1990 Ford F-150

[ecotourist]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
NPD and LMC are your friends if you are a stickler for details and want it to be a really nice truck.

Meaning National Parts Depot and LMC Truck?

 

[ecotourist]

Sounds like the transmission would be the weakest component. That would warrant special attention.

I don't like automatic transmissions at the best of times. But with a North American truck that may be the better option. With low initial miles and light duty local hauling it wouldn't be pushed very hard.

If this works out and we also get a trailer, it'll have to get the full meal deal.

Helpful comments everyone. Thanks so much.

 

[meep]

if it's in decent shape and you are willing to turn a wrench on it, it sounds like it would probably meet your needs. I don't know that year specifically, but some of those F150s can get really busy under the hood. The one I borrowed ('87?) was that way - it was an unholy mess, which detracted from easy wrenching. Be sure to take a peek into what you'll be getting into. That said, it was a great driving truck, even in the manual, and I would have easily lived with it as a DD.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Old truck.


Those are the best kind. My 87 is still going strong.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: ecotourist
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
NPD and LMC are your friends if you are a stickler for details and want it to be a really nice truck.

Meaning National Parts Depot and LMC Truck?


Yep. They have great catalogs for these trucks.

Originally Posted By: meep
if it's in decent shape and you are willing to turn a wrench on it, it sounds like it would probably meet your needs. I don't know that year specifically, but some of those F150s can get really busy under the hood. The one I borrowed ('87?) was that way - it was an unholy mess, which detracted from easy wrenching. Be sure to take a peek into what you'll be getting into. That said, it was a great driving truck, even in the manual, and I would have easily lived with it as a DD.


Ford can be pretty messy under the hood, but on these trucks there's still a good amount of room to work and see what you're doing. Maintenance stuff like plugs are easy. The first vehicle I ever changed plugs on was an '87 F-150 5.8L.

 

[crw]

Originally Posted By: SVTCobra
My father had an '87 F-150 and I drove it quite a bit growing up and as a teen. Thing got into three accidents over the years and still worked just fine. Only major problem my dad had with it was it would intermittently die on the side of the road and restart after it cooled off for a while. Mechanic couldn't find anything and eventually he finally got it to die at his shop. Forgot what it was exactly but some electronic doo hickey that failed when hot. Other than that we ran it over 230k miles before we sold it to an employee and he sold it to someone else and still it on the road for years after we quit driving it.

It had the 302 and with two fuel tanks I remember we could get 500 miles out of it on highway trips (barely).


Sounds like the ignition module. I had the same issue with my '91 with the 302. The module was mounted on the valve cover, and those do tend to get hot... But it's an easy fix if you know what to look for.

I had this happen several times, and the last was outside of a Chevy dealer. I pushed it in to them and they actually replaced it with a GM unit! Worked great!

I now have a 1986 F-150 with a 351W. Could last forever, maybe.