swapping bad parts. Hell, I even bought the most expensive AC parts from RA. They are not fast trucks. They are slow off the line like anything else made during that era. And they are sluggish to stay at speed. Parts are getting difficult to find. I had an oil pressure sender go bad. The truck came with a variety of engines and there’s about a dozen different senders made depending on engine and gauge cluster. Mine has a gauge, not an idiot light. I went through 3-4 until I found one packaged correctly that didn’t just peg the gauge when running. I have a rear antilock brakes idiot light lit all the time. I replaced the sender, it sometimes goes out. The next swap is the very expensive ABS module. It’s like $1200+. Nope. I’ll drive with the idiot light on. It stops just fine. Besides, spend $1200 and get crap that’s bad out of the box? Why? Ever hear the old saying “It drives like an old truck.” Well, it’s an old truck. Split I beam front suspension like they made 30 years earlier. My son keep prodding me to do a suspension swap. They make a kit where a crown Vic front suspension bolts in and a kit to swap in a modern Mustang IRS in the back. They have airbag kits that will still carry the F-250 ratings for a max load. I would lose my 8 lug rims along with a little bed space to house the box containing the air pump and electronics for the airbag suspension. The most I ever haul weight wise is a yard of sand in the bed for spreading on my lawn in the spring and early summer. I might really give it some thought if I can get the damned AC system buttoned down and fixed. I will say though, I get lots of “I really like your old truck” complements, especially young women. They go nuts over this truck for some reason. Hell, my son and his roommate use to drive it around in the college hang out bar area to pick up girls. They called it “The pussy wagon”. I’d hate to think of how many grandkids this truck might have created. I’m so old it doesn’t fell like an “old truck” to me.  Just the other day it dawned on me that right now it is older than my ‘66 Mustang was when I brought it home to restore.  |
|
Originally Posted By LRShooter: My cousin was a service writer for a Ford Dealer back in the 90s. When I was looking for a used truck in the late 90s, I was advised to avoid anything made from 78-90 because of problems with all of the smog control stuff.. My ‘90 has all that crap. There are good videos on YouTube how to rip it all out and make a little more power. I did have to remove my catalytic converter because it had clogged. Made a simple bypass pipe. Made a huge improvement in power gains. But it was clogged to the point I couldn’t get over 50 MPH. I’d love to rip all that crap out and clean up the engine. Just no time to do it all. |
|
I had a 1997 F150 extended cab long bed 4x4 with the 4.6L. While it would not win any races, it was super reliable. I put 250,000 trouble free miles on it. I picked up a 2010 F150 super cab a year ago. The 2010 has the 4.6L in it and is 2 WD. It was a one owner truck with only 68,900 miles on it when I bought it. A good friend owns a pest control business and he has quite a few Ford F150s with the 4.6L and most have 300,000 or more miles on them. They have been very reliable for his company. A well maintained 4.6L will last a long time. No you won't haul heavy trailers with them or win any races, but they are reliable. |
DAV lifetime member
NRA Patriot Life Benefactor
NRA Patriot Life Benefactor
|
Attached File Attached File My daughters 1989 F250 4x4. Put a brand new 351w and deleted all the emissions. Great first vehicle for her and she loves it. She likes to work on it with dad. Attached File |
|
