When it comes to trucks that may be considered emerging classics, this 1989 Ford F350 Lariat Super Cab may be on the short list. With four doors, dually rear axle, and virtually every box checked for that year’s full-size truck options, this F350 was a pricey acquisition when new. Now, it’s a relatively affordable buy with plenty of life left thanks to its rust-free body and recent maintenance, and you’ll find it here on craigslist for $4,900 in Boise.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Miguel for the find. This Super Cab is said to be in fine condition, with 168,000 miles on its 7.5L V8 and apparently running quite well. While the diesel-powered variants strike me as being slightly more coveted due to their exceptional reliability and torque, there’s nothing wrong with a V8 – provided you manage the likely pricey gas station fill-ups.
There’s room for six inside, with benches front and rear. The interior presents quite nicely, with no major faults to address other than the ugly steering wheel cover. The dash is uncracked but I do see some fraying of the seat fabrics. An aftermarket radio replaces the factory unit, but that’s not the end of the world in a workhorse like this.
The list of recent maintenance items is impressive, with the seller noting a recently rebuilt automatic transmission; a new radiator, water pump, starter, and solenoid; and A/C that’s been retrofitted to R-134A. The rest of the truck may have some cosmetic blemishes with close to 170K on it, but really, it looks much better than expected. The 460 V8 is a motor there will be no shortage of parts for should a repair be needed, and they make fun noises with a modified exhaust. Would you buy this or hold out for a Power Stroke?
Looks like it would be hard to go wrong at anywhere near the asking price for a truck this clean.
Used to daily drive an ’85, then an ’87, F250 Supercab 4wd with 460/C6 power. They were great work trucks, tons of room inside, plenty of towing grunt, rarely got 10mpg though. The ’87 had a bored DoveA block, Crane cam, Holley carb, MSD ignition, headers, etc & was badass for the day for sure.
This dually (a crewcab rather than a supercab) with EFI & AOD can maybe eke out 12-13 mpg on a good day.
It’s a good candidate for a diesel swap for the Cummins-centric crowd or an early PowerStroke for Ford-only fans.
Nice truck, great price, if you need something like this. The ultimate behemoth for 1989. It didn’t get any bigger than this. I’d leave it alone, the 460 is more than capable, and going to a Power Stroke, I feel, wouldn’t be worth the hassle. I’ve driven F350’s with Power Strokes, and I didn’t think they were anything to write home about and the pre-Power Stroke diesels were boat anchors. Somebody paid big bucks for this truck in 1989, and you can have the same truck for a fraction today. If it’s true, this a great deal.
I don’t understand comments like spend thousands of dollars and change the engine because this engine doesn’t get good gas mileage.
Those thousands can buy years worth of gasoline with no damage to the truck.
I looked for one of these for a very long time. Was never able to find a rust free 1-ton with 4×4 which was a must. Ended up picking one up (1989 F250 XLT Lariat) in Oceanside CA for $3000. 120K Miles, and brought it back to Wisconsin (2300 miles). Unfortunately I got only 5-7MPG with the 351W. Had 2 breakdowns on the way, ended up having to replace the starter, battery, radiator, water pump, starting solenoid, alternator, distributor, cap & rotor, plugs & wires, tie rods, ball joints, brakes, coil, fuel pump & filter within 2 months of owning it.
Here’s a picture of me broken down near Baker California. Quite the experience driving across country site unseen with a 30 year old vehicle.
TCOPPS, why did you break down twice? Was it maintenance items or was it something serious?
Miguel, fuel switcher valve didn’t work. Essentially ran out of gas and couldn’t switch tanks, ended up burning up the fuel pump. After a $680 charge for 2 mile tow, new fuel pump & filter. About ten miles after that fiasco, ended up overheating. Waited for it to cool changed took out thermostat (finding water in the desert was a story in itself), but got filled up and hit the road. Still was heating up and finally got to Grand Junction CO and put in a new radiator. Made it back to wisconsin just as the alternator went out, died just as I pulled into my driveway. Next day starter went too.
I had one of these as a work truck back in the early 90’s with the international non turbo diesel in it. It was a beautiful truck but was terrible off road. I would practically get the darn thing stuck in my driveway.
I’ve done the cross-country drive a few times and lucked out (or did great guessing) in not breaking down till after I got home. F150 from Los Angeles and the Vette from New Mexico. Done the Mohave desert coming back from LA with the truck, other than being very very hot, no issues. The clutch slave in the Vette went out less than a week after it home.
If you can keep them running and don’t break the bank, a cross country driver is a wonderful experience.
What a story. Must be the worst broke down on the way home story ever. But now that the truck is in Wisconsin, it will rust away in two years.
Every fall I put it on the lift, put down a tarp and spray a mixture of drain oil & Diesel fuel to the chassis to my winter vehicles. Definitely helps prolong the ol tin worm
I had an 88 f-150, and it broke down everytime I used it. Guess it was worn out, everytime something broke I fixed it then it was something else. Never had a vehicle that was so unreliable. wasn’t sorry to see it go. This one will give some great service, great tow vehicle!!! Good luck to the new owner. beats 90k for a new one!!
cheers
GPC
Ya just wont get gas mileage with something that can work that hard. I have a 10 dodge 3/4 with 5.7hemi, maybe 1k in the bed, she only gets 10 on freeway at 80. 5.0 2012 gets 14.
I grew up in an 89 f250 xlt single cab 302. Miss that truck.
