Looking at a crew, FI 460 manual trans truck...anyone have one?

[mbryson]

How's it tow up the canyons (powerwise)? I can't imagine this will get more than 10 mpg, probably 7-8 towing? May step up to a V10, manual truck but not sure I want to spend the $? Thinking about this and another RTT vs. an FI 460 or 454 motorhome. Like the "comfort" of the motorhome but I'm sure that will come at the expense of speed/mileage vs. the truck having versatility and simplicity.

 

[Tacoma]

I had a work truck equipped that way for about 6mos. 7-9mpg, and a sweet fire. Then I bought that Chevy.

 

[TurboMinivan]

What's your end-game, exactly? What are you looking to accomplish?

 

[mbryson]

Sold our supercab deezel/auto because the auto puked. Sold our bunkhouse trailer a few days later . I'm missing a pickup already, want a cheap entry price (say, $2500 or less), long bed, gas pickup with room for five (supercab would work).... I've liked the Fords, would consider a v10, 454 or 8.1L truck (maybe a 6.0L GM?) but I'm trying to keep the budget LOW..... It'll sit in the backyard until pressed into service for runs to the dump, lumber store or towing a Jeep around. May or may not retry a slide-in camper?

Gasser F*rds are VERY available for that price, just wondering how they handle the hills. 454s will take the hills pretty decent, I just don't have any experience with a 460 truck

 

[ChestonScout]

They arent a powerstroke or a cummins.....but it will get the job done. motors are dead reliable. so much so that i decided to put one in the scout.


not many power adders out there. headers help a ton and there is a computer friendly cam you can do. im personally a fan of the motor just for reliability

 

[Moabxjeeper]

I just bought a '92 F250 4x4 460 ZF5 about a year ago for $2300. I bought it with 2 things in mind; to take hunting and to tow my Jeep.

On the highway going hunting this year, I averaged about 13mpg going 65-70. It actually rode really smooth once we got it weighed down a bit with all of our gear. It bounces you around a bit unloaded but it's not intolerable.

I also towed my Jeep down to Moab for the first time this year with it. I swear I could watch the gas needle move as I went over Spanish Fork Canyon, but all in all I averaged just a hair under 10mpg. It towed fine on the hills. I kept it in 4th and it held 55-60 no problem.

For my purposes, I love my truck. When I'm not using it, it sits on the side of the house and starts right up every time. Good luck finding one that doesn't leak a little bit of oil, but oil is cheap.

Hope that helps!

 

[mbryson]

I just bought a '92 F250 4x4 460 ZF5 about a year ago for $2300. I bought it with 2 things in mind; to take hunting and to tow my Jeep.

On the highway going hunting this year, I averaged about 13mpg going 65-70. It actually rode really smooth once we got it weighed down a bit with all of our gear. It bounces you around a bit unloaded but it's not intolerable.

I also towed my Jeep down to Moab for the first time this year with it. I swear I could watch the gas needle move as I went over Spanish Fork Canyon, but all in all I averaged just a hair under 10mpg. It towed fine on the hills. I kept it in 4th and it held 55-60 no problem.

For my purposes, I love my truck. When I'm not using it, it sits on the side of the house and starts right up every time. Good luck finding one that doesn't leak a little bit of oil, but oil is cheap.

Hope that helps!

Exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Exactly the type of use I see the truck getting at my home as well. Might serve as an available temp commuter while a car is in the shop or something, also.

 

[skippy]

Make sure you buy a F350 though so when you decide your done with the truck you can pull the high pinion 60 and send the rest to the scrapper.....

 

[LT.]

My brother and his family are die hard Ford fans. About 12 or 13 years ago we had to move some construction equpment around. Nothing too major just the job site trailer, tools, that kind of thing, no equipment. I was driving my pop's 1997 Ford F-250 with a 460, 5 speed manual tranny and my brother was driving his 2000 F-250 with the V-10 and manual tranny. The 460 was an extra cab with a short bed, 4x4 and the V-10 was a standard cab with a long bed, 4x4. Not quite apples to apples but, as close as we had. My brother would run away from me on everything. I don't know if the trailer weights were the same or anything either but, I think they were close enough. The 460 is still around and the V-10 has long been let go. The V-10 engines had some issues spitting spark plugs out of the heads.

The 460 is a 10 mpg truck. I dont think that it will differ much between loaded or empty. I have only driven the truck about 1000 miles but, empty, loaded, towing, it does not matter much. Figure on 10 mpg. The extra cabs in the OBS are small. Very small by todays standards. They are good trucks but, try and find the 350 instead of the 250. The 250 has that funky twin traction beam front end that is a little hard on front tires. As the front springs begin to sag the tops of the tires start to point towards the engine. It will wear the inside of the tires when it foes happen. Heavy duty grille guards, winches, snow plows, will accelerate the wear.

I will agree that for what they are the 460 is relaible. They do seem to leak, at least my pops does, so when it quits leaking add a quart or two. Great engines, poor mileage, leaky, but, will always start and run. Not much power compared to todays standards but, a real work horse, jack of all trades, master of none.

LT.

 

[moab_cj5]

I had a super clean 96 F350 with the 460 and 5 speed. If I could keep my foot out of it, I got 14 mpg on the highway, and 10-12 around town. It had the banks full system on it, with a high flow cat, and MSD ignition. It was a great running truck. It was the long bed crew cab and rode like a tank. It also had the turning radius of a football field. It was a great truck, and pulled a Jeep without issue and still got no less than 8 mpg towing heavy loads up hills. I sold it because it beat the crap out of me when empty (95% of the time I drove it) and my family didn't like riding in it.

They are very reliable if maintined propoerly, and aren't terribly expensive to fix if something does wear out.