I'm down in GA with OP. There's older trucks all over the place for dirt cheap here. Running, driving OBD ford and chevy trucks for $1500 with a V8 and no rust. Probably want to spend at least $2500 so you're not getting the bottom of the barrel. I got myself a good one for $800. For ford trucks, if you go with a mod motor, after 2000 is when they went to the PI motor and picked up some power. The 302 was available from the 60s through mid 90s, depending on what model. Similar cutoff for the 300, 351w, and 460. By the 90s, it was solved science and reliable. The cutoff years coincided with the swap to OBD2, with a bit of overlap. F250 being over the weight cutoff got to got a couple years longer. Thats why you can find 1997 trucks with the older motors if they are F250, while the F150 were already on the mod motors. Up through 1995, the pushrod V8s ran the annoying OBD1 computer. For 96, it was OBD2. They started putting roller cam motors in them around the early 90s. For transmissions, the venerable C6 was actually still an option into the 90s, but most people didn't order it cause it didn't have an overdrive. Up through 1995, the AODE was the most common transmission you'd find on a 302. The 351w got the E4OD. In 1996, the AODE was replaced with the 4R70W. In the late 90s, they rolled out the 4R100 to replace the E4OD. They have the 8.8 rear end and 31 spline axles was standard. Mine has the 3.55 gears, open diff. I prefer the 1996 in the F150 cause you get the OBD2 computer, roller cam, and 4R70W transmission. It is capable of pulling a trailer with a 4500lb car on it, but it does struggle on hills and you're not gonna do it at 80mph. More like 65mph the whole trip. The truck 302 had a better cam for torque than the mustang and it had longer intake runners. The weak point is the exhaust. Replacing the exhaust lets it breathe better and picks up power. The cheapest way to pick up power in these is to install a stronger coil and gap the spark plugs for it. That lets you put a couple more degrees of timing in it. AFAIK, only the truck motors with the OBD2 computer have a knock sensor, so if you do that on a motor without one, its up to you to not put too much timing in it. The factory towing package is somewhat of a hard to find part. Thats the wiring and relays from from to back for trailer brakes. You can find them on ebay usually around $100. I've walked around the pull-a-part yard looking at a hundred different trucks and none had the towing kit on it. The vacuum lines are also a weak point. They are generally crumbling and need replaced. Especially the one that goes to the AC blend doors over on the passenger side. And these trucks are glued together. The seam sealer that holds the pieces of the cabs together is aging. Its fine for a daily driver, but if you want to repair it correctly, you have to strip the cowl area of the cam to access everything. You can carb swap the pushrod motors easily. At least, the small block ones. Fuel regulator beside the brake booster and swap the intake manifold. You'll need something to control the transmission if its an AODE/4R70W. The big block motors are a bit less easy cause the carb and EFI heads/intake are not interchangeable. You need to make sure you get an intake that will work with your heads. My $800 F150. It needed an alternator, rear brake shoes, O2 sensors. I scored a split seat on marketplace for $100. Its an XL with rubber floor mats and manual windows. AC still works. Its had a rear main seal leak since I got it. I've been too lazy to fix it so far. One of these days.    
|
|
Originally Posted By chumpmiester: I had a 1997 F150 extended cab long bed 4x4 with the 4.6L. While it would not win any races, it was super reliable. I put 250,000 trouble free miles on it. I picked up a 2010 F150 super cab a year ago. The 2010 has the 4.6L in it and is 2 WD. It was a one owner truck with only 68,900 miles on it when I bought it. A good friend owns a pest control business and he has quite a few Ford F150s with the 4.6L and most have 300,000 or more miles on them. They have been very reliable for his company. A well maintained 4.6L will last a long time. No you won't haul heavy trailers with them or win any races, but they are reliable. Family got a '97 with the 4.6. Just awful as far as a truck went. Our '91 with a 5.0 that it replaced was a better truck in almost every way. |
Wake up, wake up and smell the ashes.
