Hey all, I currently own a 2001 toyota tacoma, and am looking to get rid of it.

What I'm looking for is a 1992-1996 F-150
Specs:
4 Wheel Drive
V8 Gas (5.0/5.8)
Manual Tranny
Long Bed
Regular Cab/Extended Cab


Reliability is a big factor.
I have mechanical experience.
Fuel efficiency is not overly important - I currently get 16 in town with my 3.4V6. I need more than ten MPG in town.

Other less important but still desired features:
Manual hubs

I'll be using the truck as a work vehicle, and daily driver. I will be offroad some, and have snow 3 months out of the year.

My concern with the regular cab is space. Most of the time I don't need the second row of seating, but it's nice to have. I currently own a 4 door tacoma. I carry a lot of gear with me, and prefer not to keep the more expensive stuff in the toolbox in the bed. Is there enough space behind the seats in the regular cab? Does the extended cab come with long bed manual?

Thanks ahead of time for the help.

Mike

 

There is essentially no room behind the seat in a standard cab. The long bed was available with the Super Cab. If you want a manual trans, you will be looking at a 4.9 I6 or a 5.0, the 5.8's in a F-150 that vintage are auto only.

 

What do you personally know about the 5.0? Been reading on this forum some, and people seem to be all over the place. Know anything about the transmission (manual)?

I've used a regular cab F350 7.3 PSD, and that rig is a beast. Not much space behind the seats, as you said.

 

The 5.0 is a very reliable engine. It's a bit down on low end torque because it *IS* a car engine. The M5OD tranny is a light duty truck tranny built by Mazda and it's reasonably reliable behind a 5.0 as long as you don't beat on it or try to tow heavy with it.

If you want a really strong work truck with a manual, maybe you should be looking for a F-250 with a 5.8 and a ZF manual. That's gonna be harder on gas though.

 

It's hard to justify a 3/4 Ton, but I'll look into it. What kind of mileage are you talking? I've seen 8-9 on this site. (Edit - actually, 8-9 looks like MPG for the 460)

I see you're from Joplin. You've been through a lot lately. Keep it up and stay strong.

 

The 5.8 (351) will get better mileage than the 460, but not much.

The 5.0/M5OD combo isn't all that bad. If I wanted a pre-1997 that's probably what I'd be looking for. If you don't really care about acceleration, the 4.9 I6 is a beast and it actually gets decent gas mileage for what it is. It is a low-revving engine with no horsepower, but it has enough torque to pull a house down and it will run forever.

Thank you for the thoughts - I was not personally affected, I live a few miles from the tornado zone.

 

The 460 (7.5) is more than I need. In regards to the 4.9, I want to go with an 8 cylinder. My current truck has a 3.4 V6.

Would you recommend going with a model earlier than 1992?

 

I don't see why not - and you might be able to find one of the older ones with a true truck manual transmission - but it wouldn't be an overdrive. The first year of the M5OD was 1988 but I believe the T19 was around till 93 or so. That was a wide ratio 4 speed, 1st being a granny.

Why do you want to go with a V-8? Just because your Taco has a V-6 doesn't really answer that.

 

In response to the V8 question, the V6 tacoma is part of the reason. It is underpowered under heavy load (bed full of gravel/wet soil). Part of it is stubbornness, too. I simply want a V8, and am prepared to handle the ensuing fuel mileage. I've thought about the 4.9 I6, but it's not exactly what I want, and I don't want to regret not getting the V8.

I've got no problem with an older truck. I'll look into the older generation and do some research on those on this site. Anything off the top of your head that I should look for, good or bad?

 

Something else to look for, if you want a manual transmission, is a 2001-2003 F-150 with a 4.6 V8. It has considerably more power than the old 5.0 and gets better gas mileage.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I will take them into consideration and find what's right.

 

Just so you know what you are looking at, the 1997-2000 4.6 had quite a bit less power than the 2001+. 2001 was the year they upgraded the 4.6 with "power improved" heads.

With the new body style in 2004, they dropped the manual transmission as an option on the 4.6.

 

What did they do to make the heads "power improved?"

I'm gonna stick with pre-1997. There's a lot more F-150's available for sale than tacomas, that's for sure. Did most trucks come with limited slip rear ends?

 

I'm not aware of the technical details on exactly what the PI involved.

I don't know the % of trucks with LS, but you can tell what it has by looking at the door jamb sticker - under "Axle" you have 2 characters - a letter and number is LS, 2 numbers is open.

 

Was there a fully locking rear end? 2 letters?