greengreer
Adventurer
After selling my chevy last year and, ,regretting it everyday since, I have been wanting another pickup. I have a 97 f350 psd 4x4 zf5 as my work truck, but its just too big and costly to be an adventure rig without a bunch of work, and then it wouldn't function very well as a work truck (although 37s would look awesome).
So ive been looking for a clean 1/2t truck with a 6cyl and manual transmission. That pretty much narrowed it down to gm's with the 4.3 or fords with the 4.9. Really love both these motors, but the ford takes the in torque and durability, not to mention the ttb d44 over gm ifs. After many hours scouring cl, I found this:
1992 f150 4.9 np435 xlt but with rubber floors, manual windows, locks, hubs, transfer case etc, but the cloth seat and whatnot of xlt.
At first I almost walked away from buying it due to the 4spd, but ended up coming up with a price I thought would cover a 5spd swap if I wanted. After driving it a bit I really like the 435, and if I do decide to swap I can put a zf5 in instead of the chitty mazda m5od.
Immediate plans are to ditch the 33x12.50 in favor of 33x10.50, too bad bfgs are backordered until the end of the month. I'm going to sell the 12.50s as they are practically new to recoup cost. Next is to pick up a camper top, really hoping to find an ARE DCU or gemtop contractor top, but it hasnt been easy with the ford bed being 6.75 ft vs 6.5 or so for most other short beds.
After that new coils up front, cant decide between the tallest factory replacement or the aftermarket 1.5" lift. Then on to a set of bilsteins and that should do it for a while. Just drive it and enjoy.
The truck is just over 125k and has zero rust, but the paint is fading on the hood and roof, so a respray may be in order, other than that not too much to fix on the old girl.
Hopefully I will be able to get the truck how I want it in the next few months and we will go from there. Can't wait to get it in the woods and see how it does.
So ive been looking for a clean 1/2t truck with a 6cyl and manual transmission. That pretty much narrowed it down to gm's with the 4.3 or fords with the 4.9. Really love both these motors, but the ford takes the in torque and durability, not to mention the ttb d44 over gm ifs. After many hours scouring cl, I found this:
1992 f150 4.9 np435 xlt but with rubber floors, manual windows, locks, hubs, transfer case etc, but the cloth seat and whatnot of xlt.
At first I almost walked away from buying it due to the 4spd, but ended up coming up with a price I thought would cover a 5spd swap if I wanted. After driving it a bit I really like the 435, and if I do decide to swap I can put a zf5 in instead of the chitty mazda m5od.
Immediate plans are to ditch the 33x12.50 in favor of 33x10.50, too bad bfgs are backordered until the end of the month. I'm going to sell the 12.50s as they are practically new to recoup cost. Next is to pick up a camper top, really hoping to find an ARE DCU or gemtop contractor top, but it hasnt been easy with the ford bed being 6.75 ft vs 6.5 or so for most other short beds.
After that new coils up front, cant decide between the tallest factory replacement or the aftermarket 1.5" lift. Then on to a set of bilsteins and that should do it for a while. Just drive it and enjoy.
The truck is just over 125k and has zero rust, but the paint is fading on the hood and roof, so a respray may be in order, other than that not too much to fix on the old girl.
Hopefully I will be able to get the truck how I want it in the next few months and we will go from there. Can't wait to get it in the woods and see how it does.
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