I know ZIP about F250's but saw one in the paper today for $200 so I ran over and took a look at it. It's an 89 standard cab long bed with the 300 inline 6 and 5 spd 2WD. He said something about it being the HD model and by the looks of the rear end and springs I'd say he wasn't BS-ing me. Had 8 lug wheels all the way around. But the sticker on the inside of the door was painted over and couldn't read it, he said he was going to try and get that cleaned off tomorrow if he could.

Couple of questions, what would the tow capacity of this be roughly?

Also how hard is clutch work on this beast? He had a new clutch disc put in and then a few hundred miles later the clutch failed to disengage. Mechanic says it's the hydraulics, do these run both a master and slave and how hard are those to change?

Body isn't bad, usual rust over the wheels but overall in good enough shape, especially since it runs good and doesn't use much oil at all for that money.

All F-250's are 8 lugs so don't be mislead by that. 1985+ F-250's come with either the semi-float 10.25 or the full floater. What you want is the full floater. I'd check on that 5 speed, make sure it's the ZF. If not, I wouldn't rely on the tranny for heavy duty towing. Tow capacity is listed in the owners manual next time you go to look at it. After saying all that, I'd grab it for $200, can't go wrong at that price.

if it's a 6 banger, its more than likely the junk mazda tranny in it. Even still, for $200 you can't really go wrong.

I have a '90 F250HD. I can look up some stuff in my owner's manual tomorrow if you want.

Bullshit. he 300 six came with the ZF in the 3/4 tons, as well as the 351s. The 302 was the only engine to recieve the M5OD across th board.

Originally posted by Paul Gagnon
I have a '90 F250HD. I can look up some stuff in my owner's manual tomorrow if you want.
Thanks I'd appreciate that, the only thing he had in the glovebox was a pair of old workgloves and a lot of receipts from maintenance done which is a bonus. New starter, battery, alternator, fuel filter within the last year.

What's the scoop on this ZF trans?

Originally posted by AthlonAJ

Thanks I'd appreciate that, the only thing he had in the glovebox was a pair of old workgloves and a lot of receipts from maintenance done which is a bonus. New starter, battery, alternator, fuel filter within the last year.

What's the scoop on this ZF trans?


ZF is very good. 5.62:1 low plus .73 OD. Changing the clutch system is a breeze. Internal hydro clutch is simply a bolt in after dropping the tranny. Slave cylinder sits on the firewall right beside the brake booster. Single line from slave to internal hydro. For $200 go get the damn thing NOW. It isnt going to be the greatest tow rig with the 300 but you could always take the 2wd tranny get a rear case and tailshaft and have an excellent 4x4 tranny for cheap. Tranny will bolt to 300, 302 and 351W. There should be a tag on the side of the drivers side of the tranny. Lots of ribs on the tranny is a giveaway to a ZF as well

If it has PTO ports, it's a ZF, if it doesn't, it's a pile of crap M5OD....
Evan

The HD should be 8600 gvw. I would be surprised at a HD with the 300, but who knows. The rear would be a 10.25, which is pretty much the saem strength as a dana 70, which pretty much translates as bullet proof. The zf trans is also good, too. Basically, every ford pickup with the exeption of some f-150, and mabey 250's from 87-97 has used the zf5, and from 97 up it the same type of trans, just with another gear. Even alot of the high performance powerstroke guys still use the stock zf5 with no problem. Behind a 300, there's no way it'll fail. The figures I remember for my 85 were gcvw around 16k, so I would expect that to be about the same. Your problem will be that you're not going to have much power, so hills will definetly be slow. However, just from a standpoint of the stength of the truck, you should be able to gross 12-14k no problem, and most likely a bit more. I know I've run 15.5k gross in my 85, with out any trouble other than having no triler brakes, and the truck handles it just fine. You should have no trouble hauling the standard 7k car trailer loaded, but more than that you may not be able to start on a hill.

Clutch work on these trucks is pretty easy, but there are some quirks. First of all, the line is held on with cotter pins, :eek: so it takes some thinking to get it off. Also, all the books say to replace it as a unit, but the parts are sold indivdually. Both the master and slave are common parts, but the line would be a ford special order, at about $50. :eek: The other big thing with these is that the stock plastic pos slave has a bleeder that's opened with a allen wrench, so most people assume it has no bleeder. I was able to get a cast iron slave from southern auto (carquest) here, and it has the real nipple type bleeder. I would strongly recomend going this route, as the plastic tends to break. I do not know if they could pull it up off you truck's info, but if not, tell them to run an 85 f250 diesel w/ t-19. It's the same thing. The master would be slightly differet, though.
-John

Jalhun: The Small block ZF 5 speed uses a concetrric slave, same as the M5OD, with a proper bleeder et al.
The 460 and Diesel ones use the same external setup as the old 4 speeds behind the 460 and diesel(smallblock 4 speed external slave is different, don't ask how I know...)
I will say this much... My buddy is an idiot... He put the only hyd. clutch 4 speed bellhousing we could locate on his 302, without the motor plate/dust cover... No motor plate = starter tied to just the two bolts holding it to the bellhousing, not all 6 main bolts, the 2 starter bolts, and the dust cover bolts... This = busted bellhousing.....
Spent the day pulling his tranny and t-case, took it to get welded, and, buddy who was gonna weld it happend to have one in an 88.... 2wd T18's are heavy, and, it was raining like hell... Bloody yay