This 1986 Ford F-150 Supercab 4×4 is north of Missoula, Montana; man it’s gorgeous here! This pickup is on craigslist with an asking price of $1,495. It looks pretty nice with just a couple of dings and some small areas of rust starting to percolate around the left front fender and behind the left rear wheel. You don’t want a perfect work truck, though, you want one that works great and is tough enough to take a beating and keep on ticking.. er.. somethin’. And from the opening photo this F-150 looks like it would work for that!
Screeeech! Wait a minute, what happened to the passenger side paint? Did an oil hose break on the factory paint line or was it just a bad primer job or what? The good thing is that I don’t see too much rust here and when it comes down to it, who really cares what your work truck looks like, you’re not using it to impress the livestock or the guys at the hardware or feed store, you’re using it to perform tough duties. Another win for this truck. And, it’s a full-sized box so you can haul it all. This is a seventh-generation F-series pickup and it’s a little new for this site, but it’s still three decades old!
Another win: this truck has a 4-speed manual! Not to mention that it has the optional 302 V8 with around 190 hp and 285 lb-ft of torque. And, did I mention that it’s a 4×4? Win, win, win. Ok, the steering wheel has a couple of the cruise control buttons missing, but who wants cruise control in their work truck?! Come on, people, work with me! (crickets) All kinds of parts are available for these F-Series pickups from various aftermarket companies so if you really wanted to fix the steering wheel, you could do that.
You may have already guessed that there are no engine photos in the ad. Sigh. But, to compensate for not having any engine photos, the top half of the seat looks great! It has the classic western-blanket seat cover on the seat bottom and you could get a replacement cover for that to match the seat back, but why would you do that, your horses don’t care if your seat bottom and seat back patterns match. The seller says that this truck “runs and drives good”, and that’s good enough for me. NADA lists this pickup as having a “value” of $2,225 on the low end, so this is potentially a good bargain here. What do you think of this $1,495 baby-blue Supercab 4×4?
I just bought a 1995 f150 5.0 engine, 4×4, supercab and in mint condition for $2k
So I think this one is way overpriced.
$500 is more like it.
Gene,
I think it has a lot to do with where you live. In my neighborhood, this is a $2500.00 truck. Here in western Ohio these rusted away years ago.
This past summer I turned down $9500.00 for my 1995 with only 70K on it because you just can’t find them in this condition around here. If this one were closer I’d be interested.
If someone really offered you that much you should have taken it and ran. Maybe it was a $2500 offer and you got confused.
I would bet she has been rode hard and put up wet.
Curious how good this generation of Ford pickup is? Is the last real Truck since pickups have gone so slick? A neighbour has one that is beat to Hell and looks like he will run it forever.
My kind of work truck, 4 speed and shift manually in to 4 wheel drive, no electric gizmo’s to go haywire. I agree about how these trucks don’t last long in the Midwest, my neighbor has a 92 that is mechanically sound but the box is almost rusted away but it still does the job of hauling things. Nice find at a reasonable price in my opinion.
If I remember correctly, this vintage of Ford truck had (2) 4-speed MT options, being the 3+OD and the 4-speed with a VERY low first gear. This one would appear to be the latter, and having driven a few of them I recall that rowing these through the gears wasn’t necessarily a fun experience, but they were a very useful truck-truck. Not something I’d want to have for a daily runner, but certainly a very useful tool for those who needed to tow or drag something.
To be honest, the only thing this truck has going for it is the relatively clean body, otherwise, I’d bet it’s a nightmare under the dash and hood. The farm I live at, the guy has a Ford like this (standard cab) as a plow truck. While it does plow the snow, it really is a POS. Ford’s are great trucks when new, but as they age, they seem to fare a lot worse than the other makes, mechanically. Every warning light is on and oil POURS out the rear main seal as fast as you pour it in( not necessarily Ford’s fault, but still), we have a similar vintage Dodge, and while the Dodge is worse body wise, mechanically, it’s 10 times better than the Ford. Keeping this truck roadworthy will be a never ending battle, and I’d hang a plow on it, and park it next to the garage. Be a darn nice plow truck.
I had an 86 F150 with the 3-speed and overdrive. Terrible truck. The hydraulic clutch was impossible to adjust…I had a couple of slave cylinders actually explode. I finally got so frustrated trying to shift into reverse once, that I broke the shifter off!
Years later I bought a 91 F150 with 300-6 and auto, with 176K miles for $750. Now that was an awesome truck. It ran another 50K and did everything I asked without complaint.
This ones been rode hard and put up wet many times, but wasn’t that what they were made for. This looks quite at home on MT, but Can you imagine parallel parking this in Philadelphia or New York? Ugh.
I wish it was closer. I’m looking for a 83 F 150 with a decent frame up in the Northeast
I say it’s good truck for the money, especially being a 4×4. Drive as is or give it a quick Maaco paint job. I do have to dispute the horsepower rating though. Most 302s around this time were rated at around 150 and that was with fuel injection. Not sure if this was the last year for a carburetor on this one.
It’s a nice truck. It’s just too far away for me.