We took advantage of a dry January to do some serious garden clean-up. Thanks to the serendipity of tree-trimmers being in my neighborhood, who dumped two truck loads of wood chips in our driveway, our hard-working helper and Stephanie pruned, cleared out, and spread the chips between the beds and where we took out the lawn a few years ago. Time to compost the garden beds too, so I threw on the side boards to make fewer trips by hauling bigger loads: three yards instead of the usual two. The place where I buy Steer-Plus says that it weighs 1000 – 1200 lbs per yard; or 3000 – 3600 lbs total. Given it was winter and the stuff was pretty wet, I’m guessing the upper end. Does Old Yeller look a bit saggy? Let’s take a closer look under there, and as well as in the Operators Manual, and try to figure out by how much its overloaded.
There’s the black gold; got to keep the plants well fed.
The old LT235-75 tires are bulging some here, despite having about 45 lbs in them.
Ah yes, we have rubber suspension now; not like I couldn’t tell from driving it. Nothing new, as I’ve been doing this for decades. The question is, just how over am I. The F-100 is nominally a half-ton truck (1000 lbs), but that’s too simple, and doesn’t take into consideration the specific equipment such as springs and tires, as well as the vehicle’s empty weight and its gross weight (GVW). I’ve never really taken the time to calculate that.
Here’s the manufacturer’s plate, which states GVW is 5000 lbs. Ha, that’s way less than a new F-150 empty! The plate also assures me that the 240 inch six is certified to deliver 129 Net HP @4000 rpm. Truck plates had the net hp specified, back when all the literature gave out the gross hp. For instance, this 240 was advertised at 150 hp (gross). That shows that the net output was 86% of gross. I’ve come to use that as a ball-park range for calculating the difference between gross and net ratings.
Time to dig out the Operators Manual, and see what that has to say. Hmm…there’s four different GVWs listed for the F-100, from 4200 lbs to 5000 lbs. Looks like I got the right one, given my tendency to overload. It’s all in the tires, mostly. And that’s where it gets a bit odd. The 5000 lb GVW corresponds to 6.50 – 16 TT (truck type) tires. Which I’ve almost never seen on a F-100 of this vintage. It is possible mine had them, since when I bought it in 1987, it had aftermarket white spoke (remember those?) wheels, 15 inchers. I replaced them with regular Ford 15 inchers, in order to make it look stock and mount the dog-dish hubcaps.
Ultimately, it’s academic, since all the GVWs from 4500 up require the optional 1250 lb rear springs. I assume I have those. And my LT 235-75 x 15 tires are rated at 1900 lbs max weight each. So now the question is, how much does my truck weigh empty? I’m going to find out. But Let’s guess first. Winner gets…to ride in it, with three yards of compost, just to experience that. BTW, I did not exceed 35 mph with this particular load. But don’t ask what I used to do, as well as what I’ve towed with it.
To help your guessing: my truck is a stripper, with the 240 six, T-87 three speed with overdrive, manual steering, unassisted drum brakes, no headliner, carpet or sound deadening, and enough rust to probably make it weigh a tad less than when it was new. So how much? Stay tuned.
Update: just got weighed: 1.96 tons. That’s 3920 lbs, with me; or (-175) 3745 empty. A featherweight indeed.
So if we assume the middle range (1100 lbs/yard), the loaded truck weighed 7200 lbs, or 2200 lbs overweight. And its rated load capacity is a mere 1200 lbs, including driver. I guess that’s why they call it a half-tonner, duh!
If your hungry boards went around the cab back youd easy get another meter aboard, Im surprised it only grosses 2 tonnes thats really only ute territory. None of the supplied data gives a tare weight but at a guess the truck should carry its own weight so 1tonne tare.
That looks pretty scary. I’ve had dirt or gravel piled about that high in my F350 and it didn’t drive too well as it rolled over the scales on the way out over 2 tons more than it did on the way in.
I’d guess your truck tips the scales at about 3800lbs sans driver.
That data plate should take into consideration the equipment it left the factory with.
As far as the gross vs net power ratings the big three usually were quite generous with their gross figures for their trucks. IH on the other hand used net way before it was the SAE standard. In the IH towing brochure they make a big deal that you are getting what is advertised with IH and not with the other guys.
