I guess this sounds pretty dumb, but what exactly is the redline on a '90 F-150 302? My tach. doesn't actually have a redline; the meter is green all the way through 6000 rpm's.

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1990 F-150 4x4 XLT Lariat, 302 V8, 2 tone grey, regular cab, short bed, Delta diamond plated toolbox, 4.10 gears with rear limited slip, shorty headers, "40 Series" Flowmaster exhaust with dual 3" chrome tips, K&N air filter, great Alpine cd player, modest amp and tweeters, custom 15x8" rims, and p.o.s. 31x10.50" a/t tires.

Future mods. include a 1.5" front suspension lift, 32x11.50" muds, a superchip, new amp, speakers and subs, who knows what else to the engine, and a paint job!

 

Honestly, I am not sure. My '93 with the 300 refuses to even get to 4000 and the new ones ('97+) seem to go over 5000 pretty often. Being a truck, I don't think you'll want to push it any more than that anyway, you'll lose all your power that high in the band and the old 302 pushrods just aren't gonna rev like the new cam engines.

 

Well I can tell you that my 92 F150 4x4 302 revs up to 5000 rpm. The reason I know this is cause the big hill on my way to work. The 302 is so gutless going up in drive it makes me mad so i slam it into second and just red line it all the way up the hill. It doesn't pick up anymore speed after 5000 RPM (65 Mph). I still like the Ford Though. Can't kill that 302..

 

My '91 with AOD transmission never gets above about 4300 RPM, all-out floored or trying to accelerate while pulling a trailer.

-Mike

 

Yeah, that sounds about right. I'm guessing it to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4200 rpm's. I have AOD, and I seldom floor it for any appreciable length of time. As a matter of fact, when I'm merging onto the freeway, it's hard to get the engine to rev. over 3100 rpm's. It seems to really like 3000 rpm's. Maybe that's where it's highest torque output is or something.

And I would expect the I6 to have an even lower redline. I've heard those are very low reving engines. My friend just bought a 2000 SD powerstroke. Redline on that thing is 3200 rpm's! Maybe that's why they last so long.

 

Someone told me on another post that the valves on the stock engines will start to float at about 4500 rpms. I've had my 351W up to 5500 rpm and it seemed to run fine, but I believe I am on the downhill side of the power curve at that time.

Slik

 

Well, I have a manual 302, and when I'm racing I usually take it to 5600 RPM's. That's good for about 35 in first, and 55 in second. And it really really goes, even at 5000.

 

I have had mine up to about 5000 rpms easy.