BLSully

Hey all,

New owner of a relatively low mileage 1993 F150 XL.

Standard Cab
Long Bed
4.9L
5 spd manual
4x4
86k miles
Dual Tanks (unknown if rear works at this point, and the front has a leak somewhere near the top )
Previous Owner did: All brake lines, front pads, new clutch slave, new coil, new distributor, new alternator, new exhaust and probably a couple other things I can't remember right now.

So, I bought this thing for a song, just want to keep the winter hell off of my Focus ST, and will be used to haul garbage, wood here and there, and be a general "ugly chore truck". All that said, I don't know much about these other than the 4.9 is known as pretty bulletproof motor, if maybe a bit of a gutless wonder. It starts a bit hard, but idles beautifully, and runs well. Front end wanders a lot, but maybe that's just me being used to the tight steering rack on my Focus, and I just need to 'get used' to the F150.

The only real 'big' issues i have with the truck at the moment:

• BIG ONE: Rear Spring Shackles and Hangers are nearly rotted out on both sides
• Front gas tank has a leak somewhere near the top
• Clutch Ignition Switch is very flakey (guessing I can jumper/bypass this)
• Parking Brake cables are snapped. Guessing whatever mechanism is frozen up. Not a huge deal as I park it in gear, but I know there's a few spots where I'd be more comfortable having the brake functional
• CEL is on, but not sure why. Pre-OBD2 so I can't hook up my scanner... how do I get codes off of these early ECUs? Nevermind! saw the sticky!!

Otherwise, I bled the brake lines last night (PO didn't do it very well after replacing the lines and it had a soft pedal) and drove it to the office this morning just to start getting accustomed to it and for being an old rusty farm truck, it does just fine.

jayanthony

good old trucks and that one looks nice.
i like the 4.9 good mpg and low end power.
i wouldn't bypass the clutch start switch especially with no e brake.
sounds like you could use a few junk yard / rockauto parts but nothing too bad.
i commute with a corolla and have an old truck
for most of the same reasons as you do.
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dustyknuckles

You're running the combo I'd like to have soon with the truck and Focus ST. I've owned two Focuses before including the SVT model, and my wife currently drives a 2016 hatch.

I went from a BMW 135 to my truck and definitely noticed the "wander" but I think you might be accurate in just being used to a tighter rack. After driving mine for a couple weeks every day I got used to it. I would get back in the 1-series before I sold it, and the car would feel like a go-kart haha.

BLSully

I love my ST, it's a fantastically fun car. Mine's mostly stock... just an intercooler and "Stage 2" tune from Panda Motorworks.

This week I'm in the midst of dealing with the rear fuel tank... replaced the front tank, but now it's returning fuel to the rear tank which ALSO leaks, so ... i'm just capping off the lines to the rear tank, but there's an AG hitch in the way... so I gotta drop that before I drop the tank. (Oh the joys...)

Last weekend I did the spring shackles and midship tank. At least parts are cheap!

BLSully

Here's the ST in "winter mode".... when I get the F150 sorted out, the ST will go away for the winter months... it's not necessarily a "fair weather only" car, but Wisconsin winters are brutal to cars, and I'd like to make the ST last me a long time. The F-150 is already a rust bucket