Reminds me of the classic Calvin & Hobbes strip wherein Calvin asks his father how bridge weight limits are determined. “Well, they just drive bigger and bigger trucks over it until it collapses, and then they re-build it!”
Classic “Dad” logic.
LOVE that one. Can’t wait to use it on my kid.
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimcalvin
A vehicle after my own heart, and the hearts of thousands, nay, millions of my countrymen! Manual steering, power nothing, etc., etc. Only thing is they now come only with 4cyl diesel power, but are *really* overloaded.
My ’69 F-100 (240, auto, “Custom Cab!”) often looked like this… we usually get two yards of sheep manure from a neighbor each spring which settles it down on the stops, and while re-roofing the farmhouse, I hauled eight loads of shingles to the landfill – every load was at or over a ton.
The empty truck scales out at about 4,100 (with me in it, so deduct ~200).
No idea how much the wood weighed – got four loads like that from a neighbor a few years back.
I’d be scared to load my newer ’95 F-150 like that.
Don’t be. When I had my ’92 F-150 (same basic truck as yours) Custom with a 300 I-6 and a Mazda 5-Speed, I had it on it’s stops several times. And I was consistently amazed at the grunt that truck had to get even the toughest of loads home.
I miss that truck terribly. I love my more modern Dodge Dakota (’03 Quad Cab 4×4), but I’d never overload it and trust it like I trusted my Ford.
Ford / Mercury trucks are tough.
Don’t worry Paul, your truck can handle this load just fine. Ive seen similar vintage Ford’s haul similar loads with nary an issue. The fact that you hauled this load with no issues proves my point. And I just noticed the post and pic above, so there ya go lol
I meant this post for anyone who might say that what you did is a bad idea or scary or some such.
It aint overloaded till the tires are flat…No way I’m going to guess, don’t want to get suckered into having to unload it.
Looks something like my 81 Datsun did when I loaded it with firewood. Had some blowouts but just went to bigger tires.
My current 91 S10 will probably carry a batch more than it’s rated for. If someone would load and unload I might be interested. Thats a lot like work.
If you take a light trailer and overload it your truck will probably last longer. I have beat them to death. Overload springs and big tires rule. Who needs brakes?
tons is based upon the “tun” unit.
Compare and contrast.
I was sitting here swooning over your pale yellow truck until I read the words “unassisted drum brakes.” My mind flashed to the load and suddenly I’m thinking this is the last driving situation I’d want to find myself in!
They’re actually better than you would think, as long as you are mindful of brake fade. Or wet brakes. Or going faster than 35mph… (c:
Let’s just say I keep my distance, stay on the ball, and remind myself why I don’t live in a crowded big city. It’s amazing how little/lightly I actually use them, by using my many gears, planning ahead, timing lights, etc. The few times I actually have to stop by braking only from a pretty good clip really annoys me; not that I can’t do it, but because I just prefer not to use them much. It’s a lot like hypermiling.
Even to this day, I drive like this. My dad taught me to drive this way in order to be as smooth and economical as possible. I never scream up to lights and slam on the brakes. This just costs a lot of money.
What I like to do I learned from my taxi driving years. Watch for holes in traffic and exploit them. A good one is the right late on city street. It is amazing how often people pile up in the centre or even left lane and leave the right empty. Sure there are often parked cars in the right late after the intersection but a 3.2 litre V-6 Acrua can win 99% of the stoplight GP races in Canuckisan. If I see a car next to me that can take me, I don’t even bother. However, in the land of the Four Banger and the Chinese Housewife, there are not many occasions I don’t get into some clear road. Until the next stop light, of course!
I have hauled max loads in my ’10 Ranger (5-speed a/t) of gravel and crap-mixed dirt from the dirt place (Campbell Industrial Park, Leeward Oahu) and although might have been technically “overloaded”, extra air pressure, slow speeds, “telegraph” your braking commands has worked just fine for me. Ditto many years ago with avatar Courier hauling furniture, wood, cut up brush, sand, etc. The Courier had drums – unassisted – on all four wheels. Common sense loaded vehicle driving rules in effect. Slow down/downshift sooner for wet pavement/inclines.
Rustic engineering was a wonderful thing – everything overbuilt and rated conservatively. Sure, springs would fail with continuous abuse, or the rear axle start taking on a big ) smiley-perspective (that on Jeeps with AMC-20 pressed-in-tubes axles) but the frame and general equipment could take it.