|
Originally Posted By Agilt: That's a pretty decent explanation of the 4.6 in truck form. Family got a '97 with the 4.6. Just awful as far as a truck went. Our '91 with a 5.0 that it replaced was a better truck in almost every way. You can't talk about the mod-motor generation of F150s without talking about the heater core. Thats when ford started designing the entire truck around the heater core. When it goes bad, its a 20 hour job gutting the entire interior to replace it. Hell, you just about gotta take the bed off the back, too. I had a couple 2000-ish F150s with the 4.6, non-PI. The drivetrain was reliable. The heater cores in both were bad. Both leaked around the rear window to the point that the carpet started to mildew. One of them, the odometer only worked when it wanted to. I've had less issues overall out of the previous models than the '97+. |
|
Originally Posted By giantpune: You can't talk about the mod-motor generation of F150s without talking about the heater core. Thats when ford started designing the entire truck around the heater core. When it goes bad, its a 20 hour job gutting the entire interior to replace it. Hell, you just about gotta take the bed off the back, too. I had a couple 2000-ish F150s with the 4.6, non-PI. The drivetrain was reliable. The heater cores in both were bad. Both leaked around the rear window to the point that the carpet started to mildew. One of them, the odometer only worked when it wanted to. I've had less issues overall out of the previous models than the '97+. Originally Posted By giantpune: Originally Posted By Agilt: That's a pretty decent explanation of the 4.6 in truck form. Family got a '97 with the 4.6. Just awful as far as a truck went. Our '91 with a 5.0 that it replaced was a better truck in almost every way. You can't talk about the mod-motor generation of F150s without talking about the heater core. Thats when ford started designing the entire truck around the heater core. When it goes bad, its a 20 hour job gutting the entire interior to replace it. Hell, you just about gotta take the bed off the back, too. I had a couple 2000-ish F150s with the 4.6, non-PI. The drivetrain was reliable. The heater cores in both were bad. Both leaked around the rear window to the point that the carpet started to mildew. One of them, the odometer only worked when it wanted to. I've had less issues overall out of the previous models than the '97+. I'm on my second F150 with the 4.6L. The 97 had a lot of miles on it and I won't hesitate to put a lot of miles on the 2010 F150 either. The most I will ever tow is a 5x10 utility trailer and my Honda Pioneer 500, total weight combined is 2,000 pounds. |
DAV lifetime member
NRA Patriot Life Benefactor
NRA Patriot Life Benefactor
|
I use my F150 4.6 to pull trailers full of brush for my side job, and my newer 5.0 to commute The new 5.0 is faster at 1/4 throttle than the 4.6 wide open, but the 4.6 just wont die, and Im not ready to get a scratch on my nice one yet. 190k on mine and pulls a trailer very frequently, at least once per week. Id buy another one if I was looking. Onky issues Ive had is driveshaft carrier bearings, and I out a radiator in mine once. Also did the fuel pump module once. My interior is still in surprisingly good shape too. Body is rusting in all the usual places unfortunately. |
|
Picked up my dad’s 94 f150 last weekend. Attached File Got the outside cleaned up. I love this body style of fords. He had three mid 90’s models. Sold his other 4wd. His wife of 6 years decided her son needed his 93 2wd. (Pretty weird) |
|
Originally Posted By thunderopossom: Picked up my dad’s 94 f150 last weekend. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/421337/IMG_6987_jpeg-3782501.JPG Got the outside cleaned up. I love this body style of fords. He had three mid 90’s models. Sold his other 4wd. His wife of 6 years decided her son needed his 93 2wd. (Pretty weird) Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. |
Sold it to my FIL for $1 when he had some shit luck ( he was a great man). Got divorced and he died a couple of years later. Think I ever got a call about buying the truck back? Pics look better than in person. Clear coat was coming off. But it was a solid truck.
|
|
Originally Posted By mscout118: Sold it to my FIL for $1 when he had some shit luck ( he was a great man). Got divorced and he died a couple of years later. Think I ever got a call about buying the truck back? Pics look better than in person. Clear coat was coming off. But it was a solid truck. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/320646/IMG_0011-3782588.jpg You should have left your name with his on the title. Joint custody! |
|
Originally Posted By ScottsGT: You should have left your name with his on the title. Joint custody! Originally Posted By ScottsGT: Originally Posted By mscout118: Sold it to my FIL for $1 when he had some shit luck ( he was a great man). Got divorced and he died a couple of years later. Think I ever got a call about buying the truck back? Pics look better than in person. Clear coat was coming off. But it was a solid truck. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/320646/IMG_0011-3782588.jpg You should have left your name with his on the title. Joint custody! Lessons learned. |
|
Originally Posted By mscout118: Sold it to my FIL for $1 when he had some shit luck ( he was a great man). Got divorced and he died a couple of years later. Think I ever got a call about buying the truck back? Pics look better than in person. Clear coat was coming off. But it was a solid truck. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/320646/IMG_0011-3782588.jpg Beautiful pickup man! |
Join the Community
Your next conversation starts here.
Create your free account to join discussions, share your experience, save topics, and connect with the AR15.COM community.
- Join discussions
- Follow topics and replies
- Connect with fellow enthusiasts
Already a member? Sign in
Stay informed by subscribing to our Newsletter