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1985 F150 or 2000 F250 - One or the Other *SOLD* - $5,800
1985
Ford F-150
VIN:
2FTDF15Y5FCA73161
cylinders:
6 cylinders
fuel:
gas
odometer:
56,000
paint color:
red
title status:
clean
transmission:
manual
type:
pickup
odometer rolled over
QR Code Link to This Post
Recently I purchased a 1985 Ford F-150. The truck has the 4.9l 6 cylinder inline engine, 2WD, short bed, and a manual 4 speed transmission. Coincidentally it turned out that my grandson had bought a new car at about the same time and now has his 2000 F250 for sale.
The thing about this is that I owned that F250 for several years and had bought it specifically because I had a large cargo trailer that I wanted to tow. But I sold the cargo trailer, we traded cars several years ago, and he ended up with the F250. I just bought the F-150 for fun, and plan to do an 8,000 mile road trip in it next year. But I like both rigs! Both are going to be extraordinarily reliable and both of them have engines in them that will easily go 300 thousand miles, so I am ambivalent about which one I want to keep. So what I decided to do was to try to help Cody sell his truck, advertise my truck, and keep whichever one doesn’t sell. They’re both worth similar amounts, they’re both in very good shape, and I can live with either one. Either way it would be nice to be able to help out the grandson by taking care of his truck.
There is a current video of the two trucks at: https://youtu.be/PREDVxVzUM4?si=lxrx713OPR1qVZUe There are more video links at the bottom of this ad.
The F-150: This truck is over 40 years old at this point but it is in amazingly good condition. The body has no rust, the engine is really clean on the inside, looks like really low miles. The truck odometer says 55,000 miles and at times as I look at this truck I believe that that’s just 056,000 miles; the engine is clean, the body is straight and not beat up, everything just works really well and looks good, and every thing I have touched on it has been in much better shape than I thought it would be. But 56,000 miles is just too good to be true, so I can’t believe it, but there is a chance that the miles are that low. I’ve done quite a lot of work on it so currently it runs great! It idles well, starts hot, starts cold. I don’t have it completely dialed in, I am selling it a little earlier than I should. It gets almost 16 miles to the gallon and should probably do a little better than that. Sometimes it seems the idle is a little rough and I don’t have that adjusted quite right, but overall this truck just strikes me as one that’s going to really be a nice one. The main thing I’ve done with the truck is delete the emissions and computer equipment on it. When I bought it some of that was missing, the truck clearly was not running well, and it wasn’t going to be possible to restore all of that stuff. So, I have completely removed the emissions and computer and installed an aftermarket HEI distributor. When I bought the truck, it had an aftermarket carburetor on it and so the truck is sort of the best of all worlds now. It has shoulder harnesses and disk brakes, but has just a really super simple ignition and electrical system which should be very reliable, and will be simple and easy to maintain and repair. I know the price seems a little high, but I think finding this vintage of truck that is in such good shape is a huge rarity and makes this truck worth the price.
There is a really good resource specifically about these 7th generation 1980 – 1986 Ford “Bullnose” trucks at: https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/
The F250: (THE STILLS in the ad are old, the truck does not have a canopy. The video above is current) This rig has the 5.4 liter two valve V8 in it that is the good one known for its longevity. (This guy has a 2000 F150 with that same engine with 380,000 miles on it: https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/topic/13188-timing-cover-oil-seal/#findComment-178539 )
I know this F250 has had good maintenance because I did it for several years! It is two wheel drive, has a 4 speed automatic with overdrive, long bed, and has only 120,000 miles on it, which is kind of amazing! Cody’s mom and I did a tune-up on it at about 115k miles. Looking back at my records, the F250 has a limited slip rear end, and I had installed Goodyear Ride Rite air bags on it. Cody has added a security system, LED headlights, and a fancy stereo. The truck is really in nice shape. I bought it in 2018, and my last oil change was April 2021, at about 104,000 miles.
From my perspective the F250 would be a much more pleasant ride, as it has air conditioning, cruise control, and an automatic transmission, where the F150 has none of those things! But I love the simplicity and uniqueness of the F150, and it is such a straight and clean rig I think it is cool. Either way, I like and trust both of these trucks. They are both in exceptional condition and are good values. I can live with whichever one you don’t choose!
If you’re interested in the F250 contact me and I will have Cody or his mom (Andrea) contact you.
If you’re interested in the F-150 give me a call, text, or email.
I have done some videos about the F250. Here are a few that include the F250:
https://youtu.be/nE2VxRm485M?si=aXfKX_FvzoAtP8LZ Boat trip using the F250 as my tow rig (2021)
https://youtu.be/0mr9U6c46SA?si=fqZLBCd-v0KGvMJs&t=499 Cowlitz River Trip (2021)
https://youtu.be/UK1OnSO8K9M?si=2k7UwZaRFBbvMrSx Video about the truck (2020)
Here is a current video update of the work I have done on the F150:
https://youtu.be/qHFnpM586-4?si=wz1Oog0hRsf8zq0o
F150: 2FTDF15Y5FCA73161
F250: 1FTNF20LXYEA19311
Thanks for looking!
Nick
Kelso, WA