Not so some newer trucks. During my first, brief sojourn as a homeowner, I had a Tacoma half-ton 4×4 with a four…and needed to lug some firewood fifty miles. In New York State, where EVERY tree is a protected species, firewood is dear. And I heated with it.
Found a bargain one county away, and aimed the truck there. Took as much as I could…little more than a cord.
I don’t know if the springs were on the stops…some things you just don’t want to know. But what I DID know was that I was driving an entirely different rig, one with a big hinge in the center as the frame flexed.
Nothing happened. Probably because I was driving like an old man, running scared. But there was NO QUESTION I’d have been better off with a more-conventional, American half-tonner.
Here in Paul’s example, the risk is less (a fully-depreciated rig) and the basic setup more rugged. If he puts some helper springs on there, he can do it all the time.
One day, I was loading in 20 bags of 90lb concrete at Home Depot, a mere 1800 lbs, well-centered near the front of the bed. There was a guy standing there at the loading area, who was literally screaming at me: YOU’RE GOING TO BEND YOUR FRAME! YOU’RE GOING TO BEND YOUR FRAME! YOU’RE GOING TO DESTROY YOUR TRUCK!!! He was imploring me not to load it all. I just smiled. Little did he know I’ve had twice that in there. And I’ve been doing it for 25 years.
I’ve hauled the same, 20 concrete bags totaling 1800lbs in the back of my Outback. No one helping me load said anything about it. Didn’t even think about how heavy it was in total till I noticed how light the steering was on the way home, but it did just fine.
He probably remembered this guy:
http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Overload.htm
Myth Busters recreated this one.
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-lumber-car-minimyth.html
The guy was drunk or on illicit pharmacological compounds.
The stupidity of some people in this world never fails to amaze me. The photo above was taken in Waldorf, Maryland by a Transportation Supervisor for a company that delivers building materials for 84 Lumber. When he saw the overloaded red Jetta there in the parking lot of IHOP, he went and bought a disposable camera to take pictures. Note the exhaust smoke, indicating that the car is running.
In this photo, a police officer is looking over the car. He just shook his head in amazement. The only thing he did was to tell the driver to cut off some excess twine at the back of the load. The materials were loaded at a nearby Home Depot where the store manager made the customer sign a waiver before loading the vehicle. On the roof are many 2X4s, 4X4s and OSL sheets of lumber.
A woman is either asleep or otherwise zonked out in the front seat passenger side. Witnesses said the physical state of both the guy and woman was “other than normal.” Note than in addition to the lumber on the roof, the back seat contains ten 80-pound bags of concrete! Home Depot estimated the load weight at 3000 lbs.
The car is a VW Jetta with Florida plates. Although both back tires were flattened and the back shocks were driven up through the floorboard, the guy took off on US Route 301 saying he was headed for Annapolis, more than 40 miles away!
More photos:
Photo:
“In this photo, a police officer is looking over the car. He just shook his head in amazement. The only thing he did was to tell the driver to cut off some excess twine at the back of the load.”
Surely a police officer could prevent the driver continuing on his journey on the basis of overloaded or unsafe load?
Transport dept would have a field day here with that but of course if the driver only had a car licence very little other than fines would occur if he had a truck licence it would be suspended as correct loading is part of the exam.
In most states, a cop could have stopped the driver and ticketed for unsafe loading – and then tested the driver for impairment.
But police officers have a lot of discretion. If the cop had better things to do, or didn’t want to bother with idiots, or heard a donut calling him…he’d just shine him on and hope he doesn’t wreck before reaching the city line.
Was more thinking the consequences (or conscience) if he did wreck & injure someone else whether within jurisdiction or beyond
You guys are forgetting something here: Paul drives a truck. It was designed to carry loads from place to place.
A Tacoma or even a domestic half ton is not designed to carry things from place to place. It is designed to carry fat butts and and attached beer bellies from place to place. In order to do this, it needs a Dream-Whip ride. You are not going to get that with beam axles and hard springs.
Beg to differ. A Tacoma is a truck, with all the right pieces…ladder frame, separate bed, leaf springs in the rear.
It’s just not anywhere near as beefy as an American-designed pickup. FWIW, the first-gen Japanese pickups were even more fragile…saw a few in boneyards, with the beds off, and the small, lightweight frames shocked me.
