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DeTwang
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 268 Shingletown, Ca. (Near Redding)
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2003-07-15          59567

I think I might have found a stakebed to buy. It's a 1985 Ford F150 w/hydraulic liftgate. It has a 5.7L carburated V8.

I am planning to use this to tow a trailer that at times will have either my work van or a mini backhoe loaded on it. It also will be used to tow a lightweight skiboat (I;m sure it can handle this), and in the immediate future am planning to use it to haul belongings (moving) from southern CA. to the Redding Ca area. This means I will be going up over the grapvine in the middle of the summer.

1st question...

Is a 5.7L V8 up to this task? I don't want to be going 20 mph towing the trailer/van combo over the grapevine constantly watching the temp guage. I probably won't have much load in the stakebed itself when towing the van/hoe. I want to get the AC working and it would be nice if there's enough power left to run that too without overheating the thing. I definitely plan on putting a couple of aftermarket trans coolers on the truck

2nd question

Anyone ever converted a carburated truck to FI? I' could either get the FI stuff from a junk yard (and thus probably end up with TPI), or I could go for an after market plenum injector setup. Any experience/advice on this subject.


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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2003-07-15          59568

Ford made a variable venturi carburetor that year and it was the worst carb on the market. Check to make sure you don't get stuck with that turkey.

A tranny cooler is an absolute must have for towing. Don't leave home without it. ....

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DeTwang
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 268 Shingletown, Ca. (Near Redding)
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2003-07-15          59569

I'm not afrid to change a carb, but I'd really prefer to have an injected system seeing as the trucks eventual home will be at my place in shingletown (redding, ca) at abouty 4,000 ft elev.).

What about towing power of the small block? With the gearing that most of these trucks (1 ton dually, 12' stakebed) has, is a small block up to the task. or am I going to be limping over the passes, and if I need to do any passing? ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2003-07-16          59594

Are you sure it's a 150 and not a 250 or 350 ?

An F-150 is a half-ton, even with lots of help a stakebed is almost more weight than it could carry, let alone a load on top. As for towing, a 150 has pretty wimpy suspension and BRAKES for towing much, even on flat ground.

Best of luck. ....

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AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144
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2003-07-16          59595

I have a K2500 GMC with the same size engine that I use to two my 45 HP tractor with backhoe. My engine is injected, but I do live at 5300 ft above sea level in the mountains.

Towing the tractor is certainly a load on the truck, but it handles it OK. Fuel economy goes into the toilet when pulling a trailer with the tractor at 70MPH, but it will do it even at this altitude.

I lived in CA years ago and I am familiar with the Grapevine, and I believe that I would have no problem with it. My truck does have a tranny cooler. I cannot say for sure that I could maintain full speed (70) on the steepest parts of the hill, but I would not expect 20MPH either.

When I moved from California to Albuquerque, I had to rent a 26 ft U-Haul to move the stuff that was too dangerous for the professional movers to handle. (You know stuff like paint, reloading supplies and the like) Now those things are very under-powered and I was still able to hold 35 MPH in the worst of the roads between Phoenix and Albuquerque. These roads are steeper and higher in altitude than the Grapevine, I believe. ....

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DeTwang
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 268 Shingletown, Ca. (Near Redding)
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2003-07-16          59596

Oops, I don't know how I wrote that. It's and F-350 (not F-150). I knew it was an F-350 and yet wrote 150. Sometimes these typos I make amaze me. I must be getting old.. :)

It's an F-350 1 Ton dually with a 12' stakebed and hydraulic liftgate. ....

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DeTwang
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 268 Shingletown, Ca. (Near Redding)
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2003-07-16          59597

AC, how old is your truck? I'm just curious as this is an 85 and I'm wondering how much of a factor being old makes on the performance. The trucks engine blew up a year or two back (the guys son let it overheat and kept driving it), and they put aused engine in it. It all feels pretty strong, and worst comes to worst, used ford/chevy smallblocks are pretty cheap and plentiful (not to mention easy to rebuild if required), but I'd rather not deal with that. It's got front disc brakes, so tha helps too.

My main concerns for fuel injection are on those cold winter mornings in the mountains. FI engines seem to start much easier and run better when cold than carbed engines. I was curious about the aftermarket FI conversions. ....

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AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144
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2003-07-16          59602

My truck is a 1992 GMC K2500 with original throttle body injection. I like it better than a carburator but it is not the best injection setup. It always starts on the first crank, even when cold. So, I can't complain. It has been properly maintained and I have only used Mobil 1 in it since it was broken in. It has about 80,000 miles on it, and it does not use any oil. It has even served as a crew truck on the Baja 1000, twice, so those 80,000 miles are not to the mailbox and back.

