1996 Ford F-150 302 V8 is this enough truck?

[scagman]

Im sorry for not posting this in trucks, but I need responses.

Im almost positive that im buying this truck tommorow, but not sure if there will be a huge difference between my 1991 Gmc Sonoma 4.3 V6 (which is a Dog when pulling the trailer) and this Ford F-150 302 V8 both manuals. I have a 6.5 X 12 tandem axle with 2 walkbehinds and 2 21"S.

I dont want to spend $10,999 on a truck that wont work for me.
Their giving me $3000 for my truck which is good.

Will this truck carry as much as a F-250 if I put overload springs on it? I bag almost all my lawns and do alot of bark jobs plus my trailer, will I be hurtin on the hills and sinkin in the back?

Is the 302 with 77,000mi a good motor? Ive heard that a 300 6 will out pull a 302 V8?

This truck looks brand new inside and out. Its a single cab longbed with a towpackage and is blue and white which are my co. colors.

Should I buy it and will it pull? thanks

[65hoss]

the 302 is a great motor. If its been taken care of it will last a long time. It has real good power. I love those motors so much, my race car motor is a 302. Of course it is stroked to 347.

[stslawncare]

sounds good to me, beef it up a little and u will be set. how many miles does it have? price sounds a little high

[Crystal Meadows]

I have a 93 F-150 with the same motor. I would stay away from it and go with an F-250 or 350. You say you take away a lot of clippings and do a lot of mulch, you will be overweight very quickly. All I use the f-150 for is driving around and light loads. I wished many times that I hadn't bought the F-150, but you live and learn...Go with the heavier truck or if you can, even an F-350 chassis cab with a dump body. My first real landscape truck was a 1986 C-3500 GMC (same as F-350) which I bought from the NYC Housing Authority for $5,000. The truck was pretty beat but I got five good years out of it and sold it for $2,500, and that thing could carry twice the weight of the F-150. I hope this helps you.

[Planter]

I had a "light duty" 91 F250 with that engine. Bought it new. Traded it 6 months later for a new 91 F250 "heavy duty" with a tow package. Best thing I could have done. Lost a couple of thousand dollars and one mile per gallon. Now I can tow anything I want and have power to spare. The 302 didn't have enough guts for me.

[morning dew]

When it comes to your business (income) dont mess around with equipment that is not sufficient. An F-150 is not a work truck. You at least need to step up to a 3/4 ton vehicle like an F-250. We use 5 F-350's (which are the ultimate workhorse's) and never have a problem with power or load capacities. They all have the powerstroke diesel motors but in the F-350 class, all the factory installed motors are well strong enough for working hard. Dont forget about the transmissions and rear-ends either, in the light duty vehicles you will tear up these parts very quickly.

The DOT may also not approve of using a light vehicle for business operation too, so be careful.

Bottom line- get a real work truck and you wont have to worry about if you have enough truck to pull your equipment around.

You will then be able to focus on making money!

Good Luck
Jesse

[scagman]

Thanks alot guys its 7:30 am right now im getting ready to go get my deposit back and keep lookin. The truck has 77,000 miles on it stslawncare, well im goin truck shoppin see ya !

[Grass_Slayer]

take what u can get but an f150 with a 302 is not very good at pulling a load. my dad has one and it has trouble pulling a 15' fiberglass bass boat. the boat doesnt weigh over 1500. it has alot more trouble than my chevy w/t with a 4.3 at pulling my 6.5x16 trailer.

[cajuncutter]

I pulled with a 1982 Full size bronco with a 302 for 13 years. On top of that I had a lift kit on my bronco and rather large tires with the factory 355 gear ratio. I never had problems really. It was not a rocket off the line but I got around. The last 3 years I used the Bronco I pulled a 16 foot tandem with a 48 and a 36 walk behind and various hand held equipment. When I ditched the 48 for a shortcut 1500 I noticed a difference but it worked for the time. I have since upgraded to a 1 ton crew cab diesle.:D

[Bob Minney]

I finally gave up on my old ford 460 a few years ago and traded to a 302. Thought it would use less gas, am saving about 5%. It does the job, but just barely. I want to switch to a F-350 14' box truck. The 302- I consider it my worst equiment mistake ever. :cry:

[lamblawnscaping]

Glad to hear you are getting your deposit back. The price seems high. We just (this week) purchased a 95 F350 with a 12 foot stake body with wheelbarrow rack above the cab with only 71,000 miles on it with a 351for $8,000. Keep shopping and definately go with a 250 or 350. Good luck.

One additional note, I do think that the straight six will out pull and out last a 302.

[cajuncutter]

lamblawnscaping you are correct about the 300 however it gets horrible gas milage. If it were me I would op for the diesle in a 250 or 350. I purchased last year an f350 crew cab dually for 6 grand. It had 235,000 miles on it when I made the purchase but for a diesle that was well maintained that is nothing. Still pulls great. Matter of fact I am leaving in about 5 minutes to pull my boat to the lake :D .
CYA

[Mark]

landlawnscaping you should be so lucky, the bluebook on that f-350 crew cab pushes 14k. Congrads on shopping around to get that price. Marks Mowing Service

[lamblawnscaping]

Thanks Mark, I do feel like I got a great deal, although the truck is not a crew cab(I wish it were). We purchased a van from the same dealer last year and he hooked us up a little bit for being a repeat customer. Scagman, don't wait too long before buying, there are going to be alot of people looking for trucks over the next month. I guess that could also mean there will be alot of trade-ins though. Good Luck.

[Richard Martin]

I have a '95 F-150 w/ 302 and it does just fine pulling my 6X12 loaded down with 60" Dixie, 36 Exmark, push mower, trimmers, blower and fuel.

[yorkpaddy]

one thing you have to remember about a straight 6, its a much simpler engine than a v8. thats why I want a cummins in a dodge. Cummins says their I6 has 40% fewer parts than chevy/ford's v8's. The manifold recently cracked on my 305 v8 (chevy v8) and it cost a lot to fix cause coolant runs through the manifold and all that stuff. on a straight 6 coolant doesn't run through the manifold and I think its a relatively easy matter to fix. Also the straight 6 makes more torque than an equivalently sized v8 because it has a longer stroke. I think thats right, i heard some engineering type explain it and it made sense.

[roscioli]

Richard Martin- I am with you. I have a 94 with 70,000 miles, I bought it last summer for $2100 and put 4 tires on for a total of $2500. 4X2. It runs perfect, hauls everythign I need, and has plenty of power to yank down my brother's deathtrap of a barn that we finally took down. I beat the heck out of it, and it takes it. Scagman- You didnt say if yours was a 4X4 or what, but that price seemed WAY high, probably good that you passed on it just for that.

[King City Lawns]

If you ever plan to pull anything other than a trailer and one mower do not buy. I had a ford with a 302 good mtr. runs good all the time but, does not have what it takes for pulling loads. 350 chevy now.. in my 3/4 plenty of power only wish I had a PowerStroke Ford ton truck.