Yet they’re worked in Japan. I don’t disagree with your point, that a Ford of that era is a hell of a lot more rugged than any trucklet from Toyota or Nissan…but they are work vehicles.
Note that the roof in the original pictures is definitely caved in, while the Mythbusters braced theirs with some of the 2x4s.
I’ve had similar experiences at HD with both my F350 ans Scout Cabtop. With the F350 it was when I bought a pallet of concrete and when they brought it out they were you can’t carry that. I happened to have some slips from the dump for over 2 tons and said stick in there. With the Cabtop Scout it was when we were building a retaining wall and purchased about 1250 lbs of block. That guy was saying you are going to bend your frame. It is an early Scout II so it is “only” a 3/4 ton, unlike the catylitc converter dodging 1975 and up 1 ton version. So it was well within it’s limits with me and my son, and I’ve have over 2000lbs of gravel or sand in it a number of times. In those cases I chose it over the F350 because it could go to where I wanted the material and get back out. The F350 was just too long and it takes about the same amount of fuel to make 2 trips in the Scout vs 1 in the F350.
Paul and JustPassinThrul,
You guys made me feel better. I am a first time Truck owner. I have a 2012 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab, 2WD, 2.7 Lit, 5 Speed. It is a modest truck so I named it “the donkey”. I was working on my patio project and needed gravel. I was careful because I loved my donkey, but forgot what I read in the owner manual, plus I had no clue how heavy wet gravel was. I wound up loaded about 1800 lbs including my tiny wife. My donkey moved quite well on the hwy and climbing hill. There was a sudden stop on the hwy and a small car in front of me had to steer out to the shoulder, but I had no problem. Stick shift helped. After consulting the owner manual again, I was so worried. Did I damage my donkey? I feel no sign of being damaged, but psychologically, it keeps bugging me. I am a perfectionist! Thanks for your overload info.
“Rustic engineering was a wonderful thing – everything overbuilt and rated conservatively.”
This reminds me of the slant six discussion over at TTAC today. One of the points made there, which I agree with, was that modern engines are much better in normal use, but the best old school engines were better at handling misuse and abuse. (see http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/01/ten-hours-800-rpm-full-throttle-how-chrysler-used-to-test-engines/#comment-1842527)
There is something to be said for simple, overbuilt machines but I doubt we will see them again any time soon. These days building something that exceeds what the customer demands and is willing to pay for is seen as a form of waste that should be reduced or eliminated.
Blame computers – and the ludicrous need to lose weight at all costs, to meet fuel standards. Sixty years ago, there simply wasn’t the ability to work the mathematical computations on how much material was needed to endure stress over expected life. So, when in doubt, add more bulk – and companies that didn’t agree, like Crosley, soon lost customers and their business. So, corners weren’t cut because they COULDN’T be cut rationally with an understanding of how and whether they were weakening the design.
Today, it’s all calculated. Every superfluous ounce is removed or eliminated – of necessity, thank CAFE. Funny thing, how fuel economy has become such a fetish…sure, gas is expensive. But in 1959, when the Slant Six was brought out, gas was a quarter a gallon.
Prices have risen, with inflation, tenfold. The $20,000 house is now $200,000. The $1700 car, now $17,000. Likewise wages.
Gasoline, in our current setting, has risen more – there’s other factors in place. But to keep it in line, it would only need to drop eighty cents, to $2.50. People could afford gasoline then, for 12-mile-a-gallon cars…they can certainly afford to drive 18-mile-a-gallon cars today.
What this is based on, is what I don’t go over to TTAC anymore for. There’s a large faction, in the nation and at TTAC, who don’t love cars so much as they love the idea of government telling others how they should live, how much gasoline they should use…and what kind of cars they can drive.
Which is why my 62 year old 8N tractor is still going strong! Overbuilt, and designed to be overhauled…
Absolutely agreed. I used to regularly overload both of my ’92 F-150s (one a Custom longbox with a 300 six and manual, the other a shortbox with a 302 and auto), and neither ever felt out of place. Sure, once towing a really heavy car trailer loaded with a really heavy car (1968 Ford Galaxie 500 fastback with a big block and a C-6) made me appreciate all five gears with the big six, but I’d loaded the bed so full of gravel for my folks’ driveway numerous times that I trusted the truck. My second F-150 every year I loaded with probably two cords of firewood come winter, sitting on the stops, it just lumbered down the highway home.
