Which Ford F-250, 4X4?

[winland]

A guy that I get some wood from has a couple of Ford F250's for sale.
Both are regular cab
Both are 4x4
Both have long beds.
Both have dual gas tanks but unknown if they work.
Both are automatics
Both have good tires

The 1988 has the 302 ci engine with fuel injection
The 1988 has 182,000 miles.
Body is a little better on this truck as far as rust goes.

The 1986 has the 460 ci engine with carburetor.
The 1986 has 135,000 miles

He wants $1000 for the 1988
He wants $2000 for the 1986

I would rather make a $1000 mistake as opposed to a $2000 mistake.
I am not a mechanic. Any future repair work that would have to be done on the trucks
would have to be done at a "shop".

OPINIONS anyone.

Thank you,
Chuck

 

[olyman]

A guy that I get some wood from has a couple of Ford F250's for sale.
Both are regular cab
Both are 4x4
Both have long beds.
Both have dual gas tanks but unknown if they work.
Both are automatics
Both have good tires

The 1988 has the 302 ci engine with fuel injection
The 1988 has 182,000 miles.
Body is a little better on this truck as far as rust goes.

The 1986 has the 460 ci engine with carburetor.
The 1986 has 135,000 miles

He wants $1000 for the 1988
He wants $2000 for the 1986

I would rather make a $1000 mistake as opposed to a $2000 mistake.
I am not a mechanic. Any future repair work that would have to be done on the trucks
would have to be done at a "shop".

OPINIONS anyone.

Thank you,
Chuck

UNLESSSSS, you drive this elsewhere..........the 302 will be exceedingly better on fuel, except when LOADED!! and that's when the 460 shines.. a stump puller extraordinaire..i would almost bet,,the 460 has heavier front and rear springs...if its ONLY going to be used as a wood hauler,,who gives a rip about mileage???!!! youll need horsepressssssure, esp if you want to pull a trailer behind it for less trips.....both engines,,unless they have been abused,,are near bulletproof....

 

[John R]

Didn't realize ford used the 302 in a 3/4 ton truck.

 

[winland]

UNLESSSSS, you drive this elsewhere..........the 302 will be exceedingly better on fuel, except when LOADED!! and that's when the 460 shines.. a stump puller extraordinaire..i would almost bet,,the 460 has heavier front and rear springs...if its ONLY going to be used as a wood hauler,,who gives a rip about mileage???!!! youll need horsepressssssure, esp if you want to pull a trailer behind it for less trips.....both engines,,unless they have been abused,,are near bulletproof....

Yes, strictly a wood hauler w/ small trailer (6' x 8')
Chuck

 

[ole yukon]

Yes, strictly a wood hauler w/ small trailer (6' x 8')
Chuck

Id go with the 460 then

 

[Whitespider]

Didn't realize ford used the 302 in a 3/4 ton truck.

They didn't!
The 1988 F250 had only two gas options... the small block 5.8L EFI (351 cid) and the big block 7.5L EFI (460.cid). Likely the seller has made a mistake and it's actually the 5.8L... or someone has done some sort of (ill-advised) swap.

Unless you really need the added horsepower I'd stay away from the '86 460 4bbl... not only are they a gas-pig extraordinaire, the engines will carbon-up heavily if you aren't using that horsepower on a regular basis. Another problem with the 460 is warping/cracking exhaust manifolds and breaking off the studs in the heads... often requiring head removal for repair.

If that '88 F250 really does have a 5.0L (302 cid) I'd walk... 'cause it's likely been cobbled to some greater or lessor extent.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I'd take the cheaper small block truck myself. Parts for the big block are more $$$ should you need them. 302/351 are a decent motor, not small block Chevy good, but decent.

Best option if you want a Ford is to keep looking till you find one with a 300 six.

 

[svk]

I'd take the cheaper small block truck myself. Parts for the big block are more $$$ should you need them. 302/351 are a decent motor, not small block Chevy good, but decent.

Best option if you want a Ford is to keep looking till you find one with a 300 six.

Agree on everything he said. 300 six are great realiable motors and parts are everywhere. Although if you want to drive down the interstate stay away from the 300

 

[winland]

They didn't!
The 1988 F250 had only two gas options... the small block 5.8L EFI (351 cid) and the big block 7.5L EFI (460.cid). Likely the seller has made a mistake and it's actually the 5.8L... or someone has done some sort of (ill-advised) swap.

Is there any easy way to confirm if it is a 302 or a 351 by looking in the engine compartment?

 

[stihl sawing]

I have an 88 f-250 4x4 with a 460 now, It gets about 8 miles to gallon. It will pull anything you want though. I had a 150 with a 300 six in it years ago and it was a pig. No power. I did have large tires on it though. If it's just gonna be a wood hauler, I would go with the 460, it has less miles on it.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yeah, that carburated 460 has tons of power, $ucks gas like there's no tomorrow though!

