Not an honest used truck out there....

[greybeard]

Depends, on whether it was a Windsor the 351M or Cleveland 351 and whether it had 2v or 4v carb.
Biggest problems with those 351 engines was the restrictive exhaust the emission rules called for. Put a good exhaust system on it and you'll be surprised how much better they run. The Cleve had better flowing heads and Ford used those same heads on the 302, and there's a reason it was called a Boss 302. Mostly because of the great flowing cylinder heads.

I ain't scared of carbs. I pulled a carter afb off a built 283 powerpack and put a 750 Quadrajet on it and loved it, but I had been to GM/AC Delco school and knew how to handle those so called "quadrajunk' carbs.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Trouble with those old trucks is their towing and braking capacity is terrible compared to anything built in the last 20 years. 3 speed trans with no overdrive, small disk brakes up front and drums out back that are vacuum assisted if your lucky. The GCWR on that old girl is probably comparable to a current Ford Ranger.

"Back in the day" that's all we had and thought they were high on the hog. But now after having a modern rig with 5x+ the power and torque, 4/5/6/7/10 speed transmissions, hydraboost large disk brakes, stiff rigid frames there's no going back.

 

[Travlr]

Trouble with those old trucks is their towing and braking capacity is terrible compared to anything built in the last 20 years. 3 speed trans with no overdrive, small disk brakes up front and drums out back that are vacuum assisted if your lucky. The GCWR on that old girl is probably comparable to a current Ford Ranger.

"Back in the day" that's all we had and thought they were high on the hog. But now after having a modern rig with 5x+ the power and torque, 4/5/6/7/10 speed transmissions, hydraboost large disk brakes, stiff rigid frames there's no going back.

When the 2000 GM trucks came out the mechanics were all b**ching about how plastic they were and how the new engines wouldn't last.

Five years later they were all driving them and worried about how reliable they were.

 

[Dave]

The pictures of the pickups I see here are all so spotless it leaves me wondering if they actually do any work. Some people must spend their day washing, waxing, and detailing their ride. I tell the wife clean cars are over rated.
My '02 Ford F250 with 325,000 miles on the 7.3 with a 6 speed manual. It pulls that trailer every week. I rarely unhook the trailer.
A '94 S-10 I bought for a run around pickup. Every mile I put on it is one less on the F-250. Bought from 2 little old ladies who never even drove it to church. They may have missed the gate a time or two. 62,000 original miles when I bought it for $1,000.
'97 F-350 that is the fed truck. The 460 gets terrible mileage. Makes a one mile round trip feeding every day in the winter. In the summer it gets a slip on fire pump rig. This year it hasn't been called on to fight fire. In a few weeks we will pull the pump rig off it.
All three are 4 wheel drive. It is a minimum of 2 miles to pavement from here. That is dust or mud depending on the weather.

 

[Travlr]

The pictures of the pickups I see here are all so spotless it leaves me wondering if they actually do any work. Some people must spend their day washing, waxing, and detailing their ride. I tell the wife clean cars are over rated.
My '02 Ford F250 with 325,000 miles on the 7.3 with a 6 speed manual. It pulls that trailer every week. I rarely unhook the trailer.
A '94 S-10 I bought for a run around pickup. Every mile I put on it is one less on the F-250. Bought from 2 little old ladies who never even drove it to church. They may have missed the gate a time or two. 62,000 original miles when I bought it for $1,000.
'97 F-350 that is the fed truck. The 460 gets terrible mileage. Makes a one mile round trip feeding every day in the winter. In the summer it gets a slip on fire pump rig. This year it hasn't been called on to fight fire. In a few weeks we will pull the pump rig off it.
All three are 4 wheel drive. It is a minimum of 2 miles to pavement from here. That is dust or mud depending on the weather.View attachment 35620View attachment 35621View attachment 35622

I rinsed mine off with the pressurized irrigation water... about the middle of July.

 

[kenny thomas]

Mine was unhooked from the trailer once last spring to haul a couple ton of fertilizer. Washed probably 15 years ago.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Dave as clean as your F250 is it sure likes like a mostly pavement princess to me haha. No dents, rust, the box is in tact.

This F250 hasn't been washed in the 12 ish years I've owned it, unless it gets driven in the rain. The box rotted off, cab corners and rockers are gone, door latches have been rewelded to accommodate the sagging body, hubs haven't been unlocked in 8? years. Has to be parked under a roof now because the windshield glue separated from the rust allowing water to leak into the fuse box and GEM module (so when it gets wet the radio and blower will turn on randomly even with the keys out and drain the battery). It's a farm truck for sure, but wouldn't hesitate to drive it across county if needed.