This winter I helped my old man pick up a single cord with my Dakota Quad Cab. While I had insane amounts of power to spare – going up hills with 2 adults and 2 kids on the highway didn’t even drop the auto down from 5th to 4th – I did feel some flex that made me question my choice.
Ever since I’ve been looking for a F-150 with a big six and a long box. Best trucks ever made.
My hat is off to you. Nothing is life is quite as thrilling as overloading a 1/2 ton pickup. My dad had a yellow ’70 F-100, equipped just like you describe yours, except with the regular three speed. When adding an addition to the house, he would regularly load it where the back bumper was about 6″ off the ground.
When the ’70 died, the ’84 F-150 that replaced it was good for about 5200 lbs of gravel in the back. Much more would make the front tires scrub really bad and protest going around curves at most speeds.
I never could repeat this trick with an ’87 Dodge 3/4 ton I later owned…
The low load rating of F150’s is something that has amused me, although having said that when they were last built in Queensland circa 1990 with an efi 351W & 5sp with granny gear I think the load rating was around 1500kg/3300lb. 1200lb is less than a Proton Jumbuck is rated to carry. (they are a ute version of a licensed early 90’s Mitsubishi Lancer).
You have done the right thing by getting the CoG of the load ahead of the rear axle, perhaps this might be the source of the difference – Australian utes/pickups would typically have to have some of the load on the front axle to carry their full rated load without overloading the rear axle.
Having said that, I’ve seen a few highly overloaded vehicles over the years, for example a teacher at my school used to get a load of sand in his Holden 1 tonner that was so heavy he had to hook a row of buckets of sand on the front bumper to keep effective steering on the gravel roads crossing log construction bridges boards for the wheel tracks – don’t want to miss those!
Yeah the F series only just qualify as utes not trucks. Truck here means it grosses 3,500kg laden and you require a class2 truck licence anything smaller is a ute a Toyota Corona wagon/van is rated 500kg/1100 pounds.
Current US F150’s can be equipped to haul over 2000lbs while the F450 goes to near 5000lbs.
A standard Toyota Hilux 4 cyl can carry a Tonne 2200lbs
You must keep in mind that in the US we have an over abundance of these things we call personal injury lawyers. Combine that with the fact that the average American has no concept of the basic laws of physics (ie they think their truck can stop in the same distance with 2000lbs in the bed as it does with a 6-pack) and the mfgs purposely keep the rating low. So the top rated Tacoma is only rated for about 900kg or 1000lbs. It’s all relative.
Yep top load capacity is 3100lb for a single cab 8′ bed (same for the global Ranger coincidentally). IMO still not very impressive for the size, and at 5000lb kerb/2000lb load weight (half the load capacity of the F250) frankly they are not work vehicles but built for comfort with soft spring rates.
My PR for overloading equipment is putting ~32k and 20k lbs of freight into a set of double trailers; that put me roughly 15k over my 80k gross. Ironically I did this for safety: it was an extremely windy day and I’d already seen one 53′ Van blown over. No way was an 80-100+mph gust knocking me over with my heavy set.
I’ve also legally pulled triples at ~100k, the 1st time you turn with them its surreal to see your middle and rear trailers in over your shoulder.
As long as you have tires that can take the load and are driving a short distance without significant topography putting 3.3k on a 1/2 ton is no big deal. You get any sort of hills and you can start cooking brakes and overheating the engine in no time. For what Paul is doing here I’d prefer to have 1yd in the bed and 2-3 on a 2 axle trailer with a brake controller.
When I haul hay, I put 40 bales in the bed (2000-2500lb), and the rest gets pulled on the hay rack (2-3 tons). I take it very slow and easy, like Paul described above – it’s all about the energy management….
Our max GVM was 46,500 tonnes recentlt increased in the old 430hp Navistar that meant low box climbing on 2 hills on my trip and stage 3 jakes in bottom of the top box descending but the load math worked out at 33 tonnes one night 5 tonne overweight ye gods that was slow even spread over 2 trailers you know its heavy.
It is probably just urban legend but 20 years ago I heard about a truck picked up in far-west NSW loaded with 200 tons of manganese ore, it could have been three trailers as is common out there so maybe only double the legal weight – there are lots of areas without many hills to worry about too.