 

[mbryson]

Make sure you buy a F350 though so when you decide your done with the truck you can pull the high pinion 60 and send the rest to the scrapper.....

If we buy a 250, we'll swap to the D60. Not a fan of the TTB at all... Don't like my tire guy that much

My brother and his family are die hard Ford fans. About 12 or 13 years ago we had to move some construction equpment around. Nothing too major just the job site trailer, tools, that kind of thing, no equipment. I was driving my pop's 1997 Ford F-250 with a 460, 5 speed manual tranny and my brother was driving his 2000 F-250 with the V-10 and manual tranny. The 460 was an extra cab with a short bed, 4x4 and the V-10 was a standard cab with a long bed, 4x4. Not quite apples to apples but, as close as we had. My brother would run away from me on everything. I don't know if the trailer weights were the same or anything either but, I think they were close enough. The 460 is still around and the V-10 has long been let go. The V-10 engines had some issues spitting spark plugs out of the heads.

The 460 is a 10 mpg truck. I dont think that it will differ much between loaded or empty. I have only driven the truck about 1000 miles but, empty, loaded, towing, it does not matter much. Figure on 10 mpg. The extra cabs in the OBS are small. Very small by todays standards. They are good trucks but, try and find the 350 instead of the 250. The 250 has that funky twin traction beam front end that is a little hard on front tires. As the front springs begin to sag the tops of the tires start to point towards the engine. It will wear the inside of the tires when it foes happen. Heavy duty grille guards, winches, snow plows, will accelerate the wear.

I will agree that for what they are the 460 is relaible. They do seem to leak, at least my pops does, so when it quits leaking add a quart or two. Great engines, poor mileage, leaky, but, will always start and run. Not much power compared to todays standards but, a real work horse, jack of all trades, master of none.

LT.

Again, good real life info. I appreciate the responses. Simple (injector pumps, turbos, regen issues, diesel exhaust fluid, $400+ injectors, etc. are not my cup of tea) is good. I know I will chew through gas a wee bit. OK. Known cost. I can deal with those. The unknown, surprise stuff gets old pretty fast when it's hitting you at $3k a pop....

The way I see a truck like this is that if I need to put $2k in the motor and $500 or so for a clutch, I'm fine with that. In fact, I may just do that as a matter of course if it works out like I think it could? I can drop $2500 in a turbo or injector replacement on a diesel and still have the other issue waiting for me to drop $2500 back into. Finding a "builder" might prove a bit challenging, but we'll see what we can come up with.

 

[BCGPER]

My last truck in that era was a 92 460/5 speed manual. I wouldn't really let the trans be a deciding factor, Ford was building a decent auto in those years. The 5 speed is a good trans too, but the clutch linkage under the dash is full of plastic bushings that will wear out and are a PITA to change. I sold the truck after using it hard (construction) for 6 years and 80K miles. I had to replace one fuel pump in that time.

I wouldn't even consider the supercab, your kids aren't 6 years old any more.

 

[Rot Box]

I'm not a fan of the A4OD personally. They can be a major headache and while they can be beefed up and made reliable it is expensive to do so. For a truck in this price range/vintage I think it would be worth spending extra for a truck with a 5 speed they're fairly common in the Fords. Just my opinion.. That said look for stress cracks around the firewall where the clutch petal assembly attaches. It is not unheard of for these to rip out of place and that makes for a lot of work.

Switches, solenoids, relays, dc motors, rear brake cylinders, plastic interior parts all seem to fail continual basis but overall they're pretty good trucks. Look for cracked rear leaf springs.

If you're considering the 460 you may want to look into the IDI diesels as well. They are also cheap, reliable, simple and parts are everywhere. Turbocharged they provide more towing power and all around better fuel mileage compared to the 460. Without turbocharging they still provide good mileage but the power is not there--somewhere between a 351W and a 460. Take my 91 crew for a long weekend if you want to get a feel for the IDI.

 

[jeeper]

I had the 460 with a manual in my last truck. 10-11mpg empty or fully loaded. I felt like the gearing was a little off. I could pull any hill in 3rd gear (when loaded) and would rap it out. shift to 4th, and it would bog down. Shift to 3rd and away it goes.. I got used to doing about 45mph up hill. Swore to not have that set up again.

-That said, I wish my new truck Diesel/Auto had the manual again. The auto is worse.

 

[mbryson]

I had the 460 with a manual in my last truck. 10-11mpg empty or fully loaded. I felt like the gearing was a little off. I could pull any hill in 3rd gear (when loaded) and would rap it out. shift to 4th, and it would bog down. Shift to 3rd and away it goes.. I got used to doing about 45mph up hill. Swore to not have that set up again.

-That said, I wish my new truck Diesel/Auto had the manual again. The auto is worse.

What gears did that truck have?

 

[jeeper]

I didn't know enough back then to know, and I don't care enough now to know what I have in my new truck..
Sorry, not much help there.

 

[TRD270]

Marc I have an 89 460 with an auto your more than welcome to come take it for a spin. only a 4x2 though and it has a mostly dead cylinder

 

[oxbronco]

We have both in our company trucks, the 460 doesnt have near the power of the v10s. Both engines have been very reliable except our 02 v10 ejected a plug at 110,000 miles. We also have a 2000 v10 and a 08. They actually still make the v10 and its available in the medium duty trucks. It was offered in the 250 and 350s till 2010. The 2v v10 is the engine that has the problem with puking plugs 99-i believe 04. The 3v v10 has the other problem the plugs dont like to come out and will sometimes actually break off in the head. The v10 does better on mileage as well. If you look at a v10 try and get one with 4.30 gears and they are a pretty good performer. Also check out 5 star tuning they do some pretty cool stuff.