1978 Ford F150 Ranger 390ci V8 from North America

Summary:

Needs work, but is a great fixer upper

Faults:

Needed a new carb. Other than that, there's just a water leak, but this is due to the previous owner not giving the old girl the care she truly needs.

General Comments:

Love it; my favorite model of all and any trucks!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th June, 2015

1978 Ford F150 Custom 400m from North America

Summary:

1978 F150 time machine

Faults:

Gets stuck sometimes.

Tire fell off.

Been stolen twice.

Replaced radiator at 76000 miles.

U-joint repair 98000 miles.

Outer axle bearings on 9 inch after several water submersions.

3rd member pumpkin went dry.

4 stolen stereos including 2 cycle sounds with gauges and CB's.

Took gunrack out.

General Comments:

Went to test drive used in 1980 at 2 years old. The truck was a bone stock baby blue custom with a white camper shell, CB radio and white spoke wheels. Truck was clean, but was very geriatric looking for a shortbed Ford 4x4.

This truck is the first vehicle I ever owned. The day I went to look at it with my mom, we had stopped to put 5 bucks in tank and the attendant filled it. Me being 15 years old and the truck having so much potential, and the fact that my Mom liked it I paid $5,000; put 2K down and got a loan of $55 per month for rest.

I had a busboy job and paid it off. Luckily my parents paid the insurance. Best option was the bench seat, and the best modification of the many is a twin mattress in the bed.

I could write a book about my life with my F-150, as I still own it today.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th March, 2010

1978 Ford F150 Custom 4x4 351m from North America

Summary:

The Golden Age of Ford

Faults:

Nothings failed on it, they called this the Golden Age of Ford for a reason.

General Comments:

I bought this truck from a farmer a little while back. It has always been my dream truck, and it has been everything I wanted and more.

It is a standard cab short bed. 351m engine with 76k original miles. C6 tranny that shifts perfect. 9" rear end. Dana 44 full floating front axle. Originally full time 4x4 that had manual locking hubs put in a while back to give it a 4x2 option. Of course it has the 4x4 floor shifter, none of that push button 4x4 crap.

This truck fires right up every time. It is easy to work on, the easiest part being that I rarely have to work on it, and when I do it's either an oil change or I'm adding something for fun.

I have 31/10.5/15 tires on it right now, thinking about going to 33s. I have taken it off road a few times, not any of that ridiculous stuff some people do where you are biting off more than any truck can chew just to get your rig stuck and spend 2 hours trying to tow it out. I just take it on trails, through mud, through the woods, etc. Hot, cold, dry, wet, it doesn't seem to matter. I have never had to put it in 4 wheel low, 4 wheel high walks me through anything I attempt.

The truck is rough cosmetically, since I got it from a farmer it was a work truck, and looks like it. But mechanically it's flawless. I can't decide if I want to fix it up just a little bit so it looks decent, or let it show its battle scars. Both options are honorable.

This truck only has a 2 barrel carburetor, but with the way it screams and pushes you into the seats when you bury your foot in the gas, you'd think it was a 4 barrel.

A lot of people don't want to believe this, but I get 15-18 MPG in this truck. They tell me I should only be getting 5-8, not 15-18, but it's not complicated to estimate gas mileage. I will fill the tank, go 100 miles, then fill it again, depending on the driving I was doing it takes around 5.5 or 6.5 gallons to fill it back up, give or take 10ths of a gallon. That equals out to 15-18 MPG the way I add it up.

I love everything about this truck, the style, the rugged heavy duty, "over built" way it's put together, the ease of working on it, and how cheap the parts are. This truck is 30 years old, runs like it's new, and I bet it will still be worth keeping around 30 more years from now.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st August, 2009

1st Aug 2009, 17:25

15-18 is completely believable. I know people with 2wds with 300 sixes that get over 20 mpg. My own 77 F-100 once got 26 mpg but usually averaged 23-24 mpg. I also had a 79 F-250 2wd with a 400 auto and that would get 16 mpg. I got 14.7 loaded with 3000 pounds worth of stuff in the bed. Doesn't seem like we have gotten very far in the last 30-40 years. New trucks get the same if not worse mileage than these old beasts.