3600 lbs is the most I’ve ever had in the F350 that got put on a scale. Rated payload is about 2800, depending on how much fuel I have on board (twin tanks). The fun part was that the load was going to my dad’s house. He’s at the top of a 2+ mile 18% grade. It hauled it fine, but I could sure feel the weight going around the bends in the road.
Biggest load I’ve ever hauled was one time when I already had it almost full of firewood, and had to pick up a load of bricks on short notice. Once it was full, it groaned every time I stepped on the bumper… (yes, those bricks are stacked full width and height back there. There’s another 80 or so on the back seat floorboards.)
I have a fire-trailer made from the back end of a Mazda Pickup (circa early 70s, I think) and use it with a 210 gallon water tank. No problems, once I set up 4 x 6 wood “bounce” stops between the axle and the frame. Only gets towed by the tractor, usually at 3-4mph. On rare occasions I’ve had to tow it in winter and getting up the small, icy hill is a thrill. Rough guess is the rig carries 2200 pounds with pump and tools. Ah, the joys of rural life!
I almost got a ticket once for having an overloaded 1980 F150. I was taking a fabrication over to the machine shop when I got pulled over by a provincial inspector.
Lucky for me he realized that I was just a 16 year old kid with a summer job, so I got off with a lecture on the dangers of rubber suspension and sent on my way.
I really like Paul’s truck, but I think I’d rather have the shortbox version. Nice one for sale locally with a 352/3speed…
My old 63 F-100 would have been made for this duty. A previous owner had put extra leaves on all the springs. Empty, it rode like the axles were bolted to the frame. I never got enough into the back of it to flatten those springs. I had the 240 six and the 4 speed with the granny low. The only bad part – the narrow Flairside bed with the wooden floor.
If Paul’s truck was like mine, the brakes were not an issue. With so much play in the steering, it kept you at speeds within the brakes’ capabilities.
I can only find a pic of my ’68 loaded with wood, but I’ve definitely overloaded it at the landscaping supply on numerous occasions. The mulch has never been an issue because I don’t board the sides, but filling it to the brim with gravel or crushed concrete puts the bed on stops every time! It’s fun to have an excuse to use the granny gear.
As Paul and others have said, manual drum brakes are only an issue when you over-drive. I’ve only had one fully-loaded panic stop, and it made it, but I wouldn’t have asked to do it twice in a row.
As a new follower of Curbside Classics, I’m loving these posts/stories. Loved res’ “Requiem for a Truck”. That load of wood in the ’69 F-100 looks to be north of 3000 lbs. This thread is of special interest to me because of all the hauling I do as a professional landscaper. Back when I started out in ’84 at age 21, I did a lot of clean-ups for a remodeling contractor; wood, concrete, dirt, bricks, you name it. Loaded it all by hand into a ’80 F-150 Custom longbed. Two wheel drive, 300-6, 3-speed manual (replaced the original 3-speed plus overdrive), power steering and brakes, rolling on P235/75R15’s; it had GVWR of 5800 lbs, and a recommended payload capacity of around 1600 lbs.(cargo, passengers, and fuel). I went to the landfill dozens upon dozens of times, where they weigh you coming in, and going out, thus providing an accurate payload record. I became expert at guesstimating the cargo weight by the rear-end sag, and the clearance between the rubber stops and the axle. I considered 2700 lbs. the limit for a “safe” load for highway speed (the landfill was 20 miles away). I hauled numerous loads over 3000 lbs., with white knuckles of course, thankfully there are no hills here in Florida. My all-time record in that truck was a payload of 4200 lbs. (there was another at a tad over 4000 lbs.). That load cost me a tailpipe at the landfill, and when I removed the sideboards to unload, the bed on the right side was warped out a couple inches from the weight jostling against the center stake (the bed warped, but the 2×2 stake didn’t snap, go figure). Me and my friends called that truck “The Timex” (takes a licking and keeps on ticking). All those heavy loads never once directly resulted in any mechanical troubles (just a couple of tailpipes, a couple of clutches, and one left front coil spring), but the body was shot and it had the usual Ford nickel & dime problems when I traded it in ’86, but still ran and drove good. It had 85K miles when purchased, and 127K when traded. I saw it a few months later hauling tree trimmings, the driver said it was junked at his uncle’s scrapyard, and it would soon be parted out/crushed. R.I.P.