 

[SmokinM]

That bed on Dave's truck has been replaced by one off a 11' or newer. He's cheating by just replacing parts with clean stuff.

If that S10 is a 4.3 v6 or inline 4 than it should last forever. Not a Chevy guy but those were good trucks.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I noticed the bed swap. I didn't go that route as the bed just gets chewed up by the gooseneck and the road salt. Ha

 

[Warren Allison]

Side view

Yep. Gosh I wish they still made them this way!

 

[Silver]

Deleted (repeat)

 

[Silver]

The pictures of the pickups I see here are all so spotless it leaves me wondering if they actually do any work. Some people must spend their day washing, waxing, and detailing their ride. I tell the wife clean cars are over rated.
My '02 Ford F250 with 325,000 miles on the 7.3 with a 6 speed manual. It pulls that trailer every week. I rarely unhook the trailer.
A '94 S-10 I bought for a run around pickup. Every mile I put on it is one less on the F-250. Bought from 2 little old ladies who never even drove it to church. They may have missed the gate a time or two. 62,000 original miles when I bought it for $1,000.
'97 F-350 that is the fed truck. The 460 gets terrible mileage. Makes a one mile round trip feeding every day in the winter. In the summer it gets a slip on fire pump rig. This year it hasn't been called on to fight fire. In a few weeks we will pull the pump rig off it.
All three are 4 wheel drive. It is a minimum of 2 miles to pavement from here. That is dust or mud depending on the weather.View attachment 35620View attachment 35621View attachment 35622

Mine does real work

 

[mickroos65]

I think I found one! Didn't know how true my earlier statements were when I said classic. I found a 1977 F350 that has 46k original miles. Has a title but has never been registered for street use. No rust under the truck or in the engine compartment, was stored in the barn unless it was being used for pulling the hay trailer. Was a farm truck its whole life, with a headache rack flatbed and a gooseneck hitch. Started the 351ci through the window with the touch of the key on a cold engine. I pick it up tomorrow....

WOO HOO!

Pics will follow, tomorrow of course.

I am green with envy! What a find! I had a '76 F250 4×4 loved that truck. Enjoy!

 

[Dave]

I noticed the bed swap. I didn't go that route as the bed just gets chewed up by the gooseneck and the road salt. Ha

My F-250 was bought from Washington DNR surplus. It had a fire fighting flat bed on it. When they get a new truck they pull the fire equipment flat bed off the old one and swap it with the bed from their new truck. Thus the newer bed. I don't know what they use on the roads here but it isn't the salt they use in the mid west. You just don't see the rusted out vehicles here except those from within a few miles of the coast.

 

[Travlr]

My favorite truck was a 1/2 ton, 2wd 1980 Chevy. The most capable was a 3/4 ton, 4wd 2000 GMC.

I had a Dodge hemi I really enjoyed but if you put any kind of trailer on it the mileage decreased to half of normal.

 

[1982vett]

I am green with envy! What a find! I had a '76 F250 4×4 loved that truck. Enjoy!

I also had a '76 F250, although not 4x4. It was the last Ford I have owned for many costly reasons... Got tire of throwing good money after bad.

 

[CowboyRam]

My favorite truck was a 1/2 ton, 2wd 1980 Chevy. The most capable was a 3/4 ton, 4wd 2000 GMC.

I had a Dodge hemi I really enjoyed but if you put any kind of trailer on it the mileage decreased to half of normal.

I still think those mid 80's pickups were the best looking trucks Chevy ever made.

 

[alacowman1]

86 gonna Get new engine, and paint job before long…

 

[Warren Allison]

View attachment 35640
86 gonna Get new engine, and paint job before long…

What's in it, a 350?

 

[SmokinM]

Here she is, my wife and kids affectionately call her my girlfriend, truth is she is more like a wife because until one of us dies we won't part ways. Tripped 450,000 yesterday pulling a load of horses 70mph up I 64 thru the Blue Ridge Mts.and took a little over 11k# of cattle up the road this a.m. I have crossed the scales at over 38,000# and it spent most of the last 13 years loaded that way. Drove her across country just six weeks ago and would do it again tomorrow without hesitation. Didn't use a drop of oil. Motor is all original even the injectors. Got 250,000 mi. out of the last clutch.
This is the current workhorse so now I just ride my girlfriend for fun!

My everyday get up and go to work ride. You may be noticing I have a type!