At 20.5 feet in length, this Light Chestnut, 1987 Ford F-350 XLT Lariat 4×4 with a 460 V8 and 4-speed transmission is about as long as its description. There’s work to do, but what a great starting point. This big rig is posted here on craigslist in the Louviers, Colorado area, and they’re asking $13,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mike F. for the big tip!
You can see the dent in the right rear door, and there’s rust around the wheel wells and some in the rocker areas, the bottom of the long bed (there wasn’t a short bed available in the F-350 Crew Cab), and other bodywork to do. Those shin-diggers would go away instantly if I owned this truck. If you have to add steps, it’s jacked up too high. As always, I’d go back to a more “normal”-sized wheel and tire combo, but it’s hard to argue with the cool factor of this truck.
Ford made the eighth-generation F-Series pickup for 1986 through 1991 for North America and Venezuela. As mentioned, there was no short bed/short wheelbase available on the one-ton Crew Cab; buyers had to choose the F-350 in order to get four doors. You’ll need the 38-gallon gas tank on this model. Here’s what it looks like inside the 8-foot bed. Hagerty is at $9,600 for a #4 fair-condition truck and $24,800 for a #3 good truck, as a general reference.
The interior looks a bit better than the exterior, but there are still a few issues if a person wanted a perfect truck. There’s at least one dash crack, and some fading, along with the Chestnut velour seat fabric is a bit loose, but looks good otherwise, at least until we see a photo of the rear seat, which shows a bit of separation on the top of the front seat back. This one has optional power windows, but they were only available for the front windows. Speaking of the rear seating area, here it is, and it looks great. Speaking of great, how about that 4-speed shifter!
The engine is big, big-big, really big, and it’s powered by gas rather than diesel, which would have put this one over the top. This is Ford’s 460-cu.in. OHV V8 with EFI, and 245 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque when new. EFI wasn’t available in this engine until 1988, but there’s a reason for that; this is a 1997 engine! It sends power through the Borg Warner T-19 4-speed manual and transfer case to all four wheels as needed, and this one has new head gaskets, timing chain, water pump, an aluminum radiator, and more. It’s said to run great, and I believe it. Would you restore or at least fix the rust on this truck, or drive it as is?
West Coast 🍁 🌳 logging co. special.
Certainly not perfect, but not bad for a truck which is almost 40 years old. It strikes me as a truck which was used as a truck, just like would be expected, but thankfully not abused. As the seller says, just keep it as-is, or restore it.
Thanks SG.
My late friend had a name for these when he lived in Florida. He called them stupid mobiles. They were everywhere down there in a state as flat as a pancake. Hope the future owner likes paying for gas. An old girlfriend of mine used to say the owners of these big trucks were compensating for something. Have a nice hump day everyone.
My wife of 40 years calls it Macho Truck Syndrome. This started when I bought an 88 F250 4X4. The first year of the 7.3. Also the last time I drove a standard cab pickup.
Still drive an f250…still suffering from MTS!
Well, your friend can have his opinion, but for the right person these trucks are very useful. Pulling a heavy load (4 horse trailer?) on dirt roads requires something like this. Ours is newer but along the same lines and it always does the job for us. I agree it’s silly if someone drives these just for “show” but at least around here, rural Colorado, as well as most of the West, they are well used work vehicles. I’d love to have this truck if I didn’t already have one.
What does your friend drive?
Add some tall sides to the box,
be an ultimate fire 🔥 wood 🪵 🪓 truck for somebody Mike F.👍
Hard to beat a 460 4 speed Ford truck. Fuel injection was good for 10 to 12 mpg on a good day. Older carbureted trucks 7-10 mpg. Many if the fuel injected manual trabsmission trucks were 5 speed ZF gear boxes. Very few issues with those, BUT never an issue with the old 4 speeds . Always on a 460. change the timing cover when it is off. The metal corrodes fast and badly causing coolant leaks. The same gies for 5.0s older than 15 years old. I had a couple of crew cab dualies that were a pain to park downtown. One day my daughter gad to drive the dually to highschool as I was taking her Audi in for it’s smog check. When getting into the truck to come home. Her friend asked what was in all the metal boxes in the back seat. I had forgotten to unload all the firearms from the weekend target shooting foray. If caught with those on school property. She whould have been expelled. And the likelihood of ever getting my firearms back would have been bleek.
Grew up in NW Colorado, this was referred to as the Moffat County Sports Car. Have had many, some with the Diesels, but I prefer the 351, 460. You can order at the drive in window without shutting it off!! Hunting, wood/ hay hauling, Good for all including family. I like that they sit high, above the deer/ elk accidents, Yep, they are thirsty, but handy for everything.
Live in NW NM now, this has been the truck of choice for the oilfield for as long as I can remember. The price is about right, maybe a bit high due the rust.