1995 F250

alright - i wanted a truck - got a rice burner - DAMNIT - now im looking at a 1995 ford f250 with the gas 460 in it, 4in lift, has 140k on it, been rebult at 100k. new tires/wheels, needs some little gasket and a transmission module, what type of gas mileage should i expect? what would you guys consider a good offer for the truck? its reg cab, auto, 4x4.

i know this is a stupid common question - but roughly what type of gas mileage should i get? assume the gearing is all stock, maybe tweaked.


by the way - im a chill driver - like theres an egg under my gas pedal 98% of the time, and i don't haul anything now, will be used as a work truck during the summer.

I would not be looking at gas mileage if you want a truck like that. My experience with that aspect has been less than wonderful. Most of the 460 powered 4 wheel drive units i have seen, if driven carefully might achieve 12.5 to 14 mpg, but most don't get that high. I may be out to lunch, but that is personal experience speaking, others will have different numbers to add.

Yes, if you get 14, consider yourself lucky. In reality, the 5.4 will not do much better (maybe 16, maybe), and neither would a SBF, again maybe 16. About the only engine that will get better than 16 consistantly is the "300-6", 4.9L I-6, and that would be 16-18.

what do you mean "i would not be looking at gas mileage if you want a truck like that?"

A 460 is not a truck to be worried about gas milage. If you are worried about fuel milage, get a powerstroke. If you want something to drive around, get a 351W.

what i meant is, if gas mileage is a primary concern, and I understand if it is, then buy a toyota echo. If you want a truck that works, especially with a gas engine, be prepared for a kick in the nads when it comes to the fuel bill.

To me, fuel is a cost of doing business, to the average joe, who uses the vehicle for sunday drives and general commuting, its a major pain.

I had a 97 ford super duty 2wd, with the jokestroke and a 5 speed, with an aluminum mechanics box on it. The truck was purchased for two reasons, diesel is more readily available here, and they were supposed to make good power, with decent economy. well, I had the truck for 4 months, 21,000 km. in that time, it went through 3 sets of injectors, countless air filters, and the pump was acting up when I got rid of it. that, and I never got more the 10 mpg with it, no matter how heavy or light my foot was. I could drive at 50 kph, or 150 kph, and get between 9.2 and 10 mpg. And CDN gallons are bigger than american gallons.... soooo

I went to dodge/cummins, and never looked back. But thats my experience.

Once again, don't worry about fuel mileage, worry about mechancal reliability, and comfort if you want a truck.

Good luck

i know several people who have not had problems with the T444E. Most likly you got a wednesday truck. My 00 has 136K of nonproblematic service, at 17 MPG. If you purchased the truck used, i could understand, a lot of people do not maintenance diesels proporly, but the powerstroke is a tough motor, people see 300K to 400K miles out of these motors.

when I say I had the truck for four months, it was the first 4 months, and 21,000 km of its service life. I took delivery of the truck in march 97, and got rid of it at the beginning of august 97.

I have yet to see an original powerstroke with over 190,000 km on it, I am sure there are some out there, but not in that age range.

what type of regular maintenance should be done to a truck regularly - meaning - do they require more than a car does? how often should you do those checks - im new to trucks . . . . - im used to hondas, so if you guys could fill me in - that would be cool - thanks

Not really, on a gas. On a diesel it is different. On a gas i change my oil and filter every 3K, fuel filter every 20K, tranny fluid anf filter every 30K, diff case fluid every 50K, Coolant every 50K, air filter every 10K, injector cleaner ( usually seafoam ) every oil change, chassy grease every oil change. Now on a diesel, oil change w/ filter every 5K, fuel filter every 15K, tranny fluid and filter change every 30K, coolant change with anti-cavitive treatment every 40K, diff case fluid every 30K, cassy lube every oil change, glo plugs everyother year, batteries every other year oposite of glo-plugs, glo-plug relay change when change glo-plugs, injector cleaner every oil change, air filter every other oil change ( i live on a gravel road ). I have never had a problem with doing it this way, just some advise, stay away from fram oil filters. I had one colaps and i lost oil pressure and it grenaded my motor. Also in diesels use a CL rated oil, and SL Grp III oil in gas. I see 250K out of gas motors and all my diesel stuff is still rolling.

I own a 2000 F250 4X4, 5.4 w/ 36" Swampers, it gets 11/12 MPG if I baby it, otherwise 9/10 is about normal.

Hello,
Dude that 460 is going to get around 12-13 MPG at best if it is stock. Hell my dads truck is a '85 Blazer with a 350 turbo transmission, 350 4 bolt engine with a 4 barrel. And that trucks gets around 8 MPG. It has some aftermarket parts that helped knock down the MPG.
Thank you
Adam Forsythe

Well I have a FLEET of T444Es (Power Strokes) that have well over 200,000 MILES on them, all original except for some bolt-ons (water pump, injector or two etc).

Without question, the 7.3L DIT is the BEST diesel out there. I have yet to see one "blown", or have a bad headgasket (both are common on the Chev and Dodge diesels).

They are not, however, the easiest things in the world to work on. Room is tight, but considering the physical size of the mill, they did a pretty good job with accessability.

About how many miles/gallon does the 7.3L diesel get?

anyone??

14-18 depending on load and gears.

how much of a difference does the gearing ratio make on power and gas fuel mileage?

^^^^^^bump for info^^^^^^

Gearing does not affect power, however stteper gears DO mean less effort by the engine to pull the same mass and to get it moving. If you are towing under 3000# with a TRUCK, gearing is not a consideration.

Mileage is affected significantly by gearing. You drop about 1 mpg per ratio lower then 3.54/3.55 with 16" tires. So 3.73 would be 1 mpg less, 4.01 2 less, 4.30 3 less. This is aproximate, but generally accepted by those at Ford.