Fords

[Snattlerake]

I agree to a degree. I have a 1976 Ford Courier with a 4 banger Mazda engine that still runs great (4 on the Floor) This is a beater truck at our place in New Mexico. Fun to drive and has done a bunch of work over the years.

I have a 1993 Ford Ranger 4 banger with an 8 spark plug set up with 4 or the floor with overdrive. I love driving this pickup. It runs like a top and is easy to park and maneuver. I use it for running around and hauling light loads.

I have a 2020 Chevy 2500 with the gasoline 6.6 L automatic Quad Cab with an 8 ft. bed. It is a no frills work truck without all the bells and whistles such as OnStar or heated mirrors and seats, etc. This I use to pull trailers and heavy loads and long road trips. It mainly sits as I drive the 1993 Ford Ranger mostly.

As far Chevy vs. Ford vs. Ram, They all have their strong points and weak points. I have owned Fords and Chevys and couple Chrysler products. In the past I found Chevys the easiest to work on. I don't think that is the case anymore with all the newer vehicles. Never been a fan of Chrysler products.

I also have in New Mexico a 1985 Chevy 3/4 ton Van with 350,000 miles on it. I has a 5.7L original engine, transmission, and rear end. Still runs great.
I also have in New Mexico a 1999 Ford 3/4 ton Ford van with a 5.4L original engine, transmission, etc. The Ford has 330,000 miles and still runs great.

Recently sold a 2,006 Chevy 3500 15 passenger van with a 6.0 L engine that had 258,000 miles on it when I sold it. It ran great, but the paint job sucked. Paint would come off every time I washed it. Chevy used water based crappy paint on those vans. You can see them going down the road with paint missing, especially on the hoods.

I have had to do minor repairs on all the vans over the years and they have their strong points and weak points. The Ford has Twin I-Beam which I have never liked and it always wanted to wander. My experience with Twin I-Beam is one is always correcting going down the road to keep it going straight.

When I worked for Siemens, I wore out three S-10 trucks doing service. The fleet took them back at 100K and sold them. I bought the last one from the fleet for a personal truck. They all had a dog box type camper shell on the back with flip up side wall doors on the shell. The parts and tools were on shelves behind the doors. I loved those little trucks. After the third one they gave me a Chevy van with a V6. for local calls it was great. For out of town calls I sometimes had to open the driver's door and help push it up hills with my foot. JK. The vans were noisy and a damn death trap if you had to slam on the brakes because everything in back wanted to be up front in a hurry.

 

[kirk1978]

I currently own 3 Fords (F250, F350, and F550 all gas burners), and the only big complaint is their cab mount bushings. I’ve had to replace them on every truck at about 90k. The aftermarket bushings are evidently much better than factory, because I haven’t had to replace them twice. Other than AC compressors and exhaust leaks, I haven’t had to do anything major. I change the oil every 5k and rotate the tires.
My 2011 F250 has 198k, and I’m planning to see exactly how far it will go. It’s probably my favorite truck I’ve ever owned.

What brand of aftermarket bushings did you use? Gonna have to do mine pretty soon.

 

[retrieverman]

What brand of aftermarket bushings did you use? Gonna have to do mine pretty soon.

I had my local Ford dealership do the work, and I can call my friend who runs the service dept to find out. They told me, but I don’t remember.

 

[dennishoddy]

What gear ratio do you have in it? My friend ordered one with the 4.30s

4:30 gears all the way. My cousin bought an F-250 shortly after we did with the 3:56 gears. (It was the highest ratio gears offered by ford so I may be off with that number)
In 10th gear at 70mph, we both run the same engine rpm and we have the same gas mileage on the highway when not towing.
Looking at Fords towing capacity his higher gear ratio is much lower than the same truck with 4:30 gearing so that will affect his future decision in buying an RV and determining which he can tow safely.
It's not like the old days when 4:30 gearing had the engine running redline rpm's at 50 mph.

 

[PBramble]

4:30 gears all the way. My cousin bought an F-250 shortly after we did with the 3:56 gears. (It was the highest ratio gears offered by ford so I may be off with that number)
In 10th gear at 70mph, we both run the same engine rpm and we have the same gas mileage on the highway when not towing.
Looking at Fords towing capacity his higher gear ratio is much lower than the same truck with 4:30 gearing so that will affect his future decision in buying an RV and determining which he can tow safely.
It's not like the old days when 4:30 gearing had the engine running redline rpm's at 50 mph.

Heck, my 99 is redlining with 40 inch tires, but I do have 5.38s

 

[Seadog]

My '06, bought new, has 228k. The idiot that came up with those 2 piece spark plugs, needs 8 of shoved as far up his *** as they will go. It is still going strong. Grandsons got to drive it around the pasture and feed cows. Nothing but Mobil 1, changed every 15k, since new.
My '15 has 60k, it should be the last pick up I ever but.

I’ve an 08 that I got new. Has the 5.4 and had those plugs you talked about. They were a pain to get to and 3 broke but I had the tool to get them out ready just in case. She just hit over 180,000. I also use mobile one full synthetic but I change it every 5000 miles. Hope I don’t jinx myself for talking about it now. The cruise control went out and I replaced everything I could think of trying to fix it but it still doesn’t work. And now the overhead light flickers on and off on its own but tapping the dash usually fixes that.

 

[Ryan500L]

4:30 gears all the way. My cousin bought an F-250 shortly after we did with the 3:56 gears. (It was the highest ratio gears offered by ford so I may be off with that number)
In 10th gear at 70mph, we both run the same engine rpm and we have the same gas mileage on the highway when not towing.
Looking at Fords towing capacity his higher gear ratio is much lower than the same truck with 4:30 gearing so that will affect his future decision in buying an RV and determining which he can tow safely.
It's not like the old days when 4:30 gearing had the engine running redline rpm's at 50 mph.

I told him to get the 4.30s, if I order one that's what I will get.

 

[dennishoddy]

I told him to get the 4.30s, if I order one that's what I will get.

You won’t regret it, I can assure you.
If someone doesn’t believe this info, YouTube is your friend. I spent many days researching many pro’s and a tiny few cons about this setup. We have been over every major pass in the Rockies this year and last. No issues.

 

[Ryan500L]

You won’t regret it, I can assure you.
If someone doesn’t believe this info, YouTube is your friend. I spent many days researching many pro’s and a tiny few cons about this setup. We have been over every major pass in the Rockies this year and last. No issues.

That's good to hear, years ago I bought a a V-10 Ford with 3.73s and I never liked it. It was a great truck other than it didn't pull as good as it should have.

 

[OHJEEZE]

When I was prepping to order my 2001 f350, I was wanting the 4.11 gears, but in a single wheel f350 with the 7.3 diesel, only the 3.73 was available!

It was not long after having it I was glad it had the 3.73!

Now if it only had a 9 speed manual instead of the 6.....

It could use one more intermediate gear (cant remember between which ones) and 2 more overdrive gears!

If I had been able to get my way and got the 4.11, it woulda just been more wasted fuel and more engine wear!