Hello All, As you can see I am new to this forum. I'm looking for some opinions and thoughts here. I have an 85 F-150 4x4 automatic 351w. The body is shoot rusted through in lots of places and so on. The motor is strong though when it runs cuz of a starting issue. So I have 2 trucks I am looking at. 1 is a 93 F-150 with an 4.9L 300, manual trans, and 4wd. The other is a 93 F150 with automatic trans, 5.0L 302, no 4wd, its also a flairside. I don't know much about the newer models. Is there any hope of "easily" swapping my 351 into the 4.9L f150, or swapping the 351w and 4x4 into the 5.0L flairside. I've searched a bit need to search more. But just looking for some initial input.

Thanks

 

i dont know why ud want to replace the i6, if theres nothing wrong with it, they were a awesome engine, thw 351w should fit in pretty easily, but is your 85 EFI? i doubt it, so.. i dont know

 

93 F-150 with an 4.9L 300, manual trans, and 4wd. is the perfict truck. sell the others and keep it exactly the way it is. it will out last a bunch of 351s and a few 302 also and you will have more torque than you will know what to do with. not to mention not bad gas mileage.


Bruce

 

Don't even THINK about putting an old carb engine into a newer EFI truck. It's like putting an 80386 processor into a new computer.

I agree with Bruce - you can't ask for a much more reliable truck than the 4WD 4.9L. And it'll be cheap & easy to maintain, too.

 

Yes, the swaps you mention can be done, but the real honest question is "why?"

If you're wanting a drag race truck, you'll be much happier with the 351W and 2WD.

If you're wanting to actually use it as a truck, you will not beat the 300 and 4WD.

 

Howdy and welcome to the basement,

I vote for the 300/M5OD/4x4 truck. Best damn motor ford ever made and it will get you home.

Adrianspeeder

 

X2, I have a 94 F150 with the same drivetrain, only I regeared the diffs to 4.10's to better suit my needs. I have beat the crap out of it, pull 7000 lbs on a regular basis (1-2 times a week in the summer) and I use to have to pull 14,000 lbs once a month or so. With 160,000 miles the truck still has the orginal clutch in it, and the motor runs like its brand new, doesn't use any oil or any thing.

Got for the 93 300-6 4X4!!

 

i got a, 96, 300-i6, 3.55 rear, 5spd, 4x4, said you pull 14,000lbs once a month with yours, with a 4.10, will mine, pull a 8700lb tractor + a 2250lb trailer= 10,950lbs with a 3.55? id do it 3-5 times a year

 

When I was little, dad would to do the same load all the time with 4.56 in a F-350 flatdeck all the time 300/M5OD swapped in.

3.55 ain't gonna be the quickest up the hill, but it will do it.

Adrianspeeder

 

This is almost a complete apples to oranges comparison.

If you want or need 4 wheel drive should be your primary concern. The 4wd truck will be heavier, slower, and consume more gas with either engine. It will also require a little bit more maintenance, and will have more than can go wrong with it.

If you just want to zip around town and do some occasional hauling, then the 2wd truck would be quicker and a little easier on gas. Either will tow quite a bit of weight. I've towed over 12,000 with my 4x4 302 truck.

If you want low speed crawling around and towing then the 4x4 is the obvious choice. Just remember that if you go that route you will give up street performance more, but neither is a rocket.

 

Man your making me feel bad that I'm gonna be selling my 4.9. Been an incredible truck though. I needed the extra cab, and the bigger motor for the stuff I was doing, but that truck seriously impressed me.

 

guess I should pay attention to my thread. The deal fell through, I ended up buying another 85 F-150. gonna use my current truck as a donor for parts as needed.

 

That kind of hauling, 160k miles, and still the factory clutch? Wow, that's pretty impressive. My 300/M5OD/2wd towed like twice in it's life, both short trips with light loads. Clutch now at 92k is starting to go, will probably need replacing before 100k.

Great powertrain, but damn, that truck gets stuck easy. Worst traction I've ever seen. There's a 300lb rack on the back at all times, but it's a single-spinner axle. Even a slight grade on dry grass gives it trouble, and I use it off-road often enough it gets annoying(not like crawling or mudding or anything, just around yards and fields). Tons of torque, but it's worthless if I can't get it to the ground. I just sold that truck for a '93 V8 XLT with 4x4 and the E4OD auto. I would prefer the manual, but I don't care enough to not buy the truck just because of that.

 

I have the 4.9 300 with 172k miles and it feels like it'll go another ONE MILLION ULTRA BILLION MILES FOREVER AND A HALF TODAY

It's a good engine

 

I think that I have been very lucky that the clutch is still there. And believe it or not the truck still has the orginal brakes in the rear, and the orginal fronts lasted 105,000. Thats when I had basically the hole frontend gone through, ball joints, U-joints, tie rod ends. This has been a great truck!! Once it dies or the body just rusts off the frame I am going to rebuild it and drive the wheels off it again.