1988 Ford F-150 advice

Lurch830

Lurch830

messin' with sasquatch
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Location
Wilton & Albemarle, NC
Saw a 1988 F-150 for sale this morning & pulled over to get the number. Not intentionally looking for a full size truck, but being 6' 6" in a standard cab Ford Ranger has its disadvantages. Called the guy to learn that its got the V8 302 w/ a 5 spd manual tranny, new paint, new wheels & 33" tires, half ton axles, 4x4 works good & 130k on the odometer. I want to see if anybody on here has horror stories, nothing but praise, etc and also anything to check and keep an eye out for. Also, what do you think a reasonable price range is on this truck (asking $3k obo)?

TIA,
Brandon
 
302 is underpowered for a fullsize truck but you may make up for it some with the 5sp. overall they arent bad trucks.
 
5spd has three little rubber plugs at the back of the top cover that dry rot and start leaking and eventually fall out. The transmission only holds like 2 or 3 qts, so it will pump itself dry in a hurry.

The plugs are cheap and easy to fix... once you either drop the transmission or pull up the carpet and remove the access cover in the cab floor.

TFI module craps out, killing the dizzy and leaving you stranded. Carry a spare and the R&R tool.

Rear pinion gets loose (pulls threads).

Other than that, all the normal stuff that'll be worn or broken on a 20yr old 130k mile truck. Ball joints, shocks, brakes, wheel bearings, pivot and radius arm bushings, etc.
 
Back
Top