Recently picked up XLT Lariat that had been sitting with a no start issue.
Nice looking truck, low miles, and clean body.
im a BMW guy, bought the truck for my dad.
after messing with it we got it running but not getting fuel from the tanks.
Its got the 5.8 carb motor, i bought him new tanks since its been sitting.
was going to order the pumps, but he says they dont have in tank pumps. Only fuel injected did.
i just need to know what im needing. I see a bunch of different stuff all over. Any help is appreciated

1987 XLT LARIAT dual fuel tanks, 16/19 gallon. Carburetor 5.8l V8

 

Welcome to the site!
Eh, kind of a grey area - first year of the Gen8s (87-,91), was thinking all motors were switched over to fuel-injected at that time, but have not verified.
FWIW, the fuel-injected 87-89 model years had a low-pressure pump in each tank, and a high-pressure pump along the driver-side frame rail, about under the brake pedal. May have a look to see whether the high-pressure pump is still there, or at least the wiring harness, which would clue you in as to whether it came from the factory with fuel injection which has been converted to carb, or the carb was indeed original equipment.
If the tanks were of concern enough to buy replacements - may check the fuel filter for pluggage, and verify that the fuel pump is pumping - is it an electric or a mechanical pump?
Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

Correct - the 5.8L did not become EFI until '88. 4.9L in '87; 5.0L in '85.

Before buying ANY parts, find out what's wrong. Follow the fuel line from either tank to the switching valve & then check if it's blocked or stuck midway. Unhook the lines from it & try to blow air through. See if you can get fuel draining from the tank side into a catch-pan. Connect the tank side directly to the engine side (no sw.valve) and see if the pump can pull fuel up.

 

I also have an '87 F150 5.8 H.O., carbed. It had sat up for 15 yrs when I got around to messing with it. Here's what I found with the fuel system. It has a mechanical fuel pump (the carb only needs about 4 or 5 psi to function). I removed both fuel tanks to clean them and flush out the fuel lines.

Affixed to the tanks were 2-wire "Fuel modules". There is no pump in the tank, only the sending unit. These are very hard to find. I "repaired" one of mine. The other was too far gone, and remains to be addressed. If your tubes are still intact, you can clean them up, and clean, or change the sending unit and sock, and you should be good. Here are a few photos.


No fuel pump, only the sending unit, so 2 wires.

Underside of the top.

A single tube. No return line. Note the lower portion of this unit (below the sending unit) had corroded and broke off. Normally the single tube would go down a couple more inches, and the sock would affix to it.

 

Just another note to clarify. The mechanical fuel pump is on the driver's side of the engine block. No electric fuel pumps in these.

 

If you can't weld, braze, or epoxy (JBWeld) a replacement tube on, I'd shove a piece of nylon or vulcanized rubber fuel tubing onto it, and get it back into usable condition.