Miguel, it’s called a Ford. “Fix Or Repair Daily” or “Found On Road Dead.” I’ve been driving company owned Ford F-150 4X4 work trucks since they sold my 1982 Suburban in 1995. The Suburban never let me down.
“Fire On Road Daily” also applies to the 1980’s Fords, but the ignition switch that causes the fires was actually made by a G.M. division called Packard Electric. It was a Ford design that the Packard Electric engineers knew was bad, but they built the thing anyway.
There are two good things about the Ford trucks I’ve had. They don’t cost me anything to drive and they always seem to break down in a convenient location. I have a couple tilt bed operators on speed dial.
That being said, I do own a Ford. It’s a 1943 MB military Jeep. It isn’t much of a Ford, it was built by my cousin from the remains of a 1942 Willys Jeep that he hit a tree with, and the Ford Jeep body and frame that another cousin found in Big Bear, CA. It also has a small block Chevy, 6″ lift kit and 36″ tires. That’s the definition of a death trap, but I don’t go very far or very fast with it. But I can say I do own a Ford.
You forgot the best one.. Spell Ford backwards…Driver Returns On Foot.
Found On Rubbish Dumps
I am a ford man through and through but can still have a laugh.
….. whoah you’d need to own a gas station and a repair shop to have one of these.
Miguel is correct about the gas cost. If you’re hauling something not real far and not that often, this thing makes sense. 460’s were always known for getting terrible gas mileage, but compared to $12,000 or more for a Cummins conversion it might make sense. Everybody I know with a Powerstroke got better mileage than a 460, but still not great. The last Suburban I had with a 454 got better gas mileage than the F-250 truck my friend had.
I met a guy who ran a delivery service in central PA many years ago. He was driving a Ford truck with a 460 that had 290,000 miles on it. He said the motor was getting tired and he wasn’t happy because he usually got more than that out of a 460 motor.
I had a 1995 Suburban with a TBI 350, overdrive automatic, 3.73:1 gears that got 17.5 MPG on I-90 going from Erie PA to Syracuse NY towing a 16′ steel
trailer with a 63 Impala on it. I admit to cheating and using overdrive on level
and downhills (which you aren’t supposed to do) but I got away with it.
I have trouble understanding how Ford continues to build stuff with not much power and still manage to get bad gas mileage, but that’s what they’ve been doing as long as I can remember.
I had a 91 F450 (same cab as a F350) dump truck. Had a 460 and 5 speed manual. Never have I had such a gutless pig. Loaded with 3 ton of gravel I got 3-5 mpg if that. Was 22 years ago. After I was finished with my project it was sold.
Spend the money on a Dodge with a 12 valve Cummins and manual trans for a nice vintage truck. I have a 1993 Dodge I keep around. It has a 19′ Hodges bed and on a trip loaded I averaged 21 mpg. No shortage of power and I have 400K miles
My father had a 7.3 turbo like the above Ford. It was done at 230K miles. He bought a new 6.0 Turbo Diesel in 2003. It was done at less then 100K. He too has a Dodge Cummins now.
This would be ideal for a guy who needs a fairly stout truck on the weekends.
I guess eighth generation Fords are approaching collector status. I’d better hurry up and grab a clean ninth gen. I still think that’s the best looking truck Ford ever made. Also the last of a breed. Generation 10 dropped the twin I beam and the straight six. This, I think, ended an era.
I associate these trucks with horse trailers.
These were the preferred truck to haul around a 4 horse trailer plus the family.
Gary, “Driver Returns On Foot” is a good one. I’ve never heard that before. I’ve had lots of company Fords die, but only had to walk once. Usually they die in a convenient place for me.
The 2004 F-150 stuck two rods in the pan going 55 MPH in overdrive at 115,000 miles. It was a 32 degree day in December, but I has dressed for it and only a mile from my Stepmother’s place so I didn’t bother to call for a ride, just walked. The best part is my nephew was on a ladder cleaning gutters and he saw me walking from a few hundred feet away. The first thing he thought was “The Furd blew up.” He offered to tow it with his 86 Chevy plow truck, but that isn’t legal so I let AAA tow it.
You have to have the proper attitude to drive one of these. If it gets you where you want to go, you’re happy. When it dies, you expect it.
Don’t forget eff’d up on race day too!
We’re storing one for a family member
until he decides what to do with it. I like
these old beasts but can’t afford to own
one due to fuel costs. We had to use it
as transport a couple o’ days earlier this
week and it damn near broke us keeping
gas in it!! Went through $20 worth in less
than 1day!! When we’re not using it, we
start it daily and maybe take it around the
neighborhood once in a while. Other than
that, it stays parked. We might list it here
if the family member decides to sell it.
So stay tuned BF fans, you may see it very soon!
You guys are a bit harsh. I’ve had or driven many Ford trucks, from pickups to LTL9000’s and I think Ford is one of the best. TCOPPS experience could have happened to any vintage truck. I have reservations about taking my ’77 GMC on any trips just for that reason.
In Australia its “Found on Rubbish Dump”….
I’d do a diesel swap! Saving you lots of money in the long run. A 7.3 IDIT swap would be great to put in there. My dad had a 93 with that same engine and it got 22 empty and 17 loaded with a ZF5 Trans. Plus it would remove several pounds of wiring and those crappy plastic vacuum lines that always dry out in time from heat from that hot engine. Down here in Texas you rarely see a big truck like that with a gasser under the hood. Plus maintenance is way cheaper on that particular engine also. You could easily do a complete swap for around 6,500. That’s installing everything rebuilt too. Then you would have a way better truck to drive then these new hellishly over priced pieces you see going down the highway today.