I have a Hummer H2 that I drive for everyday, and it has a 6.0L GMC Vortec gasoline engine in it. For an engine that is about the same size as my GMC 5.7 in the K2500, the H2 engine puts out a LOT more horsepower. When I tow the tractor behind the H2, I have a lot more accelleration left. Of course, some of that may because of the big hole in the air that the H2 leaves for the tractor to go through. ....

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DeTwang
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 268 Shingletown, Ca. (Near Redding)
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2003-07-16          59605

""When I tow the tractor behind the H2,""

How much better does it get than that? Now I'm Jealous! ....

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F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2003-07-16          59616

I have owned acouple of those 351W motors with the VV carb. I never had any carb problems but if you want to change it I think you need a new manifold as well. Ford had some sort of set up that you need to change both to bolt on aftermarket stuff, still not a big deal $$. Maybe someones now makes any easy replacement so you can keep the manifold?

The 85 motors only have around 200 HP or so I don't think it is going to have too much power but you can get by with it. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2003-07-16          59618

Lawman: I had a 85 Ford Crown Vic/Take home car with that VV carb. It was a serious dog. It topped out at 95 MPH and got 10 MPG on the highway.

Actually it was probably a good thing that it wouldn't go fast because it also had puny brakes.

After a few years the city finally pulled all the VV carbs out the remaining fleet and put in an aftermarket 4 bbl. The fuel savings alone paid for the modifications. ....

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F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2003-07-16          59620

I don't know, my experience was different. I had 2 Police package CVc ( a 1981 and a 1988). I got pulled over in the 88'at 115mph with the AC on max and the speedo still on the increase :)This was with about 80k on the odometer.

My younger brother smacked the 81' up bad but it was still rock solid at 95 mph +- This was with a huge dent in the rear quarter panel a trunk that wouldn't close and a tweaked frame. I drove it for a year like that until I bought the 88.

They were pigs off the line but had a good pull from 35mph on up. Passing gear was outstanding. In contrast I had almost the same setup in a couple of Police package 5.7 Caprices a 1986 and 1989 and they were much better from light to light but didn't have great top ends. Don't really recall the gear ratios? ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2003-07-16          59649

(Fellow)Lawman. I find it amazing, but believable, that you had a good experience with those VV carbs.

I will file it away under the "Alaska Exception" to "what works". I don't suppose you ever tried to turn one of those things over at -38F???

We ran short shifts and tied up every wrecker in town on the first real cold night those cars were on the street.

Even the Chief and D/Chief didn't make it to work. I can just see them standing in the driveway, in ill fitting parkas, shivering, ordering those cars to start......

Well I guess there is SOMETHING funny to take away from all those years......... ....

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F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2003-07-17          59686

Well I never really had to run them in cold weather. In those days I lived in the Brooklyn, NY so didn't even have the colder temp. of my current location let alone yours :)

I know that Ford also had the 5.0 liter setup and that was a real pig. Can't explain why mine ran well though, there were only minor modifications from the standard vehicle. Ford use to list a 5.7 and a 5.7 HO engine but I don't think there was too much HP diff. The only thing I can think is maybe a diff. computer program?

-37 degrees huh? Man you don't want a foot post do you???? Heck, I was a Bike Sergeant for awhile, ouchhhhh! ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2003-07-17          59689

Yes. I walked a beat for 15 years. I had a rule: if the dopers and the whores could stand it so could I.

I never saw a day too cold to keep them off the street corners, so I went out to play too.

The sarge gave me grief for turning in tickets written in pencil until he figured out that ball point pens don't work much below 0 degrees.


....

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F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2003-07-17          59692

Well I would rather be walking in the cold than the heat. All that gear and vest is terrible in the 90+ days. Now -38 might be pushing it :(

I worked and mostly walked in NYC and walking is probably faster anyway many times :) Surely it's leess frustrating than dealing with traffic.

Man we hijacked this thread :) I was just thinking with all the new pickups out there we are all spoiled. They are so powerful that when people ask if an older vehicle is good enough to pull a load the reaction is negative. With the 320+ hp dieslels with 560 lbs of torque we're driving vehicles that would have been pulling rigs not too many years ago! People were getting by pulling trailers for years with small V-8s with 200hp and now we all want 300 hp in our 1/2 ton pickups just to tool around town. ....

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AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144
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2003-07-17          59696

My 92 GMC does OK as I said before. I don't go fast partly because of idiot drivers and partly because I don't have a brake controller in that truck for the brakes on the trailer. I think that the GMC 5.7 gas engine in 92 was rated for 225 HP or so. This is not a hot rod; just a good reliable truck that always seems to be ready when I need it to do some work.

For perspective, I did tow a Baja race car halfway across the US with an 82 Toyota SR5 4X4 pickup truck. I think that the speed limits were 55 MPH back then. It is probably a good thing, because I don't think that I could have gone much faster.

The Toy could not have been doing much more than 120 HP, but it was pretty tough. It survived three Baja races as a chase truck running on the course with the big boys. But it is not a good tow vehicle.

....

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