I have an older style truck its a 1989 F150 with a stock 302ci in it, standard transmission and i was wonderin if anyone knew how i can make it perform better because 1st and 2nd gear are ok i guess but after that it has serious power loss, does that have to do with low gears or the stock engine not bein powerfull enough? your opinions please

I also bought 5.0L cobra upper and lower intake for my 86 GT and turned out i had a Boss 302 in it so it did not fit, will the upper and lower intake fit on a 5.0L 1989 F150 with a 302 stock?

 

the intake would bolt on but the air induction would have to be changed somehow. you can advance the timing. stock is 10. the max i would go is 17 for safety of the engine. but 19 is the max for a stock 5.0. i'd start with 14 degrees. when i first got my truck i had issues with low end power in first gear but it had all the pickup in the world but mines automatic. i bought a jasper stage 1 302 which has a bigger cam and noticed a huge difference. then i cut out the second cat and another big difference. then i got a hypertech computer chip which didnt make much hp difference but made a firmer shift and my motor didnt have to try as hard to get up to speeds. then i gutted my front cat and placed a high flow where my second one was and noticed a little difference. then i got a cai and noticed a little bit more. i'm going to get a set of 4.10 gears soon.
is yours a 4spd or 5spd standard?

 

its a 5 speed standard but i dont wanna go as far as upping the engine with superchips and what not but removing the cats and changing the timing what difference would I see? and changing the gears i would most likely do because i hate the poor performance after 2nd gear, what gears do you recommend?

 

since you failed to mention whether or not you have a 4X4 and what size tires you are running



and since you don't want to change the engine: I'm gonna recomend you go for 4.56 gears, long tube headers w/ 2 high flow cats on a true dual 2.5 inch exhaust system with an H-pipe and then see where you are at.

 

It is 4X4 and it has 35" Mud Terrain T/A's, I have a video of it, that shows most of the truck

youtube.com
TherrienH
and look for 89 f150 its red

 

with factory 3.55 gears and the 35" tires is your biggest issue. i'd get a set of 4.10's. when i cut out my rear cat i noticed a big gain in power. and advancing the timing will make a difference. alot of my friends with 5.0's set theres at 15* and they claim to get 1mpg better and a cel which is expected. as far as trucks go i dont notice a real big difference like i do in the old 5.0 mustangs when advancing the timing. but there is still that little difference. do you have a rough idea of what the mileage on your engine is. with all that strain on the motor you probably need a tune up too.

 

If i had to guess i would say around 16-20 MPG range not really sure though cuz i dont drive that truck very often since i got my black one. Yeah when i bought the truck i'd say about a year and half ago the guy said he put a brand new engine in it, but i doubt that matters. where the power is right now is ok but just once i go up hills or go into higher gears is where all the power is lost.

 

thats most likely because the tires size and gearing setup.

 

Keep it geared down when you want it to move. A 302 is a car engine and doesn't really have enough torque to pull a heavy truck at low rpm's. Wind it up like a cheap watch. It's designed to put out the most power between 3000 and 5000 rpm.

 

Not trying flame ya......but Boss 302?? I'm gonna have to call you out on that one.

But back to your tuck. Forget trying to do anything to your current engine. Except maybe advancing the timing up to 16*......but be prepared to run premium fuel. In your case, nothing will give you more bang per buck than GEARS. And go with AT LEAST 4.56's. Nothing less is worth the trouble.

If you swap gears and still aren't satisfied, swap the motor. Maybe you can put in that "Boss 302"........