That 88 could be a 5.0, I have seen a few of them, kinda rare, usually have a manual trans. I'd bet that truck has a 7-7800 lb. GVW, "light duty" 250. The 86 will be 8600 GVW, basically, a 1 ton single rear wheel truck. (only difference is the front axle, 350 has a straight axle instead of the independent suspension on the 250)

I'd say either one would be fine for a wood hauler, the 88 sounds like a great deal for a 3/4 ton 4x4 truck, I'd lean that direction if everything else checks out on it. JMO

Just an FYI, if you need to get into the fuel tanks to put in a fuel sender or pump (88) just unbolt and jack up the bed. It is generally a lot easier than pulling the tanks.

The easiest way to see what engine that 88 has is to look at the 8th digit of the VIN. 351 is an H, 302 is an N, unless someone has swapped out the engine, then it is like spidey said, better make sure it is not a cob job.
Wouldn't be too hard to switch between the 5.0 and the 5.8, basically the same engine, both small blocks, so it wouldn't necessarily be a mess if someone did that.

 

[Whitespider]

Is there any easy way to confirm if it is a 302 or a 351 by looking in the engine compartment?

On the core support there should be a decal with tune-up specs and whatnot, it will have the engine family printed on it (i.e. 5.0, 5.8, 7.5, etc.), but that's for the original engine, it won't tell you if it's been swapped. On the engine itself there should be a "Calibration Code" decal (usually on the timing cover); some calibration code decals had the engine family printed on it, some did not... I don't remember if the engine size was printed on them in '88.

The easiest way to tell the difference is by the lower thermostat housing bolt... on the 302 it will be below the top of the water pump/timing cover and you won't be able to put a socket on it, it's a PITA to get to... on the 351 you can remove the bolt with a socket.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

A guy that I get some wood from has a couple of Ford F250's for sale.
Both are regular cab
Both are 4x4
Both have long beds.
Both have dual gas tanks but unknown if they work.
Both are automatics
Both have good tires

The 1988 has the 302 ci engine with fuel injection
The 1988 has 182,000 miles.
Body is a little better on this truck as far as rust goes.

The 1986 has the 460 ci engine with carburetor.
The 1986 has 135,000 miles

He wants $1000 for the 1988
He wants $2000 for the 1986

I would rather make a $1000 mistake as opposed to a $2000 mistake.
I am not a mechanic. Any future repair work that would have to be done on the trucks
would have to be done at a "shop".

OPINIONS anyone.

Thank you,
Chuck

if the gearing is right (4.10) the 351 will be fine. I had a '78, briefly, with a flatbed that was used as a farm truck hauling hay, etc. I bought it mainly for the front axle to go in my 4x4 of course I had a 4sp so that will make a difference.
the 302 and 351 are easy to confuse as the top water hose and distributor are in the same configurations. you can run the VIN # to find out exactly what you have
from online places like this: https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/vin-decoder/

 

[blades]

Do they salt everything in the winter around you? Were the trucks used for plowing? In either case that is far enough back that the frames, around the bed/cab junction could be getting very weak. Had an 85 6.9 350 sold it when it started doing the inch worm thing pushing snow about 7 years ago. Bed floor was pretty much gone and the cab mounts were toast along with the rocker/door jamb areas.

 

[olyman]

I'd take the cheaper small block truck myself. Parts for the big block are more $$$ should you need them. 302/351 are a decent motor, not small block Chevy good, but decent.

Best option if you want a Ford is to keep looking till you find one with a 300 six.

sory steve,,I call bs on the chevy to ford comparison...

 

[olyman]

Is there any easy way to confirm if it is a 302 or a 351 by looking in the engine compartment?

look at where the thermostat hsg is..if the bottom bolt, has to be taken off with a wrench,,its a 302. the 351 intake sat a bit higher,,and you could get the bottom bolt off with a 1/4 drive universal socket..

 

[winland]

A couple of pictures of the 2 trucks

The black truck is the 1988 w/302cid, the rear driver's side tire is setting up on a stump, making it look lopsided. 182,000 miles

The red truck is the 1986 w/460cid, 135,000 miles

 

[Steve NW WI]

sory steve,,I call bs on the chevy to ford comparison...

Opinions will vary, but mine's right of course

 

[kevin j]

not that you asked this, but I'd never go back to regular cabs again. I'd look for the extended cab, not 4 doors, just the jump seat type. Amazing what goes back there.

 

[sunfish]

I'd take the 88 with small block for $1000. That is a Deal!

I've own a 460, 302, 351 and 300 six. The 300 six was my favorite! 302/351 next, but didn't care much for the 460...